Ingredient Notes:
Beef Stew Meat – You can keep it simple and buy a pack of beef stew meat from the grocery store or you can chop up a chuck roast yourself. I think a chuck roast tends to be better quality, but you can do either.
Veggies – We’re using yellow potatoes, carrots, sweet onion, garlic, and frozen peas. The peas add such a nice pop of color.
Beef Broth – This will be the base of your stew. We like Better than Bouillon.
Herbs & Seasoning – We’re using seasoned salt, black pepper, and a bay leaf plus more salt and pepper to taste.
Tomato Paste – This is basically just concentrated tomato flavor. It doesn’t take a lot of tomato paste to add loads of tomato goodness to any recipe!
Worcestershire Sauce – We love to add this to just about any kind of beef recipe. It really enhances the savory, beefy flavor and it doesn’t take much.
Variations:
Veggies: There are tons of other vegetables that could be used in this stew. Bell peppers, sweet corn, celery, tomatoes, mushrooms, parsnips, and so much more! Add softer veggies (like tomatoes) towards the end of cooking and harder veggies (like parsnips) in with the potatoes and carrots.
Herbs & Seasoning: You can use a variety of different herbs and other seasonings in the stew. Some popular options are rosemary, thyme, and parsley.
How to Make Beef Stew in a Crock Pot:
Season and coat the beef stew meat in flour and then sear it in a hot skillet until nice and brown.
Add everything but the peas to the slow cooker, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Remove the bay leaf, stir in the peas, and add more salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately or keep warm in your slow cooker until you’re ready to dig in.
Helpful Tip:
Deglaze for extra flavor!
You can use a dry red wine to deglaze the skillet after searing the beef stew meat! To deglaze pour about a cup of wine into the skillet and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer while scraping up all the browned bits of beef in the skillet. Let it reduce by half and pour all that good stuff into the slow cooker with the other beef stew ingredients!
What to Serve with Beef Stew?
The most obvious choice and probably the most popular for serving alongside hearty beef stew is some warm, crusty bread! Some homemade biscuits, sweet cornbread or our jalapeno cheddar bread will soak up all that flavor!
This stew is great with a variety of side dishes too such as mashed potatoes, or just some plain white rice to serve the beef stew over, but we usually just go for the stew + bread and skip any other sides.
Freezing & Storage Instructions:
The stew can be refrigerated in a covered container for about 3 to 4 days. It’ll taste even better the next day, honestly!
This beef stew recipe is also great for freezing! Let it cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe bag or container. It’ll store for up to a few months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
