Slow Cooker Poor Man’s Stew
448 CommentsUpdated Apr 18, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Slow Cooker Poor Man’s Stew is made from scratch with ground beef to save money. A very hearty meal with minimal effort or money. This budget friendly ground beef stew can’t be beaten.
We love easy stew recipes like this one, Shipwreck Stew or A-1 Beef Stew, for an easy, hearty dinner.
When I first published this recipe in 2015, I made this entire Poor Man’s Stew for $6.24. Nowadays, the price of groceries is much higher than that. But you can still make an economical meal using fresh vegetables and ground beef.
I put ground beef, russet potatoes, carrots, onions, a garlic clove, tomato paste, water, and seasonings in my slow cooker and simmered it all day to make this Hearty Poor Man’s Stew. A great Sunday dinner recipe or for when you are even camping!
The inspiration for this hamburger stew came from my favorite old movie, The Princess Bride. I made a stew similar to the one seen in the movie where Fezzic (Andre the Giant) hand-fed Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) a hearty stew trying to get him sober, so they could find and save Westley (Carey Elwes). You may also like my Camp Stew Recipe!
What makes this meal budget friendly ?
- Fresh vegetables – I bought just what I needed for this recipe though you can buy bulk bags of gold potatoes (or russet potatoes), carrots, onion, and garlic, and your price will go down per serving.
- Look for ground beef in a roll (called a chub); it’s almost always cheaper than beef in trays. If you have leftover slow cooker ground beef, be sure to use that!
- Dried spices are always cheaper than fresh and last for years; for other recipes, I use onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- I use water instead of beef broth in this recipe to cut the cost, though beef broth can be used if desired.
- For the tomato flavor, a cheap can of tomato paste is used.
- {The full Recipe is in the recipe card below the photos}
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Brown ground beef in a skillet on the stove-top; drain fat. Add the meat to the crock pot and the potatoes, onions, carrots, and garlic.
Step Two -Whisk together the tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, onion powder, and Italian seasoning in a small bowl.
Step Three – Pour this mixture over everything in the slow cooker. Stir.
Step Four – Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until the potatoes are tender. Serve in bowls and enjoy!
Variations
- More Vegetables – Add sweet potatoes, frozen peas, and canned green beans.
- Tomato Soup – Instead of adding tomato paste, use a condensed tomato soup for more flavor.
- Flavor enhancers – Add Worcestershire sauce or hot sauce for a kick of flavor. You can also add a pack of taco seasoning instead of the recipe seasonings.
- Toppings – To serve this crockpot poor mans stew, you may want to add some toppings such as shredded cheddar cheese, diced onion, or crushed saltine crackers.
- Bread – Don’t go out and buy special bread for this meal. It’s terrific with buttered sandwich bread as a side.
Recipe FAQs
You can use ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground sausage (basically any ground meat). Or you can use what traditional beef stew call for, which is beef stew meat.
If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge, which will last a few months in the freezer.
Featured Comment
“Thank you so much for the recipe, really enjoyed it! We are on a budget and it’s so nice finding a tasty recipe thats something different to my usual.”
– EM
Slow Cooker Poor Man’s Stew Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
- 1 ½ lbs russet or gold potatoes, peeled and diced large
- 3 carrots, sliced thick
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning, (or oregano)
Instructions
- Add the cooked ground beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic to a 5-quart or larger slow cooker.
- In a small bowl whisk together the tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, onion powder and Italian seasoning. Pour this mixture over everything in the slow cooker. Stir.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours, without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- Serve with buttered sandwich bread or rolls and Enjoy!
Sarah’s Notes
- You can use ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground sausage (basically any ground meat). Or you can use what traditional beef stew call for, which is beef stew meat.
- If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge, which will last a few months in the freezer.
- More Vegetables – Add sweet potatoes, frozen peas, and canned green beans.
- Tomato Soup – Instead of adding tomato paste, use a condensed tomato soup for more flavor.
- Flavor enhancers – Add Worcestershire sauce or hot sauce for a kick of flavor. You can also add a pack of taco seasoning instead of the recipe seasonings.
- Toppings – To serve this crockpot poor mans stew, you may want to add some toppings such as shredded cheddar cheese, diced onion, or crushed saltine crackers.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Crockpot Stew Recipes
Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon are classic, slow-simmered dishes perfect for a cozy, filling dinner.
Witches Brew Stew and Slow Cooker Chicken Stew are fun, family-friendly options that come together easily in the crockpot.
Beefy Bacon Man Stew and Guinness Beef Stew both bring bold, savory flavors with their own unique twists.
Split Pea Stew rounds things out with a thick, hearty texture that’s comforting and packed with veggies. My Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Dumplings is great for a Sunday dinner.
I’m not sure why there were negative Nancies, this is a great stew! It cooked perfectly on lpw for about five hours. Ialways make things my own, so I added a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, a liberal dash of Worstershire, green beans, and corn. I also subbed celery salt for the plain, and added an extra garlic clove. My five year old asked for seconds saying how good it was! Great recipe to build from! Thanks!
If I triple this recipe (lots of mouths to feed!) do I need to add to the cook time?
Yes, you’ll need to add more time. Unsure how much without testing it.
Potatoes didn’t cook, even cut into smaller pieces and cooked past the recommended time. We ended up just having to eat around the potatoes since after 11 hours they were still rock hard… overall though it still tasted really good, I just might have to soften the potatoes prior though
If that happens often, your slow cooker cooks too low. Try the high setting next time.
Followed the recipe and it just came out so tasteless. Such a shame, I so wanted to enjoy this.
This sounds delish! Could l use beef broth instead of water? Thanks!
Yes, beef broth works well!
My mom would add 1/2 head of cabbage ! And put on stove top, add you burger to it and cook all day!! Yummo
When my son was in third grade, his class did a similar version of this, that they called stone soup. All the kids brought in one form of a veg., A potato, carrot, onion, celery, can of tomato sauce, beef broth, hamburger, and so on. It starts out a small villager was very poor. Each home only had a form of ingredient. This boy decided he would make a pot of stone soup. So he starts a fire in the middle of town and puts a stone in a very large pot with some water. As he’s stirring his stone, he’s telling the villagers how nice it would be if only he had some meat, so he could share his soup with the person that brought the meat. This went on until everyone contributed to the pot. There was enough soup for everyone in the village. They all got to share in the feast, and had fun.
That’s what I do
In my home town we eat a similair dish every 3th of October because of a huge city feast. We dont do the tomatoes ( which I think its nice to add) and we use thymian and/or a blend of curry. The whole city smells of what we called Hutspot.
I’m making this Sunday can I serve it over macaroni?
I don’t see why not!
I make this often, I cook on stove top. I use beef broth/ stock which ever I grab (in place of water). I make more of a soup consistency, occasionally I add other vegetables. It’s really versatile ❤️