Slow Cooker Beef Stew

5 from 2 votes

This hearty and comforting slow cooker beef stew is perfect for cold fall or winter dinners. With tender meat, vegetables and a flavorful broth, it’s a delicious meal you’ll want to make again and again.

Prep Time15

Cook Time8

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Stew

Cuisine: British

Keyword: beef, carrots, potatoes, stew

Servings:

Calories: 606kcal

Author: Tonje

Equipment

Slow Cooker

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs beef (750 g)
¾ lb carrots (350 g)
1 lb potatoes (500 g)
2 cups beef stock (500 ml)
1 bay leaf
1 onion
2 celery sticks
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Cornstarch slurry

3 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoon water

Instructions

Start by preparing your produce. Dice beef, carrots and potatoes into large chunks. Make sure that the vegetables are bigger than you normally would chop them, or they will cook too fast and go mushy.
Dice the onion and celery.
Heat up a little oil in a skillet or frying pan on medium heat, and add diced beef. Cook until the surface of the beef chunks has browned on all sides, then transfer the beef to your slow cooker, including any liquid left in the pan.
Heat up another spoon of oil in the same skillet, and add your onion. Sauté for a few minuted until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the garlic. Sauté for another minute, then add the onion to the slow cooker.
Add the carrots, potatoes, dried parsley, dried thyme, beef stock, bay leaf and celery to the slow cooker. Stir to combine the ingredients. Cover with a lid, and slow cook for 4-6 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low.
About 30-40 minutes before you want to serve the stew, it’s time to thicken up the broth. In a small jar, combine the cornstarch with the water. Stir until the mixture is completely smooth, then pour into the stew and stir. Cover with a lid, and leave the slow cooker on for another 30 minutes.
The broth should now have thickened up nicely. If you prefer a really thick stew, you can use an extra tablespoon of cornstarch.

Notes

I highly recommend that you brown the beef chunks before adding them to your slow cooker, as this will improve the flavor of the stew. However, if you want to save some time, you can skip this step.
After browning the beef, make sure to pour the liquid from the skillet into the slow cooker. You don’t want to miss out on that flavor!
Dice the potatoes and carrots into thick, big chunks, or they will be soft and mushy before the stew has cooked through.
Avoid removing the lid from the slow cooker as the stew cooks, or you will increase the cooking time significantly. There is no reason to stir the stew – it will be fine.

Nutrition