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Make this spooky witches brew stew for a fun fall meal. Made with hot sausage and beef and the veggies are skull mushrooms and pumpkin carrots! This recipe tastes like an ultra jazzed-up hamburger soup! Try it this Halloween along with garlic bread and topped with parmesan cheese.
Who doesn’t love a good fall recipe like this stew. We also love to make slow cooker pumpkin chili, shipwreck stew or slow cooker Hungarian goulash.
Table of Contents
How to make Witches Brew Stew in the crockpot:
This recipe came about from a soup I saw from a member in a recipe group on facebook. Her name is Juanita and her soup has adorable carrot pumpkins and she also uses hot sausage in her soup which I think is a wonderful idea. I had to make a variation of it before Halloween and share it with you! If you want to see her version, she calls it “Black Magic Soup”.
We love making this soup for our annual Halloween party. Did you know that a witch is one of the most popular Halloween costumes? It’s second to squid games, which I still need to watch. I’m always the crazy cat lady for Halloween without fail.
Recipe Ingredients
- Hot sausage – I use Jimmy Dean hot breakfast sausage. Please use mild if you do not like spicy foods. Or you can use Italian sausage if desired.
- Ground Beef – I cook the ground beef and the hot sausage together in the same pan. Crumble then drain off the fat.
- Vegetables – Carrots, mushrooms, gold potatoes, garlic, leeks and celery.
- Italian herb seasoning – This is mixture of oregano, marjoram, thyme, savory, rosemary, basil and sage and is found along with the other spices at the store. Use a mixture of what you have at home if you do not have this herb mix.
- Beef broth
- Campbell’s Tomato Soup – We use this instead of tomato sauce, has a better flavor
- Campbell’s French Onion Soup – This is the magic in the soup! Adds a carmelized onion flavor.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – In a large skillet on the stove top set to medium high heat, add the ground beef and hot breakfast sausage.
Step Two – Cook and crumble, drain off any fat.
Step Three – Add to the slow cooker.
Step Four – For the carrot pumpkins; first make two straight slits for the stem, then cut 2 triangles from the sides of the stem and remove them. Cut into slices and you now have pumpkins!
Step Five – Add the remaining vegetables, pour over the tomato soup and French onion soup. WAIT TO ADD THE MUSHROOMS.
Step Six – Pour over the broth and cook on HIGH For four hours.
Step Seven – For the skull mushrooms; Use a standard sized straw and poke eye holes, the piece you poke out should come out in the straw. Make 2 slits for the nose and I also make slits on the stem of the mushroom, to make it look like a collar.
Step Eight – Then add the mushrooms to the slow cooker and cook for 10 minutes longer. I don’t cook the mushrooms very long so the hold their shape.
Step Nine – Serve and enjoy!
What do I serve with this?
- Garlic bread, cornbread or buttered french bread.
- Topped with Parmesan or mozzarella cheese.
- Saltine crackers or oyster crackers.
Recipe FAQs
Note that the ground hot sausage really makes this meal hearty and decadent. If you want to use another type of meat the flavor will be altered and you may need to add more salt and seasonings. You can use chicken breasts, ground turkey or kielbasa if desired.
Yes! You can freeze this soup before OR after cooking with no issues. Wait to add the mushrooms though if you are freezing before cooking.
No! If you are short on time, just cut them as usual, will still be a great meal.
Yes! This can be doubled in a 6 quart or larger crockpot.
More slow cooker soup and stew recipes:
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Slow Cooker Witches Brew Stew
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb. hot breakfast sausage, I use Jimmy Dean (use original if you don't like spicy)
- 3-4 large carrots, sliced then cut into pumpkin shapes
- 2 cups small diced gold potatoes
- 3 celery ribs, diced
- 1 cup diced leeks, (1 large leek)
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp. Italian herb seasoning, This is found with the other spices at the store. It has oregano, marjoram, savory, thyme, basil, rosemary and sage. If you do not have this, use a mixture of what you do have.
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 10.5 oz. Campbell's Condensed French Onion Soup
- 10.5 oz. Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup
- 1.5 cups water
- 32 oz. box beef broth
- 10 mushrooms, (cut in half, then skull face cut into it, see directions)
Instructions
- NOTE- wait to add the mushrooms until the end of cooking time.In a large skillet on the stove top set to medium high heat, brown the ground beef and sausage together. Crumble and drain off fat. Add to the slow cooker.
- For the carrot pumpkins; first make two straight slits for the stem, then cut 2 triangles from the sides of the stem and remove them. Cut them into slices and add to the slow cooker.
- Add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the mushrooms.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.
- When the cooking time is near done. Prepare the mushrooms. Cut them down the middle length wise, making them each into two pieces. Use a straw to poke out the eyes and use a knife to make two slits for a nose. I also make slits on the stem.
- Add the mushrooms to the slow cooker after the cooking time is done. Let the mushrooms cook for 10 minutes along with the rest of the soup. I add the mushrooms at the end of the cooking time so they will keep their shape.
How to Video
Sarah’s Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
How long will the stew keep while frozen? Also, what is your recommended method for thawing/reheating?
This stew will be good for about 3 months in the freezer. I thaw in the fridge and I like to reheat on the stove top in a small saucepan.
My family loves this meal! I switch the protein portion to andouille sausage and it’s their favorite. Here I am in may making it because they request it so often
Made this last night and had no leftovers very yummy and delicious.
Excellent!!!
I was served it in Georgia & put it on my do list when I returned to the Cali.
The juice ain’t worth the squeeze. Maybe a different seasoning or protein? It came out super greasy and runny, my husband half save it by adding instant mash potatoes to the broth.
Made this tonight & it was super yummy. As for cutting carrots into pumpkin shapes… it didn’t really work, not sure what I was doing wrong but underneath the stalk bit there was bits of the carrot that weren’t meant to cut out so it ended up not really looking like a pumpkin. Also removing the slit of the pumpkin was a pain, I don’t know how the heck the woman that I watched removes it by just pulling it out! Impossible. If anyone has any tips on maybe using some kind of cutter or something instead next year that would be great!
I served it with some mashed potato & it was delicious & filling.
Made this this evening for supper! It was a hit all around. We are dairy free (not by choice, cheese is life for me lol but my husband cannot have it) so we use sautéed onions and broth instead of French onion soup! I also totally spaced on putting this together this morning, so sautéed the beef, original breakfast sausage and onions in my instant pot, and then added all the other ingredients on soup mode for about 25 minutes! I will definitely make it again!
Can this be prepared the night before, refrigerate overnight and then start the slow cooker in the morning to cook? Working mom but need it for a weeknight book club dinner.
I think it would work fine. Though, you have to be careful for the stoneware may crack from it being cold to hot too fast.
I’ve made this two or three times now, didn’t use sausage any of the times but still followed the recipe as close as I could and it was fantastic. The second and third batches were vegan as I was planning to serve this at my Halloween party last year where veg and vegan friends were attending and you couldn’t even tell at all, and that’s coming from someone who definitely tried to avoid meat and dairy substitutes (not out of spite, I just don’t like how they taste). To sub vegan onion soup I got some packets of the soup base powder and just added it to water and poured into a pan of sauteed sliced onions, let it cook for a while, and that was that. Highly recommend this recipe and I can’t wait to make it with the sausage too next time
I love these tips! I accidently made this once and forgot the meat, and it still was great hearty soup!
If I do not have a slow cooker, could I simmer this on low for a couple hours on the stove in a normal pot? Or what would I do? I plan on making this tomorrow with my gf, and we are so excited to cut the shapes out of the veggies!
I think that would work great. The potatoes would take the longest. I would be prepared to add extra water or broth for it will evaporate a bit on the stove top.