Two-Step Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Name: Two-Step Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 255 min
Ingredients: 2.5 lb Beef Stew Meat; ¼ cup All Purpose Flour; ½ tsp Salt; ½ tsp Black Pepper; 1 tsp Paprika; 3 clove Garlic ((minced)); 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce; 16 oz Carrots ((chopped)); 2 cup Onion ((chopped)); 2 cup Celery ((diced)); 32 oz Red Potatoes ((quartered)); 1.75 cup Beef Broth ((1 can))

Skip braising the beef and simply add all the ingredients to your slow cooker for this easy, two-step slow cooker beef stew recipe.

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Who loves a delicious dinner that takes about 15 minutes to prep? I do! We make this recipe frequently because of how delicious it is and how simple it is. Even our toddler eats it! (She usually says she doesn’t like meat, so we call it “brown stuff” with carrots and potatoes, and that gets her to eat it most of the time. Shhhh. Don’t tell her the secret.)

We normally serve Two-Step Slow Cooker Beef Stew by itself. However, if we’re looking for a little bit extra, we’ll serve it with some type of bread.

Recipe Overview

Place the cubed beef into the slow cooker and coat with flour, then add all of the remaining ingredients and cook. That’s it. It’s really that simple.

How to Freeze and Reheat

Allow stew to fully cool, then freeze in an air tight container. To reheat, place stew into a saucepan and heat on medium heat until bubbling, about 10 minutes.

If you’re looking to maximize space in your freezer, freeze stew portions without potatoes. Potatoes can be boiled separately and mixed into the reheated stew. Unfortunately, with this method the potatoes won’t be saturated with the stew flavor. However, if you’re always tight on freezer space like our family, you can save a decent amount of space by omitting the potatoes in your freezer package. If you’re using this approach, boil cut potatoes (cut to same size as original recipe) for about 15 minutes or until they are quite soft, then mix into the stew.

FAQs & Tips

Tip #1: Start with Baby Carrots instead of Whole Carrots

I dislike peeling and chopping carrots (or any dense vegetable). To save some trouble, I buy baby carrots so that they are already peeled and cut to the correct thickness. All I have to do is chop lengthwise. Also, if you have any leftover, they are easy to serve with veggie dip for a nice snack!

Tip #2: Want to save even more time? Skip the celery.

The celery adds extra volume to the dish, but it doesn’t affect the taste of the dish if it is omitted. If you’re trying to make this quick dish at lightening speed, skip the celery. You can also swap the garlic out for 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder as well. We learned that substitution when I thought we had garlic at home, but we found out mid-cooking that we did not.

Recipe Quick Stats

Cost:

Total Recipe Cost = $23.96 · $4.79 per serving

Nutrition:

Servings: 5 (each serving is about 3 cups)

Calories: 546 kcal · Total Fat: 14.2 g · Sodium: 789.1 mg · Total Carb: 51.2 g · Dietary Fiber: 6.3 g · Protein: 52.6 g

Listed values for cost and nutrition are estimates only. View how we calculate cost and nutritional data here. View our full cost and nutritional disclaimer here.

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