Slow Cooker Beef Stew
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Everyone’s favorite cozy beef stew made in the crockpot! The meat is SO TENDER and the stew is rich, chunky + hearty!
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There is truly nothing more comforting than a hearty beef stew on a cold, cold night. And it’s even better when it’s been simmering low and slow in your crockpot for the last 7-8 hours.
Aside from searing your stew meat to give it that really nice caramelized flavor, this recipe requires zero babysitting (thank you, slow cooker!). All you need to prep is your crusty bread for dipping, a glass of red wine, and a side salad to round out your meal.
If you are short on time, there is a stovetop and an Instant Pot version also available.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound baby red potatoes, quartered
- 4 carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, optional
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Season beef with salt and pepper, to taste. Add beef to the skillet and cook until evenly browned, about 2-3 minutes.
- Place beef, potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, rosemary, paprika, caraway seeds and bay leaves until well combined; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour and 1/2 cup stew broth. Stir in flour mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until thickened.*
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Video
Notes
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I’m thinking … perhaps a dollop of sour cream when served?
OK ,that does it, I’m making it again tonight.
GENIUS.
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I love it when I can make a really good dinner quickly, with ingredients any kitchen should have.
Thanks for the join!
I made a couple modifications.
One, replaced half the broth with a decent Cabernet sauvignon.
Two, upgraded to a couple bottom round steaks.
Still cheap, but much better than what they sell as stew meat around here.
Absolutely delicious.
I’ve tried a LOT of beef stew reipes — this is far and away the best.
One question, should I cook it on high or should I cook it on low.
Please refer to step #4:
Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
Hi, I just made this last night n my husband love it…I changed the ingredient a bit. I don’t have smoke paprika so I skip it…n I put little bit mild chili powder. For the herb…I use mix herb, but because doesn’t say caraway seeds in it, so I put a bit cumin powder. Just thinking what will happen lol..because i don’t know what is caraway seed lol..n end up really nice taste. Thanks a lot.
This is a great recipe. I have made this many times. Make as written unless I am out of some thing.
This looks amazing.
your recipe have proven to be the best, i’m giving this one a try right away.
I found this website about a year ago. I have enjoyed all the recipes I’ve tried! This stew sounds amazing and I can’t wait to have it tomorrow for dinner.
Made this last week!!! It’s one of our favorites!
Just made it today! It has great flavor and I’m about to enjoy it like a giant tonight.
best stew i have ever made. did not have caraway seed, but loved the touch of rosemary.
I just finished throwing it in my crockpot. I hope it comes out. I am not a good cook. But it sounded so good I had to try it.
SO GOOD! Subbed 1 cup Cab Sauv for 1 of broth and did half carrots half parsnips. Dredged the beef in flour before searing it off so skipped the thickening. The caraway and smoked paprika were lovely additions. Lots of slow cooker recipes kind of taste “the same” and this one was great. Next time I might do some pearl onions near the end but this recipe is a keeper!
I rolled my beef in some flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder) then browned on both sides. Tip: I would suggest grinding up the rosemary and thyme before adding to stew
I created this stew yesterday just followed the recipe as is and added the caraway seeds. SO DELICIOUS! Not a crockpot fail at last! haha. I did add some arrowroot instead of flour since I only had whole wheat flour and I knew it wouldn’t taste good. It thickened quite nicely. I added two heaping tablespoons full. I’ll make this again. YUM!
I am not sure where I went wrong? Maybe I cooked too long on the skillet?? Please help!
Such a wonderful flavor and so much easy to make it!. Thanks for sharing!
How about freezing this recipe?
I guess I would leave the potatoes out until the day of…
Do you think it would work otherwise?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
This was so yummy! I rolled my beef in some flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder) then browned on both sides. Tip: I would suggest grinding up the rosemary and thyme before adding to stew.
Great flavors…beef is so so tender and tastes even better the next day.
That is a great tip. Thanks, I’ll have to remember that especially with rosemary.
We have a $10 little coffee grinder that looks like a tiny blender. We don’t use it for coffee, just powdering spices. Does a good job, but haven’t used it recently.