Beef stew was the very first recipe I made in a slow cooker. It’s simple, tasty and a one pot meal! The beef stew recipe was originally from the small, pamphlet cookbook that came with the Crock Pot.

This recipe requires a little bit of chopping, but otherwise just requires dumping the ingredients into the pot and turning it on. The dark, flavorful broth that is created as the stew meat and vegetables cook all day goes perfectly with a piece of warm corn bread.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Stew for Picky Eaters

This is a great way to expose children to vegetables cooked in a different way and meat that is not ground. I’ve served beef stew probably hundreds of times and each of my three children enjoy different parts of it as different stages of development, maybe one eats just the carrots or another just the beef.

I’ve also sat through several meals when my more selective eater wouldn’t touch the beef stew. However, after many years and exposures, they all eat it and enjoy it to differing degrees!

The Best Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This is definitely a slow cooker recipe that I love on a cold and busy fall or winter evening. After a long day of work and/or kids’ activities, having this one pot beef stew meal ready to be served when I walk in the door, gives me comfort!

TIP: I love serving it with corn bread made with a box of Jiffy mix with a ½ cup of corn added in!

Ingredients for beef stew on a wooden surface: packaged beef, paprika, carrots, potatoes, an onion, celery stalks, Better Than Bouillon beef base, Worcestershire sauce, a garlic clove, flour in a measuring spoon, and a wooden spatula.

Ingredients and substitutions

Stew Beef – I buy a value pack from the grocery store and buy meat that is already cubed so that I can just dump it into the pot.
All-purpose flour
salt, pepper
garlic
Potatoes, russet
Carrots, whole
Onions
Celery
Beef stock – I buy low sodium and keep a few in my pantry as a staple.
Worcestershire sauce
Paprika

How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Chopped vegetables including potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions are on a wooden cutting board. A knife and peeler are nearby, with a bowl containing vegetable peels beside them.

1. Peel potatoes and cut them into 1-2” cubes. Peel carrots and slice into ½ inch rounds. I cut the rounds in half if the diameter is large. Chop onion into 1” inch pieces. Dice garlic. Slice celery, similarly to carrots.

Raw beef cubes coated in flour inside a black slow cooker, ready for cooking. There's a cup of broth in the bottom left corner partially visible.

2. Pour flour, salt and pepper into slow cooker and stir to combine. Add cubed stew beef to the pot and using a spoon, coat stew beef with flour.

Slow cooker filled with cubed beef, sliced carrots, potatoes, and celery, all in broth with bay leaves on top. The cooker is on a white marble surface with a brown paper bag and glass jar in the background.

3. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Remove the bay leaves and serve the stew in soup bowls.

Love this recipe and want to save it for later?

Just fill in your email address below, click “Save It,” and get it delivered right to your inbox along with other potential offerings from us.

Variations and Substitutions:

Purchase beef already cubed for an easy dump and go preparation.
Vegetables can be added or subtracted. Any root vegetable such as parsnips or turnips would work as additions, or try adding mushrooms for slow cooker beef stew with mushrooms!
If you don’t have beef stock on hand, it can be substituted with chicken or vegetable stock, although the result may not be as rich tasting.
If you like a lighter onion flavor, sauté the onions before adding them to the slow cooker.

Expert Tips from a Registered Dietitian

This is wonderful as leftovers! The broth only gets tastier each day. You can reheat it in the microwave.
Beef stew is a great in packed lunches. Heat it up for a thermos to have for lunch. Beef stew is a complete meal, containing protein, fat and carbohydrates. It is also packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals.
The beef becomes almost shredded and can be chopped up to serve to a toddler who is just starting to eat solids. Beef is high in iron, a nutrient predominantly breast fed babies need more of by age 1.