Slow Cooker Beef Stew: A Hearty Fall Comfort Food Recipe

Slow Cooker Beef Stew is one of those meals that just seems made for a cool fall day.

This is what we think of as our fall-style beef stew — big chunks of tender beef, baby potatoes, carrots, onions, Baby Bella mushrooms, peas and corn, all swimming in a rich brown gravy.

It’s hearty, filling, and exactly the kind of comfort food we want when the temperatures start dropping, and we’re spending more time inside the RV.

We’ve made several different versions of beef stew over the years, and this one is much more traditional than one of our other favorites — our Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Stew. That recipe brings smoky chipotle flavor and a little Southwestern kick to the Crock-Pot.

This one goes in the opposite direction.

Classic beef. Potatoes. Carrots. Vegetables. Rich brown gravy.

Nothing fancy — just a big bowl of old-fashioned beef stew.

And because we’re cooking in an RV, we’re always looking for ways to make a good meal without dirtying half the kitchen.

That’s where our 8-quart Crock-Pot really earns its keep.

Our Crock-Pot has a Brown/Sauté setting, so we can brown the beef, sauté the vegetables, and slow-cook the entire stew in the same pot. No skillet needed and one less pan to wash afterward.

This recipe also makes a big batch. We actually pushed ours even further by using more potatoes, peas, and corn than the original recipe called for.

The result?

A Crock-Pot absolutely loaded with beef and vegetables, with enough leftover beef stew for several more meals.

And the gravy turned out exactly how we wanted it. We had planned for the possibility of thickening it at the end, but it didn’t need it at all.

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Why We Love Making Beef Stew in the Crock-Pot

Beef stew isn’t difficult to make, but giving it plenty of time is what turns it into something really good.

Chuck roast starts out fairly tough, but several hours of slow cooking lets the connective tissue break down and gives you the tender pieces of beef you expect in a good stew.

The vegetables soak up all that beefy flavor along the way, while the broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and seasonings develop into a rich gravy.

And once everything is in the Crock-Pot, there’s really not much left to do.

That’s our kind of RV cooking.

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Beef Stew

For the Beef

• 2¾–3 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into approximately 1½-inch chunks
• 1½ teaspoons Morton kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil, plus more if needed

Vegetables

• 1½ pounds baby potatoes, halved or quartered if large
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into thick pieces
• 8 ounces Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen corn

For the Beef Gravy

• 3 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon Roasted Beef Base
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 bay leaves

To Finish

• 2 tablespoons butter
• Additional kosher salt and black pepper, if needed

Optional, If Your Gravy Needs Thickening

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons cold water

What We Actually Used

This is where our batch wandered a little from the original recipe.

That’s one of the things we like about beef stew. It’s pretty forgiving, especially when you’re working with a big slow cooker.

We have an 8-quart Crock-Pot, so we had plenty of room and decided to load ours up.

For the batch you see in our photos, we used:

• 2 full pounds of baby potatoes
• 8 ounces sliced Baby Bella mushrooms
• 1 full 16-ounce bag of frozen peas
• 1 full 16-ounce bag of frozen corn

Yep. The whole bags went in.

That gave us two pounds of potatoes plus another two pounds of peas and corn combined.

This was not a small pot of stew!

If you’re using a smaller slow cooker or simply don’t want quite as many leftovers, stick closer to the original quantities.

But if you’ve got an 8-quart Crock-Pot and want a big batch, our loaded-up version worked beautifully.

Step 1: Cut and Season the Beef

Start by cutting the chuck roast into roughly 1½-inch pieces.

Don’t worry about getting every piece exactly the same size. This is beef stew, not a cooking competition.

Trim off any particularly large or hard pieces of exterior fat, but don’t go crazy trimming the roast. Chuck has plenty of marbling and connective tissue, and that’s exactly what makes it so good after a long, slow cook.

Pat the beef dry and season it with the kosher salt and black pepper.

Toss the beef with about ¼ cup of the flour until the pieces are lightly coated.

The flour helps the beef develop a nice crust while browning and also contributes to thickening the gravy as everything cooks.

As we found out later, that was plenty for our batch.

Step 2: Brown the Beef Right in the Crock-Pot

One of our favorite features of our Crock-Pot is the Brown/Sauté setting.

Instead of browning the beef in a separate skillet, we can do it directly in the Crock-Pot insert.

Add the avocado oil and let the pot get hot.

Brown the beef in batches so you don’t overcrowd the bottom.

You’re not trying to cook the beef all the way through at this point. You just want to develop a good brown crust on the outside.

Transfer each browned batch to a plate or bowl while you finish the rest.

And don’t clean out the Crock-Pot.

Those browned bits left behind are exactly what we want.

Don’t Skip Browning the Beef

Could you throw raw beef into the Crock-Pot and still make beef stew?

Sure.

But browning it first adds another layer of flavor that’s worth the extra few minutes.

And because our Crock-Pot lets us brown the beef in the same pot we’re going to slow cook in, there’s really no reason for us to skip it.

Step 3: Sauté the Onion and Mushrooms

Once the beef is browned and removed, add the chopped onion and sliced Baby Bella mushrooms directly to the same pot.

Let them cook in the beef drippings for about 5 minutes.

The mushrooms will start releasing moisture, the onions will begin to soften, and both will help loosen those flavorful browned bits from the bottom.

Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30–60 seconds.

Step 4: Start Building the Gravy

Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup flour over the onions and mushrooms.

Stir everything together and let the flour cook for about a minute.

Next, slowly pour in about 1 cup of the beef broth, stirring and scraping the bottom of the Crock-Pot as you go.

You want all those browned beef bits incorporated into the gravy rather than stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Return the browned beef to the Crock-Pot.

Step 5: Add the Potatoes and Carrots

Add the carrots and baby potatoes.

For the original recipe, 1½ pounds of potatoes is plenty.

We had a 2-pound bag.

So naturally, the entire bag went in.

And after seeing the finished stew, we wouldn’t hesitate to do it again in our 8-quart Crock-Pot.

Pour in the remaining beef broth and gently stir everything together.

Step 6: Add the Flavor

Now add:

• Better Than Bouillon Roasted Beef Base
• Tomato paste
• Worcestershire sauce
• Reduced-sodium soy sauce
• Dried thyme
• Dried rosemary
• Smoked paprika
• 2 bay leaves

Give everything another good stir.

Don’t worry if the liquid doesn’t completely cover all of the beef and vegetables.

The beef, mushrooms, onions, and other vegetables are going to release additional liquid as they cook.

And remember:

Don’t add the peas or corn yet.

Those go in near the end.

Step 7: Slow Cook the Beef Stew

Cover the Crock-Pot and cook on:

LOW for approximately 8–9 hours

or

HIGH for approximately 5–6 hours

We started ours on LOW for 8 hours.

But here’s where cooking by tenderness instead of strictly by the clock matters.

Our Carrots Needed More Time

After eight hours on LOW, most of the stew was looking great.

But the carrots weren’t quite done.

Rather than calling it finished just because the timer said eight hours, we switched the Crock-Pot to HIGH and continued cooking.

After about an hour on HIGH, they still needed a little more time.

That’s something worth remembering with any slow-cooker recipe.

The clock is a guide. The food tells you when it’s actually done.

Test one of the larger carrot pieces with a fork. Do the same with a potato and a piece of beef.

The beef should be tender, and the potatoes and carrots should be easily pierced with a fork.

If the carrots are still firm, keep cooking.

Step 8: Add the Frozen Peas and Corn at the End

Once the beef, potatoes, and carrots are tender, it’s time for the peas and corn.

Don’t put these in at the beginning.

Frozen peas and corn don’t need eight or nine hours in a slow cooker.

Stir them into the finished stew and give them enough time to become completely heated through.

What We Did

The original recipe called for a much more modest amount.

Then we looked at our giant pot of beef stew and went for it.

We added:

One entire 16-ounce bag of frozen peas

and

One entire 16-ounce bag of frozen corn.

And honestly?

We liked it.

The peas added some bright green color, the corn brought a little sweetness, and the finished stew was absolutely packed with vegetables.

Our 8-quart Crock-Pot handled the additional volume just fine.

Step 9: Check the Gravy Before You Thicken It

We originally planned to make a cornstarch slurry at the end if the gravy needed thickening.

It didn’t.

Our gravy was perfect exactly as it was.

Between coating the beef in flour, adding additional flour while sautéing the onions and mushrooms, and letting everything slow cook together for hours, the gravy thickened naturally.

After giving the finished stew a good stir, it was exactly where we wanted it — thick enough to coat the beef and vegetables while still leaving plenty of gravy in the bowl.

So don’t automatically add cornstarch just because it’s listed as an option.

Check your stew first.

What If Your Beef Stew Is Too Thin?

If your gravy really is thinner than you’d like, combine:

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons cold water

Stir until completely smooth, then gradually stir it into the stew.

You may not need the entire amount.

Let the stew cook on HIGH for another 15–30 minutes and check the consistency again.

But treat this as a fix rather than a required step.

We didn’t use any cornstarch in ours.

Step 10: Finish and Serve

Remove and discard the two bay leaves.

Stir in 2 tablespoons of butter for a little extra richness.

Taste the gravy before adding any more salt.

There’s already salt coming from the kosher salt, beef broth, Better Than Bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce, so you may not need much more.

Add additional black pepper if you like.

Then grab a bowl and start ladling.

We kept ours simple and served it with saltine crackers.

Nothing fancy.

Just a big bowl of homemade fall-style beef stew.

How Did Our Slow Cooker Beef Stew Turn Out?

This one was a winner.

The chuck roast became tender, the baby potatoes held together, the Baby Bella mushrooms added another layer of savory flavor, and after giving them the additional cooking time they needed, the carrots were tender too.

And despite adding an entire bag each of peas and corn, there was still plenty of beef in every bowl.

That’s something we really liked about the finished stew.

You aren’t digging through a bowl of potatoes and vegetables trying to find a tiny piece of meat.

There are big chunks of beef throughout the stew.

And then there’s the gravy.

That might have been our favorite part.

It was rich, beefy, and thick enough to cling to everything without becoming overly thick or pasty.

We had the cornstarch sitting there ready to go.

We never needed it.

That’s exactly how we’d make it again.

This Recipe Makes A LOT of Beef Stew

Especially if you make the loaded-up version we did.

Our 8-quart Crock-Pot was full, and after we ate dinner, we still had a large container of leftover stew.

Using the extra potatoes and full bags of peas and corn, I’d expect approximately 8–10 hearty servings, depending on the size of your bowls.

That’s one of the reasons we like recipes like this while RVing.

We can put in the work once and have dinner ready for another night too.

How to Store Leftover Beef Stew

Let the stew cool slightly, then transfer the leftovers into shallow, airtight containers and get them into the refrigerator within two hours of cooking. Dividing a big batch like ours into smaller containers also helps it cool more quickly.

The USDA recommends keeping refrigerated leftovers for 3–4 days. If you know you won’t finish it within that time, freeze individual portions for later.

When reheating, heat the stew thoroughly until it reaches 165°F throughout. The gravy will probably thicken considerably in the refrigerator, so add a small splash of beef broth if you want to loosen it back up.

And beef stew is one of those meals that can taste even better the next day after all those flavors have had more time to mingle.

Can You Freeze Beef Stew?

Absolutely.

With a batch this large, freezing some of it makes a lot of sense.

Let the stew cool completely and divide it into meal-sized portions before freezing.

That way you can thaw only what you need instead of dealing with one enormous frozen container of beef stew.

The potatoes may become slightly softer after freezing and reheating, but the stew should still taste great.

Tips for Making Better Crock-Pot Beef Stew

A few things we learned from making this batch are worth remembering:

• Use chuck roast. Long, slow cooking is exactly what this cut wants.
• Brown the beef first. It takes a little extra time but adds a lot of flavor.
• Don’t waste the browned bits. Get all of that flavor off the bottom of the pot and into the gravy.
• Don’t cut the carrots too large. Ours were the last vegetable to become tender.
• Add the peas and corn near the end. They only need enough time to heat through.
• Don’t automatically thicken the gravy. Check it first. Ours was perfect without cornstarch.
• Use cooking time as a guide. Tender beef and fork-tender vegetables tell you when the stew is actually finished.
• Don’t be afraid to make it your own. We certainly did.

Why This Beef Stew Works So Well for RV Cooking

This is exactly the type of recipe we like making in our motorhome.

We’re working with a small kitchen, so anything that cuts down on cookware is a plus.

Because our Crock-Pot has a Brown/Sauté function, everything happened in one cooking vessel.

We browned the beef.

We sautéed the onions and mushrooms.

We built the gravy.

We added the meat and vegetables.

Then we switched over to the slow-cooker setting and let the Crock-Pot take over.

That means we didn’t need a separate skillet for browning the meat and another pot for making the stew.

One pot means less cleanup.

And while the Crock-Pot spends most of the day doing the work, we’re free to do something considerably more interesting than stand over a stove.

That’s especially nice when you’re living and traveling in an RV.

More Fall Comfort Food From Our RV Kitchen

When the weather starts cooling down, this is exactly the kind of food we start craving. If you’re looking for another hearty meal that works just as well in the RV, try our Slow Cooker Chili. Like this beef stew, it’s a big, filling meal that’s easy to make in our Crock-Pot and leaves us with plenty of leftovers.

Fall-Style Beef Stew vs. Our Chipotle Beef Stew

This recipe has quickly become what we’d call our fall-style beef stew.

It’s traditional comfort food — beef, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, peas, and corn in a rich brown gravy.

But it’s not the only beef stew we make.

One of our other favorites is our Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Stew.

That recipe goes in a completely different direction, bringing smoky chipotle flavor and a little Southwestern kick to the Crock-Pot.

Which one we’d choose really depends on what we’re craving.

When we want something smoky and a little different, we make the Chipotle Beef Stew.

When the weather starts cooling down, and we’re craving a big bowl of traditional comfort food, this is the one.

Two beef stews.

Two completely different flavors.

And there’s definitely room in our recipe collection for both.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew FAQs

Our Final Thoughts

There are probably a thousand ways to make beef stew.

This is ours.

Or, more accurately, this is what happened when we started with a traditional slow cooker beef stew recipe and then did what we tend to do — made it our own as we went along.

A whole 2-pound bag of baby potatoes?

Yep.

The entire 8-ounce package of Baby Bella mushrooms?

In they went.

A full 16-ounce bag of peas and a full 16-ounce bag of corn?

Why not?

Fortunately, we’ve got an 8-quart Crock-Pot.

What came out was a huge batch of hearty fall-style beef stew packed with tender beef, potatoes, and vegetables in a rich gravy that didn’t need any additional thickener.

It was exactly the kind of meal we were looking for as the weather started feeling like fall.

And judging by the container of leftovers sitting beside the Crock-Pot when we were finished, we weren’t going to have to wonder what was for dinner the next night either.

That’s a win in our book.