My slow cooker beef stew recipe blends the good stuff you want your family to eat with the mouth-watering deliciousness that’ll have them running for the table!
Coming home to the delicious aroma of beef stew just makes the rest of the day a little better. All those rich, yummy flavors married together in a delectable sauce immediately beckons to every nearby taste bud. Not only is this stew wholesome and nutritious for the entire family but it practically dances down to your tummy, slowly warming your insides to a soft, fervent glow.
Ending your day with an easy stew like my Instant Pot beef stew or my family-pleasing Brunswick stew is the perfect way to put a smile on any day!
This recipe will fill your house with that cooking-all-day aroma without actually having to sweat over a stovetop.
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What I Love About This Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe
What’s not to love about this incredible beef stew? It’s an easy make-ahead meal that’s ready when you are, and it tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen!
- Warms your heart and soul!
- Family favorite
- So easy to make — set it and forget it!
- Guaranteed happy end to your day
Slow Cooker Beef Stew Video Tutorial
Recipe Notes
There are a lot of recipes out there for how to make beef stew crock pot fast but this one is my favorite hands down. While this old fashioned beef stew recipe is a no-fail one-pot meal, there are a few secrets to coaxing out that stick to your ribs goodness wrapped in yummy flavor.
- Browning: This gourmet beef stew recipe slow cooker meal naturally begins in a skillet. It is best to use your favorite heavy-bottomed skillet for this step because it will distribute heat more evenly.
- Be sure not to overcrowd your pan when browning your meat. Overcrowding traps pockets of heat and prevents all surfaces from cooking evenly.
- Sauce: When making the ‘sauce’ you’ll be stirring up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan (commonly known as deglazing) and dissolving bouillon cubes. I find that a wooden spoon works best because it’s sturdy and it won’t scratch your cookware.
- Bouillon: Speaking of bouillon cubes, it’s best not to add salt until the end. Bouillon cubes are pretty salty, and you may not need extra.
- Mushrooms: This slow cooker beef stew recipe calls for mushrooms and they really take the meatiness factor of this dish to the next level.
- Soup: This old fashioned beef stew slow cooker recipe also calls for a can of condensed tomato soup (undiluted) unlike slow cooker beef stew with onion soup mix. Your stew will not taste like tomato soup!
- Instead, you’ll get slightly sweet nuances to balance out those salty bouillon cubes. It’s a rich, complex flavor profile that is off the charts on the yummy factor!
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
Once cooked, you can store your slow cooker beef stew recipe in the fridge for up to four days. You don’t want to mess with the safety of beef, so toss any extras after that time. Or just gobble it all down before that four-day deadline!
Can You Freeze This?
You can certainly freeze this slow cooker beef stew recipe and keep ready-made meals in the freezer. It works best if you store it in a size appropriate air-tight container.
Just remember to leave room for expansion and make sure that it is completely cooled before placing your beef stew in the freezer.
Make Ahead Tips
Creating this easy beef stew recipe ahead of time will just ensure that it has a superior flavor and it’s ready when you are. This slow cooker beef stew healthy recipe will taste even better the next day after marinating in that incredible sauce.
Of course, you may want to consider waiting to add the potatoes until you are ready to serve your slow cooker beef stew because they could get softer than you like bathing in that tasty sauce for an extended period of time. It’s a personal preference choice.
Serving Recommendations
This is the best beef stew to pair with a simple green salad and our homemade balsamic vinaigrette, or strawberry salad (feel free to switch berries for those in season and on-hand).
Of course, my all-time favorite thing to eat with this gourmet beef stew recipe slow cooker style is warm, tender, and buttery lion house rolls (with make-ahead instructions). Or incorporate the carbs right on top of the stew, like slow cooker beef stew and dumplings!
Recipe Variations
- Add bacon. My cowboy stew and goulash soup have few slices of bacon in it, you can definitely add it here too!
- Add pork. Use a pound each of beef and pork meat to make this a bigos inspired stew.
- Use ground beef instead. Use ground beef instead of chuck roast, or convert this entirely to hamburger stew.
- Add pasta. Want some extra filler? Add in macaroni like what I did to my Instant Pot goulash or whatever pasta you prefer!
- Cook this on the stovetop. Not enough time to cook? Both my Hungarian goulash and German goulash (that uses beef chuck too) are cooked on the stovetop for about 2-4 hours. Expect the same cooking time if you decide to go to the faster route.
More Beef Soup Recipes
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast trimmed and cut Into 1-inch cubed
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups to 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 large beef bouillon cubes
- 1 (10 3/ -ounces) can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
- 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 medium onions sliced
- 2 large Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 3 medium carrots cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 stalks celery cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 ounces whole mushrooms trimmed
- 3/4 cup frozen peas thawed
Instructions
- Pour flour into a 1-gallon Ziplock bag. Add meat, in batches, and shake to evenly coat all pieces.
- Add oil to a large skillet and heat. When the oil is hot, brown meat in batches without crowding it. Transfer meat, when it's browned, directly to crockpot. Add 1 1/2 cups water and bouillon cubes to the skillet and cook, stirring up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet and dissolving the bouillon cubes. Remove from heat and add tomato soup, Italian seasonings, bay leaves, and black pepper and stir to combine. Pour into the crockpot over beef. Add the onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, and mushrooms.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until the beef and veggies are tender. If needed, add more water. Add the thawed peas the last 20-30 minutes of cooking. Discard bay leaves and serve.
My family does not like mushrooms. Would eliminating them make that much difference in the flavor?
Hi Lynn. No, it will still taste great! 🙂
Best stew recipe ever! It was so good… my family loved it!
Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed Sue! You are so welcome!!
I made a large batch of this on Monday as I knew the week of Christmas was going to be crazy. It is outstanding and we have been eating on it ever since and it just gets better everyday. I would give this recipe a very hearty thumbs up for the busy cooks out there.
Thank you sooo much, Kathy! 🙂 🙂
Thank you, Kathy. What a great idea to make this the week before Christmas!!!
We just love this stew recipe 👍 My question is , can it be totally made on top of he stove? I was prepping everything and my crockpot decided to quit on me. I have everything ready to go but no crockpot . Is it possible to do it all on the stove top?
Thanks so much in advance
Mary
Hi, Mary! Yes, you can cook this on the stove instead. The cooking process may take you 2-3 hours.
You can also try this one:
https://www.gonnawantseconds.com/beef-stew-recipe/
Enjoy! <3
Made it today and it was fantastic! Thanks for sharing!!
You’re so welcome, Lisa. So happy you enjoyed! <3
My husband said this was the best stew ever!! My whole family loved it!
That seems like alot of italian seasoning…can I leave that out entirely?
Of course. It will be a lot less flavorful though.
Why would you want to? Considering it’s like, the ONLY seasoning added, 1 Tbsp is NOT going to be overpowering due to the large volume of the recipe. If anything, I would double it & add in some fresh minced garlic or garlic powder.
<3!!!
It has taken me over 30 years to find a beef stew recipe I like. I loved my mother in laws but could never replicate. We love this recipe and is the only one I’ll ever use. I use venison chops cut into small pieces for my meat. THIS IS THE BEST!
Hi Lynn! I’m so very happy to hear that!!
Can the tomato soup be substituted? I am preparing this dish for someone going through Chemo and they cannot tolerate tomato right now.
Hi! I’d try Cream of Beef. What do you think? 🙂
Made this recipe last night and followed it exactly. It was AMAZING! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I just have one question. We bought stewing beef from Costco and I have more than enough left to make another batch. My question is have you ever froze the cooked stew? If so how did it turn out after thawing? Thanks!
Hey Brenda. Yes I have and it thaws out as any beef stew would, the veggies are very soft but it’s even more flavorful. I’m so happy you enjoyed the stew <3
Thanks so much! You were right. We are making another batch tonight. A new family favourite!
I’m so happy to hear that Brenda! <3
Tried the recipe with a few modifications to lower sodium intake and it was fantastic! Used low sodium beef broth (3 1/2 caps) cooked down to two for a concentrated flavor. Used Pomo crushed tomatoes which I purée’d instead of tomato soup and used salt free Italian seasoning.
Hi Scott. Your modifications sound great! I’m very happy you enjoyed it!
This is my second time using this recipe. I love it and so does my family. This is a keeper for me. I didn’t make any changes to it. I may try some changes using some posts I read. I love to try new recipes from Pinerest.
Hi Raymond. I’m so glad everyone in the family like the Crock Pot Beef Stew 🙂
Hi Kathleen,
My name is Raymonde (not Raymond). I am female and French. Raymonde is the feminine name of Raymond. I get that mistake all the time though so getting used to it.
Raymonde
Dear Raymonde,
I had also never heard of the name Raymonde as a female name.
I feel so sorry for you that people always misinterpret it. Thatwy
i. ve got 3 powerful solutions, then things can’t go wrong anymore !!
1. Is better when you write your name with an a at the end ! Raymonda.
2. is better when you mention Mrs. by your name – Mrs Reymonde P.
3. is better if you mention the kiss sign x at the end of your response !
. . because men never give away merciful kisses !!!!!!
I also have the same problem as a man, my name is Lesley, an female
name but I am a man. I solved this problem by always mentioning an alternative masculine sounding name, namely: Lesr.
Greeting and all the best from the Netherlands.
Lesr