Slow Cooker Beef Stew
176 CommentsUpdated Jan 31, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
If you are looking for thick Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe, look no further! This recipe is hearty and made from scratch with plenty of fresh vegetables.
Featured Comment
This was outstanding! Thank you for sharing! The whole house smelled wonderful and it tasted even better!
– mary
Though this slow cooker beef stew recipe has a few steps, you will have grandma-made traditional beef stew at the end of the day. This recipe will not disappoint; it is full of great flavor and nice and chunky. This easy recipe reminds me of a perfect comfort food pot roast dinner, with everything chopped to the perfect size, with gravy on it!
Key Ingredients
Beef:Find beef stew meat already cubed up; it is already the perfect size for beef stew. Or you can cut up a beef chuck roast or bottom round roast into cubes. Be sure to cut off the large pieces of gristle and fat.
Flour Coating: A combination of flour, salt, black pepper, dried thyme, and garlic powder is made and tossed with the beef cubes. This helps thicken the “gravy”. Browning the meat adds a rich flavor to the stew.
Vegetables: Red potatoes, carrots, and onion. You can also add two celery ribs if desired. Frozen peas are added just before serving.
Broth: Beef broth or beef stock can be used in this dish. Don’t use water; it will dilute the flavor.
Tomato Paste: Beef stew has a slight tomato flavor, that is where the tomato paste comes into play. This thickens the stew as well.
How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Brown floured beef to build a rich base.
- Deglaze the pan with broth, whisk in tomato paste to make a quick sauce.
- In the crockpot, layer potatoes, carrots, and onion; add the beef and pour the sauce over.
- Cook until tender, then stir in peas and get ready to eat!
Tips & Variations
- Additional Veggies: You can add sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, and even mushrooms if you desire! The flavors of the stew go well with just about any vegetable.
- Onion Soup Mix: Instead of adding salt to this recipe, add a packet of onion soup mix; this will add significant onion flavor.
- No potato stew: Out of potatoes? Don’t fret. Make this stew as directed, but without the potatoes. Instead, serve over steamed rice or egg noodles.
- Red Wine: You’ll only want to add a 1/2 cup. Wine can be robust in slow cooker recipes. I suggest a red blend, Merlot, or Pinot Noir.
- Flour Substitute: Cornstarch: Mix 3 Tbsp cornstarch with 3 Tbsp cold water; stir into the broth at the start for a thicker gravy. Brown the beef as usual before adding.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Add one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce to the stew for a rich depth of flavor.
How to serve Beef Stew
- Serve crock pot beef stew warm right out of the slow cooker. This recipe is great for potlucks or bringing a meal to a sick friend.
- Serve with dinner rolls or crusty bread, butter, and a side salad if desired. A glass of red wine is a great accompaniment to beef stew as well!
Does the meat need to be browned?
You can forgo browning the stew meat, though it adds more flavor to the stew if you do. If you don’t sear your meat, you’ll want to skip using flour, the flour will clump if added straight to the slow cooker. Instead, thicken the stew instead use cornstarch and cold water.
Storing Beef Stew
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing beef stew with potatoes, for potatoes turn mealy after being thawed.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. stew meat, or 2 pounds any lean roast cut into 1-inch squares
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. thyme
- cooking oil, about 2 tablespoons
- 28 oz. beef broth, (2 14 oz. cans)
- 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 1 1/2 lbs. red potatoes quartered or diced, cut into inch pieces – You can use yukon gold or russets if desired.
- 1 lb. bag baby carrots
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 cups frozen peas, optional
Instructions
- Add the potatoes, carrots and onions to the slow cooker.
- Combine flour, salt, pepper, onion powder, and thyme in a big ziplock bag. Shake, then add the stew meat.
- Shake to coat the pieces evenly. (or this can be done in a large bowl)
- Brown the meat in the cooking oil on all sides, you don’t need to cook the meat through. You may need to cook the meat in batches.
- De-glaze the pan with the beef broth. Add the tomato paste, scrape up any brown bits of meat and flour into the sauce. The sauce will thicken and will only take a few minutes.
- Add the meat and sauce to the slow cooker. Stir.
- Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours.
- Add peas at the end of cooking time. Put the lid back on and cook for 15 more minutes to thaw the peas. If the stew thickens too much after being stirred, add water.
- Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More soups and stews
Warm up with a bowl of Slow Cooker Brunswick Stew, Slow Cooker Tomato Soup, or Poor Man’s Stew—each one packed with comforting flavor.
If you’re in the mood for something creamy or veggie-filled, try Slow Cooker Corn Chowder, Slow Cooker Chicken Stew, or classic Minestrone. For a rich, slow simmered dinner, you can’t go wrong with a pot of hearty Beef Bourguignon.
Stew is a perfect weekend recipe. You can make a big batch and eat the leftovers for lunch over the next few days. Also, try my Shipwreck Stew or Guinness beef stew.
Stew really turned out delicious. Followed exact recipe. Was very simple to make. I will make again. Thanks!
Will it work if the meat is frozen?
It would be hard to coat the meat, and brown it if it was frozen. 🙂
We made this the other night, and the whole family loved it! This is THE BEST beef stew recipe ever! I added a small shallot and some garlic to the onion, and sautéed them with a healthy dash of Lee & Perrings before adding them to the pot.
Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe, it is a new favorite in our home!
We’re going to try the steak fajitas next 🙂
F.
I made this tonight and it was soooo good. definately a keeper.
Just put it the slow cooker. Looks good enough to eat now. I am substituting green beans for the peas. Wow seven hours seems like a long time now.
can you add red wine?
Yes you can, but I would only put in a little, the flavor of wine seems to concentrate in the slow cooker.
Hi,
Thank you for the great recipe. It is always great reading blogs like this that gives one great new ideas for new food. Excellent recipe, thank you.
I made it twice, once exactly like you suggested, (excellent, thank you) and then, I did my version. I always make the recipes as suggested, to learn exactly what it is about, and what all the spices do together, before I try my version of it. This is how one learn after all. My suggestion is always do the recipe as is, and improve on it the second time around according to ones taste buds. This is what I added the second time around:
For 1KG of stew beef, using the exact recipe above, I added:
5 TBSP Worchestire Sauce
4 TBSP Brown sugar
2 star aniseeds
Chicken stock instead of beef stock.
2 TBSP of roasted sesame seed oil
Thank you again for the great recipe, and the new ideas. Please keep up the good work,
Cole.
Thanks Cole! Your version sounds amazing!
I got a late start, is is okay to cook on high? I am not a pro with the crock pot. generally just follow the directions to the letter.
Should be fine! Let me know how it works!
Making this for dinner tonight, thanks for sharing. Just put it in, however. How long on high do you think?
Probably 4 hours 🙂
This looks delish but I can’t have gluten. Would I skip the flour and instead deglaze the pan with cornstarch? I’m still new at this gluten free thing.
Yes, try coating the meat with the cornstarch instead of the flour. 🙂 or maybe a gluten free type of flour? Anyone gluten free, have ideas for what you sub regular flour for?
So, instead of using flour, I just browned the beef and then thickened the sauce with cornstarch after deglazing the pan. It worked well & the sauce is thick. Tasty and so easy!
My only problem was that the potatoes ended up quite mushy, so I’ll probably add them halfway through next time.
Trying tonight with almond flour for those who want to be gluten free- will keep you posted 🙂
As to the gluten free option- I would suggest substituting rice flour for regular flour to get a more similar effect for the browning of the meat. Rice flour also thickens sauces really well. I think almond “flour” would create a more grainy texture that I’m guessing would be kind of gross and not thickening.
Brown rice Flour!! STAPLE for Gluten free cooking! You won’t regret it… 🙂
For gluten-free, there is no need to flour the meat..just use a heavy pan (nonstick!), heat the pan with a tad of oil and add the meat after the pan gets hot. Don’t touch it or try to pry it up until it is easy to release itself. Do all sides of the meat but don’t crowd the meat or they will steam instead of sear. You may need to do this in batches. Then deglaze the pan with the broth scraping up the dark bits from the bottom. Proceed as the recipe calls for. You can thicken at the very end with a corn starch/water paste or used instant mashed potatoes dissolved in a little water. My hubby has celiac so I am familiar with gluten free cooking.