Mom’s Crock Pot Beef Stew – Old Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe

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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.

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.

Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.

Old Fashioned Beef Stew in the Crock Pot

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.

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.

Ingredients for Old Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe:

  • Beef Stew Meat
  • Onion
  • Celery
  • Carrots
  • Potatoes
  • Tomato Juice
  • Instant Tapioca
  • Salt
Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.

How to Make Mom’s Crock Pot Beef Stew

Full recipe steps and ingredient amounts for crock pot beef stew and vegetables is at the bottom of this post.

  1. Thoroughly spray your slow cooker insert with cooking spray (or use a liner).
  2. Layer the beef stew meat, diced onion, diced celery, diced carrots, cubed potatoes in the order listed in your insert.
  3. Combine salt and tapioca and then sprinkle on top of other ingredients.
  4. Pour tomato juice over the top.
  5. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.

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.
  • Check out our Amazon Store for our favorite pantry and kitchen items.
Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.

Beef Stew Meat Recipes

Have more packages of beef stew meat that need used up? Try some of these recipes:

Sunday Church Beef Tips

This Sunday Church Beef Tips recipe uses just five ingredients to make a hearty dish to feed a hungry family. Serve this with mashed potatoes or egg noodles and a vegetable side and everyone will be happy.

Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup

Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup is a recipe that allows you to have a warm, hearty meal on the table quickly. Electric pressure cookers are a great way to save time fixing meals that usually take hours in the oven or crock pot.

Beef Chunks in Sour Cream 

Beef Chunks in Sour Cream is a Slow Cooked Cubed Beef Recipe.  This beef stew meat recipe makes it's own gravy making it perfect over mashed potatoes, rice or buttered noodles. 

Slow Cooker Beef Vegetable Soup

This Slow Cooker Bloody Mary Beef Vegetable Soup recipe is hearty and delicious to warm your belly on a cool winter night. It's one of the fix it and forget it recipes that will be ready to eat after a long day at work. 

Ramen Bowls 

This Instant Pot Beef Ramen Bowls recipe uses beef stew meat, frozen vegetables and instant ramen noodles to make a flavorful meal the entire family will enjoy. This is also a great way to use a leaner, tougher cut of beef to cut up into stew meat.

Mom’s Crock Pot Beef Stew

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.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time8 hours
Total Time8 hours 10 minutes
Course: Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: beef stew, crock pot beef stew, easy beef stew, mom’s beef stew, old fashioned beef stew, slow cooker beef stew
Servings: 6
Calories: 397kcal
Author: Barbara

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.
    Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.
  • Combine salt and tapioca and sprinkle over top.
    Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.
  • Pour tomato juice over the top.
    Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.
  • Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until beef is falling apart and tender.
    Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.

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. 
  • The nutritional information below is auto-calculated and can vary depending on the products used. 

Nutrition

Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 1315mg | Potassium: 1485mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 10479IU | Vitamin C: 51mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 4mg
Mom's Crock Pot Beef Stew is an old fashioned beef stew recipe reminiscent of 5 hour beef stew using cubed beef, potatoes, and carrots.

Linked up to Meal Plan Monday. Check out Whatcha Crockin’ Wednesday.

 

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4 Comments

  1. 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!

    1. 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.

      1. 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!

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