Beef
Hearty Beef Stew
Thick, old-fashioned beef stew with potatoes and carrots. A whole dinner in one pot.
Beef stew is the other great slow cooker staple alongside pot roast, and the difference between the two is mostly texture. A pot roast is one piece of beef with gravy. A stew is cubes of beef suspended in something thick enough to eat with a spoon.
Getting to thick is where most home stews fall down. They end up as beef and vegetables floating in broth. There's real thickener in this packet, and there's one more step at the end that finishes the job: take the lid off.
Twenty minutes uncovered is what turns soup into stew.
Why you'll love it
Thick, not brothy.
Real thickener in the packet plus a reduction step at the end.
A complete meal in one pot.
Beef, potatoes, carrots and celery all together.
Feeds eight.
And it's better the next day.
The most warming thing here.
This is a cold-weather recipe in the best way.
What's already in the packet
Beef base and tomato with classic stew herbs, plus enough thickener to make it hold a spoon.
Choose your setting
LOW · 8 hours
Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.
HIGH · 4 hours
For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.
Done at 190–200°F
Cubes should crush against the side of the pot with a spoon.
You'll Need
- 2–3 lbs Beef (pick one below)
- 3 cups Water or beef broth
- 1 packet Cook SLO Hearty Beef Stew
- 2 lbs Potatoes, cut in chunks
- 3 cups Carrots and celery, cut thick
Pick your beef
2–3 lbs
Beef stew meat
3 lbs
Chuck roast, in cubes
2 lbs
Bottom round, in cubes
Roasts 145°F, ground beef 160°F
Add vegetables
Baby potatoes, thick-cut carrots (fresh or frozen), celery chunks (fresh or frozen), sliced onion (fresh or frozen) and parsnips at the start, on the bottom; mushrooms at the start to melt into the sauce, or the last two hours to keep their shape; green beans (fresh or frozen) in the last hour; peas (frozen) in the last twenty minutes.
When to add what
| When | Add | Why |
|---|---|---|
| At the start, on the bottom | Baby potatoesThick-cut carrots (fresh or frozen)Celery chunks (fresh or frozen)Sliced onion (fresh or frozen)Parsnips | Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate. |
| At the start, or the last two hours | Sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen) | Mushrooms are a choice. At the start they melt into the sauce and deepen it. In the last two hours they hold their shape and keep some bite. |
| Last hour | Green beans (fresh or frozen) | Any longer and green beans go grey, squash turns to water, and pineapple falls apart. |
| Last 20 minutes | Peas (frozen) | Spinach wilts in about five. A whole bag cooks down to roughly half a cup, so use more than looks reasonable. Frozen peas go grey and wrinkled if added earlier. |
Two ways to do this
If you're home
Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.
If you're out all day
Put in at the start as normal: baby potatoes, thick-cut carrots (fresh or frozen), celery chunks (fresh or frozen), sliced onion (fresh or frozen), parsnips and sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen). These need the full cook anyway.
Add green beans (fresh or frozen) and peas (frozen) when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.
If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.
Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.
Pasta and noodles
**In the pot.** Add one to two cups of dry egg noodles or small shells for the last twenty-five minutes, along with one extra cup of hot broth per cup of pasta. Do the reduction step first, then add the pasta and liquid. **Or separately.** Spoon the stew over buttered egg noodles, which is how a lot of Midwestern kitchens serve it.
Before anything goes in the pot
- 1
Brown the meat first
Pat it dry, get a heavy pan properly hot, and work in two batches so nothing steams. Two to three minutes a side. You want colour, not doneness — the crock pot finishes it.
- 2
Deglaze the pan and pour it in
This is the step almost everyone skips, and it wastes half the benefit of browning. Most of the flavour you just made is stuck to the pan. Pour a cup of the recipe's water into the hot empty pan, scrape everything loose with a wooden spoon while it bubbles, and pour that into the crock pot. Count it toward the total liquid.
These happen outside the crock pot, before it's switched on.
Tonight's Plan
- 1
Put the potatoes, carrots and celery in the crock pot first.
Vegetables cook slower than meat, so they belong at the bottom.
- 2
Add the beef on top.
No browning needed for cubes.
- 3
Pour in the water or broth, then sprinkle the whole packet over everything.
Three cups.
- 4
Stir once and put the lid on.
Eight hours on LOW.
Vegetables
Stir gently so the potatoes stay in pieces.
Aggressive stirring turns it into mash.
Take the lid off for 20 minutes, then ladle into bowls.
This is the step that turns broth into stew.
Stirring
Stir once at the halfway point
Tomato solids and the thickener both settle and can catch against the base. One stir is enough.
Swaps and add-ins
Add a splash of red wine.
Half a cup replacing some broth. Classic and it deepens everything.
Add mushrooms.
A pound at the start. More savory depth.
Add pearl onions.
Frozen, in the last hour. Very traditional.
Make it a pot pie.
Pour the finished stew into a crust and bake.
Tips for success
- Lid off for the last 20 minutes. This is the difference between beef soup and beef stew.
- Cut everything big. Inch-and-a-half chunks. Small pieces disintegrate over eight hours.
- Peas at the very end. Twenty minutes. Any longer and they go grey and wrinkled.
- Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.
Finish it right
A splash of red wine vinegar or Worcestershire.
A teaspoon at the end. Eight hours flattens everything and acid brings the whole pot back.
Fresh chopped parsley.
Bright green against a very brown bowl.
Crusty bread for mopping.
Not a garnish. It's part of how this dish is eaten.
Serve it over
Tomorrow night
Beef pot pie.
Pour into a crust, top with pastry, bake 35 minutes.
Shepherd's pie.
Topped with mashed potato, baked until browned.
Beef and barley soup.
Add broth and barley, simmer 30 minutes.
Stew-stuffed baked potatoes.
Split, fill, top with cheddar.
Keeping it
Fridge
Airtight, up to 4 days. Better on day two.
Freezer
3 months, though potatoes go slightly grainy.
Reheating
Stove or microwave. Add broth if it set too firm.
Questions people ask
Recipe card
Hearty Beef Stew
You'll Need
- 2–3 lbs Beef (pick one below)
- 3 cups Water or beef broth
- 1 packet Cook SLO Hearty Beef Stew
- 2 lbs Potatoes, cut in chunks
- 3 cups Carrots and celery, cut thick
Tonight's Plan
- Put the potatoes, carrots and celery in the crock pot first.
- Add the beef on top.
- Pour in the water or broth, then sprinkle the whole packet over everything.
- Stir once and put the lid on.
No major allergens declared.
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