by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · Last modified: · 41 Comments
Jump to RecipePrint 4.41 from 76 votes
Everybody will love this delicious Crock Pot Beef Stew with tender meat and vegetables. The ultimate comfort food that will warm you to the bone.
This small-batch beef stew recipe is ideal for a small household or is quickly doubled to full size. Or make it even smaller for only two servings.
🐄Ingredients
Beef—pre-cut stew meat or trimmed sirloin tip or chuck roast
Vegetables—Yukon gold or red potatoes, carrots, frozen peas
Aromatics—onion and garlic
Pantry ingredients—beef broth, tomato paste, soy sauce, salt, pepper
Optional ingredients—flour for browning, dry thyme, bay leaf
Thickening—tapioca or cornstarch
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 🐄Ingredients
- 😊Why you should make this recipe
- 👨🍳How to Make Crock Pot Beef Stew
- ⏰How long to cook
- Meat tips
- Vegetable tips
- Cooking tips
- Other crock pot stew and soup recipes
- ↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe
- ❄️Leftovers—storage and reheating
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comment from Lauren:
"5 stars This beef stew is the best! I made the smaller version and it was absolutely perfect."
😊Why you should make this recipe
- This easy slow cooker beef stew recipe is the best classic old-fashioned comfort food you can have on a cold day.
- A short prep to enhance the flavor and all-day cooking in the crock pot gets you a delicious dinner when you get home.
- Melt-in-your-mouth tender beef with excellent flavor and packed with tender potatoes and vegetables in a rich and hearty sauce.
- It is a complete meal, so there is no need for lots of side dishes. Serve with crusty bread, cornbread, or biscuits.
I started with a Cooks Country recipe (subscription required), but I think it is unrecognizable now. Lots of fuss, as usual from Cooks County, has been removed along with some other adjustments, and the size decreased.
👨🍳How to Make Crock Pot Beef Stew
Pre-cut stew beef or trim about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of boneless chuck roast or sirloin tip into 1-inch cubes. Give it a light dusting of flour and place in hot oil over medium-high heat in the large skillet—brown for about 7-8 minutes. Move the meat to the crock pot, but keep any liquid in the pan.
While browning meat, peel 2 carrots and cut them into ½ inch thick medallions. Scrub ½ pound of Yukon Gold or red potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Other potatoes could be used, but if using russet potatoes, peel them.
Dice 1 medium onion and crush or mince 2 cloves of garlic. Add onion, 3 ounces of tomato paste, and ¼ tsp salt into the hot pan. Cook until onions are soft and lightly browned. Add the garlic for the last minute.
When the onion is ready, add 1 cup of beef broth to the pan and scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add all ingredients except the peas to the crock pot and stir well. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Add the frozen peas for the last hour of cooking.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏰How long to cook
On low, this takes 8 hours, and on high, it takes 4-5 hours. Some beef may take a bit longer, so check the meat and potatoes for tenderness and extend the time by an hour or two if needed.
Meat tips
- You can use pre-cut stew beef or cut your own from sirloin tip or chuck roast.
- The more marbling, the more tender the results.
- Using soy sauce will enhance the beef flavor. Many recipes use Worcestershire sauce, which you can use instead. The tomato paste also will boost the beef taste.
Vegetable tips
- The potatoes can be any potatoes. If you use russet potatoes, they should be peeled. If you use the specified Yukon Gold or red potatoes, you don't need to peel them.
- You will get about 1 cup of cubed potatoes from ½ pound of potatoes.
- Do not cube the potatoes or the carrots too small, or they can easily overcook.
- Other common additions include celery, green beans, parsnips, and sweet potatoes.
Cooking tips
- The secret to tender beef stew is not to undercook the stew. Cook until the meat and vegetables are tender.
- You can skip the browning of the meat, and cooking the onion on the stovetop will only cause a minor change in outcome. Just dumping the ingredients into the crock pot works.
- Like all stews and soups, a little more or less of the meat or vegetable will be fine.
- It is acceptable in the crock pot on the "keep warm" setting for an hour or a bit more if needed for your timing.
Other crock pot stew and soup recipes
Check out these tasty Crock Pot Chicken Stew. For some classic soups, try Crock Pot French Onion Soup, Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup, Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup, and Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup.
↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe
This is a very easy recipe to cut in half or double. The full recipe makes about 8 cups of 4 large servings. Perfect for our "for two" household for two meals.
Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- The half recipe will fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot.
- A double recipe fits in a 6-quart or larger crock pot.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
❄️Leftovers—storage and reheating
Store leftover beef stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or in a freezer for 3 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator first if frozen. Then reheat on the stovetop in a saucepan over medium heat, but the microwave will work, too.
❓FAQs
Should the beef be browned before adding it to the crock pot?
Browning the beef with a dusting of flour before adding it to the crock pot will add some depth of flavor with a Maillard reaction, but you can skip this with only a small effect on the final results.
How to thicken beef stew?
Tapioca or cornstarch is used to thicken this recipe. For tapioca, add 1 tablespoon at the beginning of cooking. For cornstarch, make a smooth slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water, then add the peas near the end of cooking.
Using a roux with flour is just fussier than it needs to be. Potato flakes are another possible choice.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
101's Best Recipes, Comfort Food Recipes, Crock Pot Recipes, Featured | Crock Pot Recipes, Mini Crock Pot Recipes, Small Crock Pots Recipes, Soup Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Small Crock Pot Beef Stew
From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Everybody will love this delicious crock pot beef stew with tender meat and vegetables. The ultimate comfort food that will warm you to the bone. This smaller beef stew recipe is ideal for a small household or is quickly doubled to full size.
Tap to leave a Rating
4.41 from 76 votes
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours hours
Total Time: 8 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
Servings #/Adjust if desired 4 serving
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Ingredients
US Customary - Convert to Metric
- 1 ½-2 lbs stew beef or trimmed sirloin tip or chuck roast - trimmed and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 medium onion - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - minced or pressed
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- ½ lb red or Yukon Gold potatoes - cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 carrots - peeled cut into ½ inch medallions
- ½ cups frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce - low sodium
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaves - Optional
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme - Optional
- 2 tablespoons AP Flour - Optional for browning
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil - Optional for browning
Optional thickening-covered in the pro tips below
- 1 tablespoon Minute tapioca
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
Use pre-cut stew beef or trim about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of boneless chuck roast or sirloin tip into 1-inch cubes. Give it a light dusting of flour and place in hot oil over medium-high heat in the large skillet—brown for about 7-8 minutes. Move the meat to the crock pot but keep any liquid in the pan.
While browning meat, peel 2 carrots and cut them into ½ inch thick medallions. Scrub ½ pound of red or Yukon gold potatoes and cut them into chunks. Other potatoes could be used but if using russet potatoes, peel also.
Dice 1 medium onion. Crush or mince 2 cloves of garlic. Add onion, 3 ounces of tomato paste, and ¼ tsp salt into the hot pan. Cook until onions are soft and lightly browned. Add the garlic for the last minute.
When the onion is ready, add 1 cup of beef broth to the pan and scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add all ingredients except the peas to the crock pot, and stir well. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Add the frozen peas for the last hour of cooking. Cook longer if needed for tender meat and vegetables.
Do you have a question?Leave a comment to ask or check the recipe post above for most common questions and variations.
Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print. Otherwise step-by-step photos are in the post.
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Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Images are for a double batch.
- This makes about 2 quarts as written and will fit a 3-quart crock pot. I recommend a double recipe and use a 6-quart or bigger crock pot. How to cut the recipe in half is covered in the post.
- I prefer to cut and trim a chuck roast or sirloin tip for this, but beef stew meat will work fine.
- If you're in a hurry, skip the whole browning skillet steps. Just dump it in, and it will be great.
- Check for beef tenderness before stopping cooking. Some beef may take a bit longer.
- Leftovers are good in the refrigerator for 4 days or 3 months in a freezer.
- Nutrition is calculated on a large serving size of about 2 cups.
Optional thickening
Tapioca or cornstarch is used to thicken this recipe. For tapioca, add 1 tablespoon at the beginning of cooking. For cornstarch, make a smooth slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water, then add the peas near the end of cooking.
Using a roux with flour is just fussier than it needs to be. Potato flakes are another possible choice.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
Calories : 434 kcal (22%)Carbohydrates : 24 g (8%)Protein : 37 g (74%)Fat : 22 g (34%)Saturated Fat : 10 g (50%)Cholesterol : 117 mg (39%)Sodium : 951 mg (40%)Potassium : 1283 mg (37%)Fiber : 4 g (16%)Sugar : 6 g (7%)Vitamin A : 5472 IU (109%)Vitamin C : 20 mg (24%)Calcium : 63 mg (6%)Iron : 5 mg (28%)
Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
Course : Main Course
Cuisine : American
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Publisher Note: Originally published March 5, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.Also, the technique has been updated a small amount to current my practice.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Gail
I hate peas. I want to do it with frozen green beans. Do I cut them in half and cook longer?
Reply
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Frozen green beans are tougher than peas. You can add them with the potatoes but you can just replace the peas with then add near the end. No need to cut them up.
Dan
Anne
Dr. Dan,
What a different (wonderful) change from the usual stew with brown gravy. The tomato paste took it to another level, with a lovely color and tangy tomato taste. I did use stew meat (it was very high quality), coated it with highly seasoned flour, and browned until the coating was crispy. This flouring actually made a nice gravy without use of any added thickeners. The carrots and peas took on the essence of the sauce without losing their individual flavors. I did choose to serve this over mashed potatoes, rather than put the potatoes into the stew, this time.
It's just my husband and myself--he says this is a "keeper".
Thanks so much--Anne DavisReply
Judy
See AlsoMini Crock Pot RecipesThe grocery store gave me instant tapioca instead of minute tapioca. Is there a big difference if I use it to thicken the stew?
Reply
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Judy,
You should be fine. In many applications, they can not be substituted but here we are using it for the starch to thicken. Either would work.
Dan
Cindy
We loved it!Reply
Katherine A Dietz
In the notes to make the recipe it says it was written for a 3 qt crockpot. In answer to a few of the questions it says to cut the written recipe in half, which is it?
Thanks KatherineReply
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
The original recipe was what I now call a double and needs a 6 quart or larger crockpot. As written now, it is 3 quart. Some of the older comments were for the original larger recipe. So follow the recipe card and instructions in the post. Please note that all images are for a double recipe. Instructions and ingredients are for a single recipe.
Dan
Lauren
This beef stew is the best! I made the smaller version and it was absolutely perfect. We didn’t have Tapioca, so I added cornstarch at the end. It was so delicious there were no leftovers, so the gumminess wasn’t an issue.Reply
Sara
howdy all, Dr Dan, just to clarify, are you browning the whole piece of beef first, and then cutting it up ? or could it be cut up first, dusted with flour and then tossed in the pan and browned?
Fall has begun here in Upstate NY, will probably try this recipe next week !!!
SaraReply
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Sara,
You don't have to brown but it adds some taste. I suggest, trim and cut up first, then flour, then brown. The flour helps browning and also will add some thickening later during cooking.
Dan
Megan Roesch
Hi, I am going to make your recipe for Beef Stew today. What size crockpot should I use?
Thank You for sharing your recipe.Reply
DrDan
Hi Megan,
Welcome to the blog.
Anything under 5 qt will be too full. I use a 6.5 qt. If cut it half, 3 qt. is a good minimum.
Dan
Alexis
Is the only liquid besides the soy sauce 14 oz beef broth? Does that end up being enough?
Reply
DrDan
Hi Alexis,
Welcome to the blog.
Yep, it is a stew so thick. Fluid does come out of some of the components. If it is too thick for you, add some more broth.
Dan
Dea
Well once again, another winner of a recipe from you!!! Made this today and I was salivating the entire day, the house smelled soo good! The stew tasted as good if not better than it smelled!! It was husband approved which is important and we have plenty of leftovers to look forward to later in the week! This has got to be the most flavorful stew I've ever made... it's definitely a keeper! Thank you once again!
Reply
DrDan
Hi Dea,
Welcome to the blog.
This is a recipe I only do a few times per year and always say I'm going to do it more. It is also on my conversion to pressure cooker list (if that ever happens).
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Thomas
Sounds good, and pretty easy. Your directions (both in the post and in the recipe) say to add 6 oz. of tomato paste, but the ingredient list only has 3 oz. Can you let me know which is correct?
Reply
DrDan
Hi Thomas,
Welcome to the blog.
The model recipe used 6 oz, which is a full can, but is a bigger recipe. I have done this recipe 25-30 times and now use 6 oz. for this size of recipe. When I re-edited the post last winter, I made it 6 oz and missed the one spot.
Sorry for the error. The increase in the tomato paste enhances the deep beefy taste.
Dan
Michele
This recipe is super easy and tasty! Thank you for posting the least intimidating beef stew recipe on the internet. I will definitely try the thyme next time, just to see if I'm missing anything.
Reply
DrDan
Hi Michele,
Thanks for the note. I do like relatively simple cooking.
Dan
Judy Uhl
Do you peel your potatoes or leave the skin on?
Reply
DrDan
Usually on. Also I have started to coat the cubes of meat with flour and brown that either before or after the onion part then do the rest of the recipe as stated.
Jack B
Hi Dr. Dan,
Have you tried this in an electric pressure cooker? If so, how long did you cook it for?
Thanks!Reply
DrDan
Don't have one so I haven't tried it. I still remember the great pressure cooker explosion my mother had from years ago.
Bill Schick
What is a serving size? 1 cup? 1/2 cup?
Reply
DrDan
A little over a cup.
Darlene
Would you have a recipe for dumplings to go with the stew? I'm not sure if they would be doable in a crock pot.
Reply
Susan
Sure did love this beef stew. It had been too long, and I had never used the crock pot! Just for fun, sometime, steam some frozen Brussels sprouts till ready to eat and add with/or instead of the peas. It's a family favorite around here and the only way SOME people will eat Brussels sprouts (I cut them in half BTW). Kind of like adding cabbage to veg. soup. Cheers!Reply
Jill
When did you brown the meat? Before the onions?
Reply
DrDan
In the recipe and at ATK the meat is not browned. However I now usually brown the meat after the onion. I remove the onion then add the meat to get some nice searing then deglaze. Not really necessary but I think a little more taste.
Lamia
Can you sub cornstarch for the tapioca? And if so, how much do you recommend? Thanks!
Reply
DrDan
Yes and no... The corn starch thickens nicely BUT it tends to break down with ongoing cooking and does not reheat well. So yes if you do it at the end and eat the whole thing. Not good otherwise. I have no luck with flour and crock pots at the end of cooking but here I brown the meat so coating with flour prior to the browning is also an option. Potato flakes are another possibility.
DrDan
Backi
I'm not sure where the tapioca goes? I'm a novice :)
Reply
DrDan
Just add it at the beginning and it will be fine. If you skip it, it will be a little thinner.
DrDan
Nikki
I just made this and it was the best stew ever. I substituted half homemade chicken broth and half red wine for the beef broth, because that is what I had in the house. Just delish, and I never, ever comment online. Even my super picky oldest child, who eats nothing, pronounced it good.
Reply
DrDan
This is one of my most under-appreciated recipes. I do really like this one also.
Thanks for the note
DrDan
Linda
My husband and I just love your recipes. We especially enjoy the instructions and the pictures which make preparing the food easy. And the occasional misspelled word makes us chuckle and wonder if it's on purpose!!!
Reply
DrDan
Thanks for the comment. This misspells are me at full speed. I need to slow it down a bit at times...
Martha (MM)
Thanks so much for linking up your slow cooker recipes for my slow cooker recipe index. I have to say that yours look so appetizing! These are just the kind of meals I was looking for!
Reply
Jeffrey and Juli
Juli here. I totally agree with you that Cook's Illustrated Recipes are completely fussy and overly complicated. Jeffrey thinks the fussiness is worthwhile, but it would absolutely make me crazy to cook the way CI does every day. Your beef stew looks great! Thanks for the recipe variation for the crock pot.
Reply
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