Beef stew is one of those household favorites that seem to traverse the boundaries of many cultures and geography!
Making Slow Cooker Beef Stew is an absolute life-saver when you need to make a hearty and comforting meal for the family but don’t have as much time as what’s typically required for traditional stovetop beef stew.
The slow cooking process is a set-and-forget convenience, creating fork-tender beef and vegetables, ideal for serving in a bowl as is or over freshly steamed rice.
Jump To
If you love slow cooker recipes you should try these next and let me know what do you think! Slow Cooker Pulled Beef and Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie.
Why We Love This
- Set it and forget it - slow cooker recipes are one of my favorite meals. No standing in the kitchen and long hours cooking required! Once you prepare and add the ingredients to the pot, you get to go on with your daily tasks with a delicious meal ready for you to enjoy hours later.
- Ultra comforting and hearty stew - beef stew is an absolute must-make during the winter months of the year. It’ll fill you and warm you up from the inside.
- Budget-friendly - the ingredients used to make a traditional beef stew are inexpensive, most of which you already have in your pantry. It’s a cost-effective meal that will stretch far when you need it to!
- Healthy and customizable - this family favorite recipe can suit any taste or diet. It is low carb, dairy-free and gluten-free. For further customization add your favorite spices, seasonings, veggies. Use my ingredient quantities as a base guideline.
Ingredients
- Chuck roast - You can also use different cuts of beef such as shoulder, round roast, and rump roast since they all contain collagen which breaks down in the meat making it tender. Stay away from beef cuts that are overly fatty since this fat will just melt away, leaving you with tough and chewy meat. I’d recommend buying a whole piece of chuck roast from the market and trimming/cutting it yourself at home. This way you’ll know exactly what you are getting and cutting the beef in uniform sizes will help the beef cook evenly. Use as much as the recipe requires and freeze the leftovers if needed.
- Red wine - dry red wine is best for beef stew. Since you are cooking with wine, there’s no need to sacrifice any of your good stuff. A simple house brand will do. If you don’t want to use alcohol, simply increase the beef broth by the amount of wine called for in the recipe.
- Vegetables - potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, green beans, and onions are all vegetable staples for beef stew! But feel free to add in any other vegetables that you love the most, making sure that they are the kind that will hold up to a slow cooking process. I also recommend cutting the potatoes larger than you'd normally do as they tend to cook fastest. Don't like green beans? Use frozen peas instead or leave it out entirely.
- Dried herbs - I have also used dried thyme instead of dried oregano, or a mix of Mediterranean dried herbs - it works well every time! Another delicious alternative is fresh or dried rosemary.
- Flour - this thickens the soup beautifully. If you want a gluten-free beef stew then I suggest using a gluten-free brand of flour instead of all-purpose flour. My two favorites are 1 to 1 All Purpose Gluten Free Flour and Measure To Measure.
👩🍳 You'll find the complete list of ingredients below the recipe card.
Instructions
Prep the Meat. Start by trimming the excess fat off and cutting the beef into 1 ½ inch cubes. Season the meat with salt and black pepper.
Heat up vegetable oil in a heavy bottom large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the beef chunks until well golden brown (about 4-5 minutes on both sides for a 1-2 inch chunk).
Don’t overcrowd the pan, you’ll need to do this in batches, carefully cleaning the surface of the pan with a paper towel if necessary and adding more oil before the next batch.
Don’t change the heat temperature and don’t overcook the beef.
Transfer the seared chunks into 4.5-quart slow cooker along with the browned bits from the pan.
Add the veggies (potato, carrot, mushrooms, onion). Sprinkle with spices.
In a small bowl or measuring cup mix beef broth, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Pour in the slow cooker and add 2 bay leaves.
Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH 4 hours. After that taste for seasoning and add more salt/pepper if necessary.
Thicken the stew: Take out 2 cups of broth liquid from the slow cooker and add ½ cup of all purpose flour in batches, whisk well until combined before adding the flour each time. If any lumps occur, carefully remove them with a spoon.
There should be no lumps in the end. Pour in the slurry back into the slow cooker. Gently stir to combine.
Top with green beans and cook on HIGH for another 15 minutes or LOW for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning again.
Serve as it is or with a portion of rice, mashed potatoes or simple green lettuce salad.
Equipment
- 4.5 Quart Slow Cooker
- Measuring Cup
- Gluten-Free Flour - I love both brands as they work exactly like regular all-purpose flour (with rising agents like xanthan gum already included). However, you can use tapioca flour, rice flour, oat flour if it is the only thing you have on hand.
Tips
- When it comes to beef stew, it’s important to use a generous amount of salt and pepper when seasoning the beef cubes. This will produce great flavor in the meat by the end of the cooking time.
- Searing the beef - is an optional but important step in the beef cooking process. It removes excess fat, gives the beef a beautiful brown color and crust, that helps to preserve all the natural juices and flavors in the beef during slow cooking.
- To feed a crowd without having to double up on the recipe, consider serving this slow cooker beef stew over rice or quinoa.
- Stick to the cooking time of this recipe. While you can’t really overcook the meat, you can risk overcooking the vegetables which will turn soft and mushy as a result.
- Buying a whole chuck roast and cutting it yourself at home gives you more control of the trimming of fat and the uniform sizes of the beef cubes for even cooking. Leftover chuck can be stored in the freezer.
Freezing and Storing Instructions
- Storing instructions - Keep the cooked stew refrigerated at all times closed in the food container. For best flavor consume within 3-4 days.
- Freezing instructions - Store cooled leftover stew in an airtight freezer-safe storage container or larger ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheat the stew in a pot on the stovetop or in individual bowls in the microwave. Add some extra warm water or beef broth to thin the stew a bit before reheating.
📖Recipe
Slow Cooker Beef Stew With Mushrooms (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed, cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
- 3 medium carrots, thick half moons
- 3 large Russet potatoes, ½ inch cubes
- ½ cup fresh or frozen green beans, trimmed and cut in half
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced thick
- 1 cup red wine, dry or any similar that you have on hand
- salt and black pepper to taste
- vegetable oil for cooking
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 5 large garlic cloves, minced
- 3 cups beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato sauce or 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 ½ tablespoons gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup gluten free blend flour, or All purpose flour for non gluten free
- Garnish with fresh parsley, oregano, green onions or chives
Instructions
- Prep the Meat. Start by trimming the excess fat off and cutting the beef into 1 ½ inch cubes. Season the meat with salt and black pepper.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a heavy bottom large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the beef chunks until well golden brown (about 4-5 minutes on both sides for a 1-2 inch chunk) Don’t overcrowd the pan, you’ll need to do this in batches, carefully cleaning the surface of the pan with a paper towel if necessary and adding more oil before the next batch. Don’t change the heat temperature and don’t overcook the beef.
- Transfer the seared chunks into 4.5 quart slow cooker along with the browned bits form the pan.
- Add the veggies (potato, carrot, mushrooms, onion). Sprinkle with spices.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup mix beef broth, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Pour in the slow cooker and add 2 bay leaves.
- Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH 4 hours. After that taste for seasoning and add more salt/pepper if necessary.
- Thicken the stew: Take out 2 cups of broth liquid from the slow cooker and add ½ cup of all purpose flour in batches, whisk well until combined before adding the flour each time. If any lumps occur, carefully remove them with a spoon. There should be no lumps in the end. Pour in the slurry back into the slow cooker. Gently stir to combine. Top with green beans and cook on HIGH for another 15 minutes or LOW for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning again.
- Serve as it is or with a portion of rice or simple green lettuce salad.
Rita
We love delicious recipes from scratch that are easy to make! And this beef stew is so simple!