Serve up a hot meal without the fuss for your family tonight: This crock pot beef stew is the perfect easy comfort food dinner.
I love that prepping dinner in the morning when the kids are generally in a good mood (or in school) is the best thing I can do to put a hot meal on the table come 6pm, relatively stress free. Hooray for slow cookers!
Stew is one of my favorite things to cook during fall and winter and this right here, or my Crockpot Tuscan White Bean Chicken Stew or Slow Cooker Irish Beef Stew are both regulars from October to February.
Try them all – you’ll love those cozy recipes!
Step by step instructions
First, you’ll need to brown the meat. I season and sprinkle it with flour right in the pan – no need to dirty another dish!
Then, remove the meat to a slow cooker. Place the onions and garlic in the skillet and cook until softened, then season and pour the red wine into the pan (use broth if you want to avoid wine).
Make sure to scratch any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet – that’s where all the flavor is! Then, once the red wine has thickened, add the remaining gravy ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Then, place the vegetables over the meat in the crockpot and (very carefully!!) ladle the hot gravy on top.
Now you’ll just need to let this cook in the slow cooker, add the peas about 10 minutes before you want dinner on the table – and that’s the best beef stew of your life done 😉
Cooking tips
If you want a thick gravy: There are a few different methods to yield a thicker gravy.
- The flouring of the meat helps a lot with thickening the gravy later on.
- If you love very thick beef stew, you can add a shredded FLOURY potato in addition to everything else.
- OR you can stir a cornstarch slurry into the stew about 10-15 minutes before cooking time is up and then cook it with the lid off for the remaining time – it’s what I do with my crockpot mediterranean chicken stew.
Cutting the vegetables: It is important to cut the veggies roughly into the same size chunks, otherwise they won’t cook evenly.
Also, do not cut them too small and do not cut them too big (I know, great advice 😉 ). When cut too small, they will dissolve. So you can leave them quite chunky. Just pay attention that you cut them in a way so a regular adult can eat the veggies without having to cut them up.
The great thing about stew is that it’s a rustic dish – so you can definitely get away with rustic chopping, it doesn’t have to be perfect by any means.
Browning the meat: Flouring and browning the meat before you add it to the crockpot will give you a wealth of extra flavor. It is a step you can leave out if time is very sparse – but the flavor and consistency of the stew will vastly benefit from NOT skipping this step.
Alcohol: The alcohol will evaporate as it cooks in the skillet (it would NOT evaporate as easily if cooked entirely in the crock pot). But if you’re uncomfortable using it, just use more broth.
Maple syrup: I get asked all the time why I put maple syrup in the stew, and it’s just there to add more depth to the flavor. It doesn’t make the stew sweet! But you can leave it out if you don’t want to add it.
Liquid amount: Some readers remarked that 2 cups of liquid doesn’t seem enough for a stew. But before you add more broth, please remember that the added liquid about DOUBLES in a slow cooker dish as it cooks. The stew ends up with plenty of gravy as long as you stick to the amounts given for the vegetables and the beef.
Note: An earlier version of my recipe included fresh thyme and bay leaves, but I got a lot of feedback from people who don’t keep these on hand, so I re-tested the recipe to make sure it tastes nice without them – and it does. Feel free to add a few sprigs of fresh thyme and a few bay leaves to the stew with the vegetables.
Our favorite side dishes
While there is everything you need right in the stew, I still love adding a side or two to stretch the meal.
Some of our favorites:
More hearty comfort food
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!
Crock Pot Beef Stew
Recipe details
Equipment
Ingredients
For the meat
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1.5 pounds beef stewing meat in chunks
- 1-2 teaspoons salt or less, depending on what kind of stock you’re using
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons flour
For the gravy
- 2 large yellow onions cut into wedges
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup red wine OR use more stock
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
For the vegetables
- 3 large waxy potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 large carrots peeled, ends trimmed and cut into chunks
- 4 large celery sticks trimmed and thickly sliced
- ½ pound brown mushrooms cleaned and quartered
- ½ cup frozen peas no need to defrost
Instructions
- Brown the meat: Heat the oil in a large and deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef cubes, season with salt and pepper and stir. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and stir well. Cook until the beef is browned on all sides (do not stir too much, or the beef will not brown properly). Remove to a 5-6 quart slow cooker.
- Start the gravy: Put the skillet back over medium high heat. If needed, add a little more oil. Cook the onions and garlic until starting to soften. Stir in the Italian seasoning and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the herbs are fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour the red wine into the pan, scratching the browned bits off the bottom. Cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in the stock, Worcestershire sauce and maple syrup. Bring to a boil (this will help the stew start cooking faster once it is in the crock), then switch off the heat.
- Transfer to the slow cooker: On top of the meat, place the potatoes, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Very carefully (!) pour the hot liquid from the skillet into the crockpot, making sure the liquid runs down all the way to the bottom and underneath the meat (stir a little if needed).
- Cook: Cook the stew on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGh for 4 hours. 10 minutes before cooking time is over, stir in the peas. Check for seasoning and adjust if needed. Either finish cooking with the lid open (if you want a thicker stew) OR closed if you want it soupier.
Notes
Cooking Tips:
If you want a thick gravy: There are a few different methods to yield a thicker gravy.- The flouring of the meat helps a lot with thickening the gravy later on.
- If you love very thick beef stew, you can add a shredded FLOURY potato in addition to everything else.
- OR you can stir a cornstarch slurry into the stew about 10-15 minutes before cooking time is up and then cook it with the lid off for the remaining time – it’s what I do with my crockpot mediterranean chicken stew.
Nutrition
More recipe information
The crock pot is such a big help in this season, and we love this slow cooker stew just as much as we love our Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers, Crockpot Chicken and Noodle Soup and my Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos.
I hope you’ll enjoy this cozy meal just as much as we do – enjoy!
P.S: For more stew recipes, check out our collection of homemade beef stew recipes!
John says
Excellent. I was surprised how good it was. At 78, I have decided to give up gardening and learn how to cook. The 30 minute prep time was about 2 hours for me. But about 1 hour of that was finding the wine opener. It was in the basement, inside a pan which has probably never been used. I do not like peas so I used corn instead. What are waxy potatoes?
Nora says
John, I have definitely spent hours looking for kitchen tools as well. I’m glad you found the wine opener, and I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed the stew. Waxy potatoes are ones that don’t fall apart when cooking, Yukon Gold always work great. Hope this helps!
Cookie Smith says
Very tasty and meat and veggies so tender! I added parsnips and left out the peas. Also cut down the onion and garlic in half. Lots of gravy which I thickened at the end with cornstarch.
Nora says
I’m so glad to hear this!
Brenda says
Can u put this on oven?
Nora says
Brenda, you absolutely can. Use an oven-safe pot with a tight-fitting lid (I recommend a Dutch oven). Prepare the stew as directed, using the Dutch oven for all of the browning etc. Instead of transferring everything to a crock, stir everything together in the Dutch oven. Place the lid on top and then place it in the oven at 350°F for 1 ½ – 2 hours. Hope this helps!
Louise says
Any suggestions for this recipe in a pressure cooker?
Nora says
I have an Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe that’s pretty much identical to this one, just made in the pressure cooker. Hope this helps, Louise!
Christian Delaney says
I followed the instructions and it came out perfect! Delicious
Nora says
I’m so glad to hear it, Christian!
Judy Woodworth says
It is the best stew ever. When I first made it I didn’t have tomato sauce so I used four tablespoons of spaghetti sauce. So good. Today again I didn’t have tomato sauce so I used honey barbecue sauce. Neither time did I use the maple syrup.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Judy!
Nimet says
Best Beef Stew!!
Nora says
I’m so glad to hear!
Bridget Guerin Olson says
This was absolutely awesome. It am not a huge stew person, but my husband is, so I tried this. We both loved it. The meat and the vegetables were both so tender and flavorful. I will be making this again!
Kelly says
OMG – AMAZING! My husband insists that this be the only recipe we ever use when we make beef stew. LOVED IT!
Nora says
Well, I agree with your husband 😉 I’m so glad you enjoyed the stew! Thanks for your lovely comment, Kelly!
Emily says
So good! For the first step I used almond flour, because that’s what I had lol the whole thing was amazing super filling and was asked to make it again. Thanks!