Crazy Delicious Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This Slow Cooker Beef Stew is a hearty and warming dinner recipe for cold fall and winter nights. It’s easy to assemble in the morning, and then it cooks in the crockpot all day!

This recipe is made from scratch with real ingredients and has easy swaps to make it whole 30 friendly.

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Ingredients for Beef Stew

This all-in-one meal includes tender beef, carrots, potatoes, celery and the most delicious gravy.

You Need:

For the meat:

• 2 tablespoons oil (use olive oil or ghee for whole 30)
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch OR flour
• 1.5 pounds beef stewing meat in chunks, grass fed and/or organic preferred

For the gravy:

• 2 large yellow onions, cut into thin wedges
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 1/3 cups beef stock, separated
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt, or less, depending on what kind of stock you’re using
• Black pepper, to taste

For the stew:

• 1 pound waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 large celery sticks, trimmed and thickly sliced
• 1/2 pound brown mushrooms, quartered
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, no need to defrost (use chopped frozen green beans for Whole30)

Ingredient Swaps

• use green beans in place of the peas and radishes in place of the potatoes for a lower carb version

• if you don’t have any Worcestershire sauce, use soy sauce instead

• use floury potatoes instead of waxy ones for a thicker stew

Equipment Needed for Crock Pot Beef Stew

You need the following equipment ready:

• a knife and chopping board
• measuring cups and spoons
• a wooden cooking spoon
• a deep-dish skillet or sauté pan
• a 5-6 quart slow cooker

Steps

1 – Brown the Beef:

To make sure the meat turns out flavorful, season it well with salt and pepper before browning.

To brown, heat the oil in a skillet, then add the beef to brown.

To make sure the beef actually browns (and doesn’t turn soggy), work in 2-3 batches to brown it.

Remove the browned beef to a 5-6 quart slow cooker.

2 – Start the gravy:

Cook onions in the same skillet as the beef (no need to wipe it).

Add garlic, parsley and tomato paste. Stir to roast, about 1 minute.

Add 1/3 cup of beef stock, scratching the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining ingredients for the gravy and bring to a boil (this helps to quick-start the stew in the crock).

Take off the heat.

3 – Slow cook:

Add all the remaining ingredients (except for the peas/green beans) to the slow cooker and stir well.

Cover with the lid and cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.

4 – Finish the dish:

Open the lid 10 minutes before the cooking time is up and stir in the frozen peas/green beans.

Leave the lid open to help thicken the stew, or stir in a slurry of arrowroot starch/cornstarch and water to further thicken the gravy.

Extra Tips for the Best Beef Stew:

Browning the meat with a sprinkling of flour before adding it to the crockpot helps to add more flavor to the gravy, and the flour thickens the stew as it cooks, so don’t skip this step.

Stirring the stew before slow cooking helps to distribute the liquid evenly, and underneath the meat all the way to the bottom of the crock. That way you’ll make sure there’s no meat sticking to the crock where it could burn.

For a thicker gravy, stir a slurry of a few teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch + water into the stew at the end.

Freezer Instructions

Freeze the cooked stew in freezer-friendly containers once it is at room temperature, labelled with the name and use-by date (up to three months).

To reheat, defrost in the fridge overnight then bring to a boil and gently simmer in a large pot on the stove until piping hot all the way through.

Pair this Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe With:

This is a nice all-in-one meal, but to stretch the meat (or to feed hungry teens), you can add a little something on the side.

Side

The Best Mashed Cauliflower

Dessert

Keto Pumpkin Bread

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