Slow Cooker Beef Stew {Super Flavourful}

This Slow Cooker Beef Stew is super flavourful with fall-apart tender meat. It’s the ultimate comfort food for fall and winter!

Ingredients and substitutions

• Beef chuck – beef chuck or any other affordable, tougher meats like tenderloin, top loin and sirloin tough will work great in this stew. You'll want to skip the lean, pricier meats because the tougher meats will become very tender.
• Salt & pepper – to taste.
• Butter – you can switch the butter out for olive oil or any other neutral cooking oil like avocado oil or sunflower oil.
• Flour – using cornstarch in place of flour will give the same thickening effect to the stew.
• Italian seasoning – if you don't have Italian seasoning, you can use a mixture of all or some of these spices: basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary and thyme.
• Thyme – extra Italian seasoning, marjoram or rosemary can replace thyme in this recipe.
• Yellow onion – red onion, shallots and white onions are all great substitutes for yellow onion.
• Worcestershire sauce – you can use balsamic or tomato paste to replace Worcestershire sauce, but the flavour will be different.
• Garlic – fresh garlic or jarred minced garlic will work.
• Celery – celery is an aromatic in this dish and is a classic ingredient in stews. You can replace celery for one of your favourite veggies or leave it out entirely.
• Carrot – apply the same substitution notes for celery.
• Baby potatoes – I use Yukon gold baby potatoes, but you can replace them with red or white baby potatoes. If you're looking to make this recipe a low carb meal, you can leave out the potatoes or replace them with an extra serving of your favourite vegetables.
• Beef stock – homemade beef stock is the best option but store-bought stock or broth in any flavour is fine as well.
• Red wine – pick any dry red wine of your choice (i.e. merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, Malbec or pinot noir).
• Frozen veggies – get any frozen veggie blend of your choice or just use your fresh vegetables.
• Parsley – if you don't like parsley, basil or cilantro are other options to consider.

How to make beef stew in the slow cooker

Step 1: Sear the beef.

Sear beef on high heat in a large skillet for 3-4 minutes until browned, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Step 2: Grease the crockpot.

Grease your crockpot with butter, then add in seared beef and juices. Sprinkle flour overtop, then gently toss to coat.

Step 3: Add the rest of the ingredients.

Add remaining ingredients in the order in which they are listed, except for frozen veggies and fresh parsley.

Step 4: Cook and serve!

Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours, adding the frozen veggies in the last hour of cook time. When stew is ready, stir in half the parsley, saving the other half for garnish. Serve and enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

Meal prep tools for this recipe

• Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this pasta into leftovers.
• I get all my beef from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
• Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.