Name: Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 40 min
Ingredients: 3 cups low-sodium beef broth; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 2 1/2 lb boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch cubes; 3/4 tsp kosher salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil; 1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 2 cups dry red wine; 1 beef bouillon cube, crumbled (optional); 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce; 2 bay leaves; 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 3 sprigs fresh thyme; 1/2 tsp kosher salt; 1/4 tsp black pepper; 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into big bite-size pieces; 2 celery stalks, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 1 lb small potatoes, halved or quartered if large; 1 cup frozen peas

Two cups of red wine go into this slow cooker beef stew, and most of it boils away in the skillet before it ever reaches the crock. A slow cooker beef stew can’t reduce anything on its own, because the lid holds every drop of liquid in.

So the skillet does that work first. The beef browns in batches, the onion softens in the fat left behind, and the wine bubbles down until only about a quarter is left.

I scrape the pan the whole time the wine boils. The brown bits stuck to the bottom loosen into it, and they’re what turn the gravy dark.

After that, it’s hands off. Six to eight hours on low, and a cube of beef should break apart under a fork.

Prep: 40 minutes · Cook: 6 to 8 hours on LOW · Total: about 7 to 9 hours · Serves: 6 (from 2 1/2 lb of beef)

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How long do you cook beef stew in a slow cooker?

Cook it on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. RecipeTin Eats stops at 6 hours on low and Tasty goes to 8, so start checking at the 6-hour mark. It’s ready when a cube of chuck breaks apart easily under a fork and the carrots and potatoes are tender all the way through.

What Makes It Work

The flour and tomato paste get whisked into 1 cup of cold broth right in the crock before the other 2 cups go in. The flour is spread through the liquid before any heat touches it, so the gravy thickens over the long cook without clumping.
Boiling the wine down by about three quarters on the stove concentrates it. A slow cooker traps its steam, so whatever liquid goes in stays in, and unreduced wine would only thin the gravy.
Browning the beef in batches over high heat, about 3 to 4 minutes a batch, gives the gravy its color. Cubes crowded into the skillet steam instead of browning.

I push the carrots and potatoes down into the liquid with the back of a spoon before the lid goes on. A few pieces always poke out, and that’s fine.

Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Once the lid is on, the crock does the work for 6 to 8 hours.
Everything can be assembled the night before and switched on in the morning.
The ingredients are supermarket staples, from chuck to frozen peas.
The flour goes in at the start, so there’s no slurry to fuss with at the end.

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Beef Stew

3 cups low-sodium beef broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 lb boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups dry red wine
1 beef bouillon cube, crumbled (optional)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into big bite-size pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 lb small potatoes, halved or quartered if large
1 cup frozen peas

Picking the Right Ingredients

Boneless chuck is the cut to buy. It has the connective tissue that turns soft over a long, slow cook, and cutting your own cubes from one piece keeps them all close to the same size.

Use a dry red wine you’d be willing to drink, since it’s boiled down to a concentrate. The broth should be low-sodium, because the bouillon cube and the Worcestershire both bring salt of their own.

Small potatoes hold together through hours in the crock, and the larger ones only need halving or quartering. Keep the peas frozen until the very end, so they warm through and stay bright green instead of turning dull.

Step-by-Step Directions

Build the gravy base. In the slow cooker crock, whisk 1 cup of the broth with the tomato paste and flour until there are no lumps. Whisk in the remaining 2 cups of broth until the liquid looks smooth and evenly rust-colored.
Season the beef. Spread the beef cubes out on a cutting board and sprinkle them with 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Toss them with your hands until every side is lightly speckled with seasoning.
Brown in batches. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until it shimmers. Brown the beef in batches, about 3 to 4 minutes each, until golden on the sides. Move each batch to the crock, leaving the fat behind.
Soften the onion. Add the onion to the fat left in the skillet and cook, stirring, until it’s soft and just turning golden at the edges. Stir in the garlic and cook only until it smells fragrant, before it has a chance to brown.
Reduce the wine. Pour in the wine and bring it to a boil, scraping the browned bits off the bottom. Boil until only about a quarter is left and it looks thick around the onions, then tip it all into the crock.
Season the stew. Add the bouillon cube, Worcestershire, bay leaves, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper to the crock. Stir until the wine and gravy base are mixed into one dark liquid and the beef is coated.
Add the vegetables. Scatter the carrots, celery, and potatoes over the beef. Push them down into the liquid with the back of a spoon so most of them sit under the surface. A few pieces poking out is fine.
Slow cook. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Start checking at 6 hours. It’s done when a cube of beef breaks apart easily under a fork and a knife slides into the potatoes with no resistance.
Finish with peas. Fish out the bay leaves and stir in the frozen peas. Cover again and leave it for a few minutes, until the peas are hot and bright green and the gravy is bubbling gently around the edges.

Good to Know

Don’t crowd the skillet. If the cubes are touching, they’ll steam and turn gray, and the gravy loses its deep color.
Don’t skip the wine reduction. It’s the step that keeps the gravy from tasting thin, since nothing reduces once the lid is on.
Taste the gravy before you add any more salt. The bouillon cube and Worcestershire already bring plenty, and it’s easy to overdo.
I don’t peel the small potatoes. The skins are thin, and I’m not going to stand there peeling them.

How to Store It

Make-ahead is the one storage question the recipes do answer. RecipeTin Eats browns the beef, makes the sauce, and loads everything into the slow cooker the night before, then switches it on in the morning.

I keep the filled crock covered in the fridge overnight. None of the recipes I worked from say how long leftovers keep or whether the stew freezes, so I won’t put a number on either.

I cool the leftovers, cover them, and get them into the fridge. To reheat, warm the stew gently on the stove until it’s bubbling all the way through.

If the gravy has tightened in the fridge, a splash of broth loosens it again.

What Goes With Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Crusty bread for dunking into the gravy, since there’s a lot of it.
Mashed potatoes, with the stew ladled right over the top so the gravy runs into them.
Rice or buttered noodles, which soak up the gravy just as well.
A green salad with a sharp vinaigrette, for something crisp next to a rich bowl.

What I Use to Make This

A slow cooker big enough to hold everything with the vegetables mostly under the liquid.
A large heavy skillet that can go over high heat for browning the beef and boiling down the wine.
A whisk for getting the flour smooth in the cold broth.
A wooden spoon with a flat edge for scraping the browned bits off the skillet.
A sharp knife and a cutting board for cutting the chuck into even cubes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make beef stew without wine? RecipeTin Eats swaps in more beef stock or an alcohol-free wine. It doesn’t give an amount for the swap, so I can’t hand you a tested number.

Can I cook slow cooker beef stew on HIGH? I don’t have a HIGH time I trust for this recipe. The one HIGH time in my sources reads backwards, longer than the LOW time, and the other is for much smaller pieces of beef, so I cook it on LOW.

Why is my beef stew meat still tough? It usually needs more time. Chuck stays firm until its connective tissue breaks down, so give it up to the full 8 hours if a cube doesn’t fall apart at 6.

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