This Slow Cooker Beef Stew is a stick-to-your-ribs meal made healthier. Loaded with chuck roast, veggies, and a rich broth, this is the perfect, hearty fall meal!
If you love cozy soups and stews, you should also check out: crockpot potato soup, slow cooker beef chili, and chicken florentine soup.
It’s officially fall in Raleigh! Bring ooooooon the soups, stews, and casseroles. To kick off the season, I bring to you, slow cooker beef stew. It’s hearty and filling, yet still relatively light and packed with veggies. It’s definitely a stick-to-your-ribs kinda meal, but it won’t leave you feeling heavy.
You’re gonna LOVE it.
Ingredients
These humble ingredients cook low and slow in the crockpot to create a truly flavorful and hearty dinner the whole family will love!
- Chuck roast – is slightly fatty with a rich taste, making it perfect for beef stew. When cooked low and slow in the crockpot, chuck roast becomes fall apart tender and ultra flavorful.
- All-Purpose Flour – used to coat the roast. Flour is what thickens the sauce to give that true stew texture. If you’d like to take it a step further, feel free to brown the meat in a hot, oiled pan after it’s been coated in the flour and spice mixture — this helps brown the meat which enhances the flavor of the sauce and texture of the meat. Use all-purpose gluten free flour, if necessary.
- Spices: Salt, Pepper, Paprika, and Bay Leaf – this simple seasoning blend adds a sweet, earthy flavor to the stew. Don’t forget to remove the bay leaf after cook time, because it’s not edible.
- Vegetables: Garlic, Onion, Potatoes, Carrots, and Celery – the classic beef stew veggie blend. Garlic and onion are the foundation of flavor. Potatoes, in this case, yukon gold potatoes, are great for bulking up stews. Yukon gold are preferred, because they’re able to get ultra fluffy, but will still maintain their shape. Carrots add a much needed sweetness to balance out the rich broth and celery adds texture, color, and nutrients.
- Beef broth – the base for the stew. Beef broth adds an enormous amount of flavor. The potatoes in particular soak up the broth and become very flavorful.
- Red wine – provides depth of flavor to any dish. If you don’t have red wine or are looking to avoid alcohol try beer, grape juice, or even more broth.
- Worcestershire sauce – adds a rich, tangy flavor which compliments the fattiness from the beef.
- Red wine vinegar – helps to cut the rich flavors of the stew and fattiness of the beef with its tart flavor.
How to make
This beef stew is a one pot wonder full of protein, veggies, and carbs. While it cooks, whip up a light salad and cut up some fruit to complete the meal.
- Toss cubed chuck roast with flour, salt, pepper, and paprika, then place into a greased crockpot with garlic, onion, potatoes, carrot, celery, beef broth, red wine, worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and bay leaf.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-6 hours.
- Discard bay leaf, serve, and enjoy with crusty bread!
Do i need to use red wine slow cooker beef stew?
No. While I highly recommend the red wine to create a richer, deeper flavor, you can absolutely use beef broth, grape juice, or even water instead. If you use beef broth, you might want to cut down on the additional salt. If you use water, you’ll probably need to add additional salt.
What to serve with beef stew
While beef stew is certainly hearty enough to be served as a stand alone dish, I love pairing it with bread for dunking next to a bright salad and some fruit!
How to store
Leftover slow cooker beef stew will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months.
To reheat, thaw in the fridge, if frozen, then warm in the microwave or on the stove until heated through.
– Jennifer
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chuck roast
fat trimmed, then cut into 1/2 - 1-inch chunks (mine was 2.5 pounds, then 2 pounds after fat trimmed)
- ¼ cup all purpose flour replace with gluten free all-purpose, if necessary
- ½ teaspoon salt
plus more to taste (I used 1 1/2 teaspoon)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 4 Yukon Gold Potatoes cut into 1/2 - 1-inch chunks (1.5 pounds)
- 4 carrots sliced into coins
- 2 ribs celery sliced
- 2 cups beef broth
- ½ cup red wine I used cabernet sauvignon - could replace with more broth or water, but then you may want to adjust seasonings
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Grease your crockpot with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Place cubed beef into a large bowl.
- Toss with flour, salt, pepper, and paprika until each piece is evenly coated.
- Place into crockpot and add in garlic, onion, potatoes, carrots, celery, broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar.
- Stir to combine.
- Top with bay leaves.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-6 hours.
- Discard bay leaves and serve with crusty bread!
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Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
This post was originally published Oct 22, 2018 and has been updated to provide more detailed content.
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Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy
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Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy