The Best Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe

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Let’s be real.

Some weeknights, cooking feels like climbing Mount Everest.

Enter my absolute lifesaver: this ridiculously easy slow cooker beef stew that basically makes itself.

The Real Story

Remember those days when you’re dragging yourself home from work, it’s getting dark at 5 PM, and the thought of cooking feels like an impossible mission?

This is the recipe that saves me every single time.

Throw everything in a slow cooker, walk away, and come back to a meal that makes your entire house smell like comfort.

A photo of a slow cooker beef stew. There are chunks of beef, carrots, and potatoes in a thick, red broth. The beef is tender and the vegetables are cooked through. The stew is served with a side of crusty bread. The background is a wooden surface.

Grocery List: No-Stress Shopping

Meat & Basics

  • 2 lbs beef chuck
  • Beef broth
  • Olive oil

Produce Aisle Grab

  • 1 big onion
  • Garlic
  • 4 carrots
  • 3 potatoes
  • 2 celery stalks

Pantry Staples

  • Flour
  • Salt & pepper
  • Canned tomatoes
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Dried thyme
  • Dried rosemary
  • Bay leaves

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Slow Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs beef chuck cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 medium carrots cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 3 medium potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 2 celery stalks chopped
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 2 bay leaves

Instructions
 

  • In a large zip-top bag, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Add beef cubes and shake to coat.
  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef on all sides in batches. Transfer to the slow cooker.
  • In the same skillet, sauté onions and garlic for about 3 minutes until softened. Add to the slow cooker.
  • Add carrots, potatoes, and celery to the slow cooker.
  • Pour in beef broth, diced tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce. Add thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves.
  • Stir gently to combine all ingredients.
  • Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours, until beef is tender and vegetables are cooked through.
  • Adjust seasoning to taste and remove bay leaves before serving.

The Absolute Laziest Cooking Method

Here’s why this recipe is my fall semester survival hack:

  • Total prep time: Maybe 15 minutes (if you’re moving slowly)
  • Cooking time: Basically zero effort
  • Cleanup: One pot. ONE. POT.

My Lazy Person’s Cooking Steps

  1. Chop stuff roughly (perfection is NOT required)
  2. Toss meat in a bag with flour
  3. Brown meat quickly (like, 5 minutes max)
  4. Dump EVERYTHING in the slow cooker
  5. Walk away and live your life

Why This Meal Just Works

Fall is hard. Work gets crazy, the weather gets weird, and sometimes you just need a meal that feels like a hug. This stew is that hug. It’s warm, filling, and makes enough for leftovers—which means tomorrow’s lunch is already taken care of.

Pro Lazy Cook Tips

  • Use pre-cut meat if you’re REALLY not feeling it
  • Frozen chopped onions are 100% acceptable
  • No one will judge you for using baby carrots instead of chopping

The “I’m an Adult” Bonus

Want to look like you’ve got your life together? Serve this with some crusty bread. Boom. Instant dinner hero.

Meal Prep Magic

This stew gets BETTER the next day. Make a big batch on Sunday, and you’ve got meals sorted for days. Future you will be so grateful.

When Life Gets Complicated, Dinner Doesn’t Have To

This isn’t some fancy chef recipe. This is real-life, feed-your-soul cooking. It’s for those nights when you’re tired, hungry, and just want something that feels like home.

A few hours in the slow cooker, and you’ve got a meal that says, “I’ve got this, even when everything else feels messy.”

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