It's easy to make and one of the best beef stew recipes. This simple classic features tender chunks of stew meat, soft potatoes, and carrots in a rich tomato sauce. It's also a versatile small-batch recipe—you can make it for two in a mini crock pot or larger for a crowd. You can also make it faster in one pan on the stovetop.
🐄Ingredients
Beef stew meat—pre-cut or trimmed a sirloin tip or chuck roast
Vegetables—Yukon gold or red potatoes, carrots, frozen peas
Aromatics—onion and garlic
Pantry ingredients—beef broth, tomato paste, soy sauce, salt, pepper
Optional ingredients—flour for browning, dry thyme, bay leaf
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐄Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Make Crock Pot Beef Stew—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- ⏰How long to cook beef stew in a crock pot
- 👨🍳Cooking tips to make it right every time
- ✔️Meat tips and variations
- ✔️Vegetable tips and variations
- 🔥Stove top instructions:
- ♨️Other crock pot stew and soup recipes
- ↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe
- 🍽️Serving
- ❄️Leftovers—storage and reheating
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comment by Lauren:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This beef stew is the best! I made the smaller version and it was absolutely perfect."
This easy slow-cooker beef stew recipe is old-fashioned, homemade comfort food that will warm you to the bone on a cold day.
With only a short prep to enhance the flavor, it cooks all day in the crock pot for a delicious dinner when you get home. I have provided one-pot stovetop instructions if you need them.
You will love other small crock pot recipes, like Small Crock Pot Chicken Stew, Small Crock Pot White Chicken Chili, or Small Crock Pot Chili.
👨🍳How to Make Crock Pot Beef Stew—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Use precut stew meat or cut your own from a chuck roast.
2. Chop an onion.
3. Optional: Dust the beef with flour and brown it over medium-high heat. Add to crock pot.
4. Cook onion with the tomato paste and garlic. Deglaze and add to crock pot.
5. Add all ingredients except the peas to the crock pot and stir well. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
6. Add the frozen peas for the last hour of cooking.
7. Add more time if the meat is not tender and the potatoes are soft.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏰How long to cook beef stew in a crock pot
On low, this takes 8 hours, or on high, it takes 4-5 hours. Some beef may take a bit longer, so check the meat and potatoes for tenderness and extend the time by an hour or two if needed.
👨🍳Cooking tips to make it right every time
The secret to tender beef stew is not to undercook the stew. Cook until the meat and vegetables are tender.
You can skip browning the meat, and cooking the onion on the stovetop will only slightly change the outcome. Just dumping the ingredients into the crock pot works.
Like all stews and soups, more or less of the meat or vegetable will be fine.
It is acceptable in the crock pot on the "keep warm" setting for an hour or a bit more if needed for your timing.
✔️Meat tips and variations
You can use pre-cut stew beef or cut your own from sirloin tip or chuck roast. I recommend cutting your own, giving you more control over the final results. You can control the trimming and the size. More importantly, you can choose well-marbled meat for more tenderness.
Soy sauce enhances the beef flavor. Many recipes use Worcestershire sauce, which you can use instead. Tomato paste also boosts the beef taste.
✔️Vegetable tips and variations
Any potatoes can be used. If you use russet potatoes, they should be peeled. If you use the specified Yukon Gold or red potatoes, you don't need to peel them. From ½ pound of potatoes, you will get about 1 cup of cubed potatoes.
Do not cube the potatoes or the carrots too small, or they can easily overcook.
Other common additions include celery, green beans, parsnips, and sweet potatoes.
🔥Stove top instructions:
- Use a Dutch oven.
- Following the crock pot instructions, include the browning of the meat coated with flour. Remove the meat and cook the onion as directed, scraping the browning off the bottom of the pan for more flavor.
- Add everything to the Dutch oven. Turn up the heat, when it starts to boil, turn down the heat to simmer and cover.
- Simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours. If the meat is not fall apart tender or the potatoes are not tender, simmer an additional 30 to 60 minutes.
♨️Other crock pot stew and soup recipes
Other crock pot stew and soup recipes
Check out these tasty classic crock pot soups, like Crock Pot French Onion Soup, Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup, Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup, and Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup.
Small Crock Pot Chicken Stew
This easy crock pot Chicken Stew recipe features tender chicken, potatoes, and lots of vegetables in a tasty broth. This versatile small-batch recipe can be made for two in a mini crock pot or scaled up for a crowd.
↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe
The full recipe makes about 8 cups of 4 large servings and fits nicely in a small 3 to 4-quart crock pot but may be made in a full-size slow cooker. Perfect for our "for two" household for two meals.
This is a very easy recipe to cut in half or double.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- The half recipe will fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot.
- A double recipe fits in a 6-quart or larger crock pot.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
🍽️Serving
I like to serve it with some fresh-cut vegetables and a bread like Stand Mixer Peasant Bread or Easy Dinner Rolls. Or try Cornbread Biscuits or Old Fashioned Cornbread.
❄️Leftovers—storage and reheating
Store leftover beef stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or in a freezer for 3 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator first if frozen. Then reheat on the stovetop in a saucepan over medium heat, but the microwave will work, too.
❓FAQs
Yes, and the results will still be very good. But the browning the beef with a dusting of flour before adding it to the crock pot will add some depth of flavor with a Maillard reaction.
Cooking the onion, garlic, and tomato paste will release so flavor—small but still worth adding.
This is a thick stew, so you are more likely to want it thinner than thicker. Just add ½ to 1 cup of beef broth to your preference.
Tapioca or cornstarch thickens this recipe. Add 1 tablespoon of tapioca at the beginning of cooking. To thicken with the cornstarch, make a smooth slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of cold water, then add the peas near the end of cooking.
📖 Recipe
Small Crock Pot Beef Stew
Video Slideshow
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Ingredients
- 1 ½-2 lbs stew beef or trimmed sirloin tip or chuck roast
- 1 medium onion - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - minced or crushed
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- ½ lb red or Yukon Gold potatoes - cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 carrots - peeled cut into ½ inch medallions
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce - low sodium
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaves - Optional
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme - Optional
- 2 tablespoons AP Flour - Optional for browning
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil - Optional for browning
Instructions
- Use pre-cut stew beef or trim about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of boneless chuck roast or sirloin tip into 1-inch cubes. Give it a light dusting of flour and place in hot oil over medium-high heat in the large skillet—brown for about 7-8 minutes. Move the meat to the crock pot, but keep any liquid in the pan.
- While browning meat, peel 2 carrots and cut them into ½-inch thick medallions. Scrub ½ pound of red or Yukon gold potatoes and cut them into chunks. Other potatoes could be used, but if using russet potatoes, peel them.
- Dice 1 medium onion and crush or mince 2 cloves of garlic. Add onion to the hot pan with oil over medium-high heat. Add the tomato paste after a couple of minutes. Cook until onions are soft and lightly browned. Add the garlic for the last minute.
- When the onion is ready, add 1 cup of beef broth to the pan and scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add all ingredients except the peas to the crock pot and stir well. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
- Add the frozen peas for the last hour of cooking.
- Cook longer if needed for tender meat and vegetables.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Instructions for a half or a double batch are in the recipe post.
- Stovetop instructions are in the post.
- This recipe makes about 2 quarts as written and will fit a 3-quart crock pot. However, I recommend double the recipe and using a 6-quart or bigger crock pot.
- I prefer to cut and trim a chuck roast or sirloin tip for this, but beef stew meat will work fine.
- If you're in a hurry, skip the whole browning skillet steps. Just dump it in, and it will be great.
- Check for beef tenderness before stopping cooking. Some beef may take a bit longer.
- Leftovers are good in the refrigerator for 4 days or 3 months in a freezer.
- Nutrition is calculated on a large serving size of about 2 cups.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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I started with a Cooks Country crock pot beef stew recipe (subscription required), but it is unrecognizable now. As usual, Cooks County made a lot of fuss, but it has been removed, along with some other adjustments, and the size has decreased.
Publisher Note: Originally published March 5, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation. Also, the technique has been updated a small amount to current my practice.
Paul says
Could this beef stew be put together and stored in a freezer as a crockpot freezer meal? As a single person I am looking for crockpot freezer meals for one or two for my mini crockpot?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Paul,
Welcome to the blog.
While I have never done it, I have a few concerns, mostly about the onions, which are not fully cooked and may tend to dominate the flavors with the thawing after freezing. Of course, after cooking, it does freeze well.
Sorry, I wasn't much help.
Dan
Z says
Hi Dan. I'm new to cooking. Where does the liquid for the stew come from? The recipe calls that the liquid base, 1 cup of beef broth is put into the pan for the mirepoix. Is the rest of the beef broth dumped into the crock pot? I know its a silly question. Happy holidays!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Z,
Welcome to the blog.
The fluid is the broth and any fluid that comes out of the meat and other components. It is a thick stew and you can add more broth if you want thinner but it really is not needed.
Dan
Sara says
Easy and delicious crock pot beef stew. I like to thicken with flour
Gail says
I hate peas. I want to do it with frozen green beans. Do I cut them in half and cook longer?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Frozen green beans are tougher than peas. You can add them with the potatoes but you can just replace the peas with then add near the end. No need to cut them up.
Dan
Anne says
Dr. Dan,
What a different (wonderful) change from the usual stew with brown gravy. The tomato paste took it to another level, with a lovely color and tangy tomato taste. I did use stew meat (it was very high quality), coated it with highly seasoned flour, and browned until the coating was crispy. This flouring actually made a nice gravy without use of any added thickeners. The carrots and peas took on the essence of the sauce without losing their individual flavors. I did choose to serve this over mashed potatoes, rather than put the potatoes into the stew, this time.
It's just my husband and myself--he says this is a "keeper".
Thanks so much--Anne Davis
Judy says
The grocery store gave me instant tapioca instead of minute tapioca. Is there a big difference if I use it to thicken the stew?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Judy,
You should be fine. In many applications, they can not be substituted but here we are using it for the starch to thicken. Either would work.
Dan
Cindy says
We loved it!
Katherine A Dietz says
In the notes to make the recipe it says it was written for a 3 qt crockpot. In answer to a few of the questions it says to cut the written recipe in half, which is it?
Thanks Katherine
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
The original recipe was what I now call a double and needs a 6 quart or larger crockpot. As written now, it is 3 quart. Some of the older comments were for the original larger recipe. So follow the recipe card and instructions in the post. Please note that all images are for a double recipe. Instructions and ingredients are for a single recipe.
Dan
Lauren says
This beef stew is the best! I made the smaller version and it was absolutely perfect. We didn’t have Tapioca, so I added cornstarch at the end. It was so delicious there were no leftovers, so the gumminess wasn’t an issue.
Sara says
howdy all, Dr Dan, just to clarify, are you browning the whole piece of beef first, and then cutting it up ? or could it be cut up first, dusted with flour and then tossed in the pan and browned?
Fall has begun here in Upstate NY, will probably try this recipe next week !!!
Sara
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Sara,
You don't have to brown but it adds some taste. I suggest, trim and cut up first, then flour, then brown. The flour helps browning and also will add some thickening later during cooking.
Dan
Megan Roesch says
Hi, I am going to make your recipe for Beef Stew today. What size crockpot should I use?
Thank You for sharing your recipe.
DrDan says
Hi Megan,
Welcome to the blog.
Anything under 5 qt will be too full. I use a 6.5 qt. If cut it half, 3 qt. is a good minimum.
Dan