Nothing says comfort food like beef stew. Mom’s Crock Pot Beef Stew is hearty, full of flavor and easy to put together for a busy weeknight or a Sunday night family dinner.
Mom’s Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe:
Barbara and I grew up on this easy beef stew. Our mom fixed it in the oven and served it with homemade bread (or canned biscuits if she was in a hurry). This was a favorite dish of our family on Saturdays in the winter.
Our dad loved coming in to the smell of beef stew after working outside on the farm. And, the smell of this cooking sends me right back to those cold winter days as the aroma wafted through our farmhouse.
However, since it required a longer cooking time, this was a meal that we only had on the weekends since our mom taught school through the week.
So, Barbara adapted it for the slow cooker and created Mom’s Crock Pot Beef Stew. It still has all the elements of the original, but now you can put it all together before you head out the door in the morning and come home to a warm, filling meal.
Prepping ahead for the week will save you time and energy. Consider peeling and dicing your carrots, celery and onions so that you are one step ahead. Be sure to wait to peel and dice the potatoes; they will turn brown if you do them ahead of time.
If your family are meat and potato eaters, like ours, this is definitely a meal that you need to add to your meal plan. All three of Barbara’s kids will eat this without complaining. It’s that yummy.
One note from Barbara…don’t be afraid of the tablespoon of salt in this recipe. It may seem like a lot, but it’s needed, she promises it is OK.
Ingredients for Old Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe:
Beef Stew Meat
Onion
Celery
Carrots
Potatoes
Tomato Juice
Instant Tapioca
Salt
How to Make Mom’s Crock Pot Beef Stew
Full recipe for crock pot beef stew and vegetables is at the bottom of this post.
Instructions:
- Thoroughly spray your slow cooker insert with cooking spray (or use a liner).
- Layer the beef stew meat, diced onion, diced celery, diced carrots, cubed potatoes in the order listed in your insert.
- Combine salt and tapioca and then sprinkle on top of other ingredients.
- Pour tomato juice over the top.
- Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Notes About Slow Cooker Beef Stew:
- Feel free to brown the stew meat in oil to form a crust before adding it to the insert. This does give another dimension of flavor, but it is not necessary. I do it both ways just depending on how much time I have.
- You can modify the amounts of each vegetables based on what you have in the refrigerator or what your family prefers in this crock pot beef stew and vegetable recipe. Kids hate celery? Replace it with more carrots. You get the picture.
- The salt content in this crock pot beef stew with vegetables seems like a lot, but it needs it.
- You can easily double the entire recipe for this slow cooker beef stew recipe.
- Give the stew a good stir before serving to incorporate the sauce over all the layers.
Have more packages of beef stew meat that need used up? Try some of these recipes:
Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup
Slow Cooker Beef Vegetable Soup
Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat or boneless beef chuck roast cubed
- 1 onion diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 6 carrots peeled and diced
- 5 potatoes peeled and cubed
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons minute tapioca
- 1 1/2 cups tomato juice
Instructions
- Spray crock pot insert.
- Layer the first five ingredients in order listed.
- Combine salt and tapioca and sprinkle over top.
- Pour tomato juice over the top.
- Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Notes
- Feel free to brown the stew meat in oil to form a crust before adding it to the insert. This does give another dimension of flavor, but it is not necessary. I do it both ways just depending on how much time I have.
- You can modify the amounts of each vegetables based on what you have in the refrigerator or what your family prefers in this crock pot beef stew and vegetable recipe. Kids hate celery? Replace it with more carrots. You get the picture.
- The salt content in this crock pot beef stew with vegetables seems like a lot, but it needs it.
- You can easily double the entire recipe for this slow cooker beef stew recipe.
- Give the stew a good stir before serving to incorporate the sauce over all the layers.
- Looking for another recipe for a cold winter day? Try Mom's Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole.
Nutrition
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When making Mom’s Beef Stew, do you need to cook the chuck roast first, before the day of stew? I’m assuming I can cut up the chuck roast as the recipe calls for and it will be fine. I didn’t want to assume though…lol. please let me know when you get a chance. Im thinkimg about making soon
Can you tell me how many this recipe serves, as I am making it for family of 5. One eats like 2, so I dhould say I needt to make for family of six. Thank you for your expertise. Have a good night!
Kim – no need to cook the meat ahead of time. Just cube it up and throw it in the crock pot. As long as everyone in your family doesn’t eat like 2 then this recipe should feed you all! Hope you enjoy.
Kim – Barb also suggest that if you are worried about it not being enough, you can add another potato or a couple carrots and even a bigger piece of meat. The cooking time shouldn’t be affected unless you add a lot more!