Royalty Fast Food

This rich and comfortable dish for slow cooker beef stew is made with potatoes, carrots, celery, stock, herbs, and spices. Saying “yum” won’t take long for you. And it’s dinner rolls recipe comfort food.

Beef Stew Ingredients

These are the ingredients you’ll need to make this top-rated beef stew recipe:

• Stew meat: This recipe starts with two pounds of beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces.
• Flour: All-purpose flour thicken beef stew broth, ensuring a hearty stew.
• Seasonings: This beef stew is seasoned with salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, garlic, and a bay leaf.
• Broth: Use store-bought or homemade beef broth.
• Vegetables: You’ll need carrots, potatoes, onions, and celery.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 ½ cups beef broth
• 4 medium carrots, sliced
• 3 medium red potatoes, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large bay leaf

Tools For This Recipe

(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.

• Kitchen tongs make it really easy to delicately handle the meat to place it into the pot for searing it and to remove it afterward.
• I have this Crock Pot which allows you to sear meat right on the stove-top. It also automatically switches to warm once the cooking time is up.
• Kitchen Bouquet Browning + Seasoning Sauce (Optional)- Adds an even richer darker color.

How to Make Beef Stew In the Slow Cooker

You’ll find the full, step-by-step recipe below but here’s a brief overview of what you can expect when you make this slow-cooker beef stew:

1. Combine ingredients: Place the beef on medium-high heat, then toss with flour, salt, and pepper. Add the broth, vegetables, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, garlic, and bay leaf. Stir to combine.
2. Set slow cooker: Cover the Crock-Pot and cook on Low for 8 to 12 hours or on High for 4 to 6 hours.

How to Store Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Transfer the cooled beef stew to a shallow, airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.

Can You Freeze Slow Cooker Beef Stew?

Yes, you can freeze slow-cooker beef stew for up to three months. Ladle the stew in serving-size portions to zip-top freezer bags (leave about ½-inch of space at the top, as the liquid will expand as it freezes). Squeeze out the excess air and freeze flat. Thaw in the fridge or in a warm water bath.

Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise

“Excellent recipe,” raves one Allrecipes community member. “Great flavor, easy to make, and it warms you up on a cold winter day!”

“The only thing I added was a splash of red wine not much,” according to Sharon Schroeder. “It was the tastiest, tenderest beef stew I’ve ever made.”

“Perfect exactly as written,” says MISSLIZA. “Super easy to throw together in the morning and a great tasting meal to sit down to at the end of the day!

The Culinary Alchemy: Unveiling the Magic

The magic of slow cooker beef stew lies in its patient preparation. As the stew simmers, the flavors meld and mingle, creating a melody of aromas that will beckon your senses. The low, slow cooking method coaxes the tough collagen in the beef to dissolve into a luscious sauce, rendering the meat fork-tender and imbued with the essence of the broth and wine.

Crafting Memories: A Recipe for Generations

At Royalty Fast Food, we understand that a dish transcends the boundaries of a recipe. It’s an opportunity to craft memories that linger for generations. Our slow cooker beef stew recipe is more than just nourishment; it’s an experience that invites you to savor the present while building a culinary legacy for the future.

Our slow cooker beef stew recipe boasts a lineup of meticulously chosen components, each contributing to a harmonious ensemble of tastes. The star of the show is succulent beef chunks, marbled to perfection and chosen for their tenderness. Supporting these meaty protagonists is a medley of fresh vegetables: vibrant carrots, earthy potatoes, and aromatic onions. These elements, combined with a bouquet garni of fragrant herbs, lay the foundation for an unparalleled culinary creation.

How To Thicken Beef Stew

Beef stew will thicken a bit naturally thanks to the starches in the potatoes and the dredging of the beef, but I always like to thicken it a little bit more.

Stew can be thickened by giving the vegetables a quick mash or you can use either flour or cornstarch. My preferred method for thickening beef stew (and the method used in this beef stew recipe) is to use a cornstarch slurry.

Making Slow-Cooker Beef Stew Step-by-Step

Step. 1 

Gather ingredients. Then place the meat in the slow cooker.

Step. 2

Mix flour, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Pour over meat, and stir until meat is coated. After this add beef broth, carrots, potatoes, onion, celery, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, garlic, and bay leaves; stir to combine.

Step. 3

Cover, and cook until beef is tender enough to cut with a spoon, on Low for 8 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 6 hours. Then serve with beef stew and enjoy!

What To Serve With Beef Stew

Beef stew is super perfect on its own; it is a complete meal!

We usually serve it with bread, biscuit, or even Garlic Crescent Rolls to sop up any broth! I also love serving it with mashed potatoes in the bottom of the bowl! Even just some crushed crackers or saltines are all you really need.

Why Our Slow Cooker Beef Stew Stands Out

At Royalty Fast Food, we’ve meticulously crafted this love beef stew recipe to stand out in both taste and experience. What sets our slow cooker recipe apart is the artful combination of high-quality ingredients and the love we infuse into every step of the cooking process. Here’s why you’ll find our beef stew a cut above the rest:

1. Flavor Symphony: The marriage of red potatoes and beef broth creates a symphony of flavors that dance on your palate, leaving a lasting impression of richness and depth.
2. Texture Bliss: The careful selection of vegetables and the slow cooking process ensures that every bite is a harmonious blend of tender beef and perfectly cooked veggies.
3. Aromatic Enchantment: The bouquet garni of fresh thyme and rosemary elevates the aromatic experience, turning each spoonful into a fragrant journey.
4. Time-Honored Tradition: Our slow cooker beef stew recipe pays homage to time-honored culinary traditions, ensuring a dish that’s both nostalgic and innovative.

Instructions:

• Sear the beef chuck in a hot skillet until golden brown. Set aside.
• Sauté onions and garlic until translucent.
• In a slow cooker, chuck a roast layer of diced carrots and potatoes.
• Place seared beef on top of the vegetables.
• Add the bouquet garni.
• Pour in beef broth and red wine.
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve hot and savor the symphony of flavors.

FAQs

What is the secret to good stew?

For most types of stew, it takes time to develop great flavor. Stew uses collagen-rich, tough cuts of meat, which need at least two hours to break down. If you try to rush it and boil the stew, the muscle fibers will shrink and become tough. So give yourself a few hours to let it do its thing.

What gives beef stew the best flavor?

Make careful to brown the meat by scorching it over high heat for the best possible taste in your beef stew. This action makes a discernible improvement. Add some mushrooms for more umami. I use cremini mushrooms in this dish because they have a meaty texture and earthy flavor.

How to make the most tender beef stew meat?

Cooking stew meat for an extended period of time is the most crucial factor in ensuring that it is soft. Beef must be cooked on low heat in a Dutch oven on the stovetop or a slow cooker for at least a few hours if you want it to be extremely tender.

What is the secret to tender beef stew?

Don’t push the process; instead, let the low heat do its work. Approximately 3 hours on the stovetop and at least 4 hours in a slow cooker are required for the beef to become soft and the flavors to mingle.

What adds richness to a stew?

Simply put, browning the meat gives the stew a richness and depth of flavor that cannot be achieved by adding more components. The meat proteins and carbohydrates react with high heat to produce browning.

Note:

This original recipe submission called for slow cooking on Low for 10 to 12 hours. When making the video for this recipe, our food stylists found a cook time of 8 hours on Low (or 4 hours on High) was sufficient. Please stir and check doneness along the way to be sure your meat is cooked properly.