Last Updated on September 14, 2025 by Michelle Mundy
Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew is full of bite sized chunks of beef, tender potatoes, and delicious vegetables slow simmered in a beef gravy.
This easy recipe is completely customizable to the vegetables your family likes or what you happen to have on hand. A quick browning of the beef chunks allows the slow cooker to create the perfect beef gravy as the vegetables slow simmer.
A great weeknight meal, the slow cooker does almost all of the work. Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew is a delicious and satisfying meal!
What You’ll Need to make Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Stew Beef – Stew beef is typically inexpensive, made up of the tougher parts of either round roast or chuck roast that has been cut into pieces by the butcher and packaged for sale. When slow simmered in a liquid, the tough connective tissue breaks down and becomes surprisingly tender.
- Vegetables – Traditional stew contains a mixture of vegetables. We use turnip, celery, potato, onion and celery but you can use what you like or what you have. You’ll need seven (7) cups of vegetables total in this stew.
- Pantry Ingredients – Vegetable oil, all purpose flour, garlic powder, beef broth, canned diced tomatoes, dry onion soup mix, minced garlic.
- Cornstarch – (Optional) This is what we use to thicken the broth into more of a gravy. Be sure to mix water into cornstarch (not the other way around) to avoid lumps!
How to make Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew
This hearty beef stew is packed with vegetables, tender beef and wrapped in a delicious beef gravy. Slow simmered, the flavors combine to create one of our favorite comfort food recipes!
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
In a medium bowl combine flour and garlic powder. Add stew beef and toss until evenly coated. The flour mixture, combined with the oil and the browning in the pan is the base of the stew gravy that develops as the stew cooks.
Fry the coated stew beef in oil until browned (about 5 minutes) stirring often.
The meat doesn’t need to be cooked all the way, just coated well and slightly browned.
Remove the browned meat to the slow cooker. Add the turnip, potatoes, onion, celery and carrots to the mixture.
Pour the beef broth, diced tomatoes, minced garlic, and dry onion soup mix over the top of the mixture. Stir to combine.
Put the cover on the slow cooker and set the temperature setting to low. Cook for 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally if possible. (Or cook on high for 3-5 hours).
Stir before serving. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Please Note: *If gravy is not thick enough, combine optional cornstarch and water, stir into stew, cover and cook an additional 30 minutes, stirring before serving.
Other Easy Family Dinner Ideas You May Like
Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Meatballs – Tender, bite sized, and wrapped in a deliciously sweet sauce, these make a great meal or appetizer!
Easy One Pan Egg Roll Bowl – All the delicious flavors of an egg roll come together in this super easy one pan meal!
Easy Crockpot Taco Chili – Dump everything into the slow cooker, stir and walk away – super easy with just the right amount of spice!
Weeknight Pineapple Shrimp and Rice Bake – Flavorful pineapple chunks and tender shrimp on a bed of fluffy rice, drizzled with a quick and easy sweet island sauce. Easy and delicious!
Spinach and Sausage Spaghetti Pie – With Italian sausage and spinach hidden inside this is an unexpectedly good (and super easy!) weeknight creation that the entire family will love.
Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- In a medium bowl combine flour and garlic powder. Add stew beef and toss until evenly coated.
- Fry coated stew beef in oil until browned (about 5 minutes) stirring often.
- Remove the browned meat to the slow cooker. Add the turnip, potatoes, onion, celery and carrots to the mixture.
- Pour the beef broth, diced tomatoes, minced garlic, and dry onion soup mix over the top of the mixture. Stir to combine.
- Put the cover on the slow cooker and set the temperature setting to low. Cook for 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally if possible. (Or cook on high for 3-5 hours).
- Stir before serving. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
- *If gravy is not thick enough, combine optional cornstarch and water, stir into stew, cover and cook an additional 30 minutes, stirring before serving.
Nutrition
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