It's super easy crock pot beef and vegetable soup with potatoes, carrots, peas, and a savory seasoned beef broth. This Slow cooker beef soup recipe is loaded with veggies and we LOVE it as a family dinner for weeknights.
We LOVE beef stew with some toasted Soft Fluffy French Bread or Garlic Cheddar Drop Biscuits (husband’s favorite), Cheesy Garlic Irish Soda Bread, or Homemade fluffy Dinner Rolls (my favorites). It's a great freezer-friendly beef stew to make a double recipe of and freeze for a cold winter night.
We're all about family friendly soup recipes, so no cooking wine here, just a combination of beef broth, tomato paste for a little acidity, and Worcestershire sauce for umami to help make the soup nice and rich tasting. I use a combination of tomatoes and Worcestershire in Ground Beef Stuffed Peppers with Rice and it tastes amazing!
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What To Expect
- Taste: savory rich beef stew with vegetables like carrots, potatoes, peas, and celery with tender beef to balance it out.
- Ease: Simple recipe, just brown the beef and onions and then dump into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients!
- Time: 4-6 hours in the slow cooker, or 40-45 minutes on the stovetop.
🛒 Key Ingredients
- Beef - I use stew beef chunks, aka "chuck meat" cut from the shoulder. It's usually a little tougher and has a medium fat content, making it flavorful and ideal for slow cooking to tenderize it.
- Beef broth - the base of the stew, is much more flavorful than water and helps the beef to retain flavor as it cooks.
- Vegetables - I chose peas, carrots, celery, potatoes, and onions to make a traditional, old-fashioned beef stew. It's a similar veggie mix to what I use in Bone Broth Chicken Noodle Soup, minus the potatoes and onions.
- Tomato Paste - adds a lovely depth of flavor and a little acidity to the stew.
- Worcestershire Sauce - adds a savory flavor to the stew that can't be found with regular beef broth.
- Seasonings - a simple mix of salt, pepper, and garlic are used.
- Cornstarch - used as a gluten-free thickener to make it more "stew" like than soup.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- Beef Broth - if I don't have beef broth, I substitute water mixed with beef bouillon or beef base, according to package directions to get the correct volume of beef broth.
- Vegetables - you can use your favorite combination of vegetables, I like to use the combo of aromatics like carrots and celery and filling veggies like potatoes and peas. You could add in butternut or acorn squash, mushrooms, parsnips, or turnips.
🧑🍳 Instructions
- Step 1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Make sure the pan is nice and hot. Add beef chunks and onion and sear the beef for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned.
• It doesn't need to be cooked all the way through, just nice and browned on the outside to give it flavor.
- Step 2. To the slow cooker add all vegetables, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, bay leaves, cornstarch, and beef broth. Stir well and cover.
- Step 3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours (lower heat is recommended for chuck beef). The longer you can cook your beef at a low temperature, the more tender it will be.
You can cook this on the stovetop for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 at a simmer. If you cook it for less time, your beef will be a little more chewy.
📌 Top Tips & Hacks
- Brown the beef - searing the beef before putting into the slow cooker helps to give the broth a better, deeper flavor than if it's just dumped in with the veggies.
- Make sure the pan is hot to brown the beef! Let the pan heat with the olive oil for 2-3 minutes before adding the beef and onions so it sizzles when it hits the pan, so it properly browns.
- Cook low and slow - chuck stew meat required a longer cooking time than regular beef, so cooking it longer at a lower temperature once it goes into the crock pot will help it to become tender and melt in your mouth.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You will need to let the beef and vegetable stew simmer on low heat for awhile to help tenderize the beef though, at least 1 hour, preferably longer, 1.5- 2 hours so the beef is nice and soft. If you cook it for less time, your beef will be a little chewier.
Yes, for chuck meat low and slow is always the way to get the most tender meat.
Yes! Using beef broth or beef stock and cornstarch makes this beef stew gluten free/friendly.
Refrigerate: up to 4 days.
Freeze: up to 3 months.
Yes! You can sear the beef and onions in the instant pot on sauté-mode, add the rest of the ingredients, and cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. You will need at least an 8 quart instant pot.
🥣 More Easy Soup Recipes
If you need more ideas beyond crock pot beef stew with vegetables, I got you covered!
📝 Printable Recipe
Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Stew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb chuck stew meat chunks
- ½ yellow onion, chopped 1 cup, 125 g
- 1½ cups frozen peas 230 g
- 1½ cups chopped carrots 220 g
- 1½ cups chopped celery 175 g
- 2 cups potatoes (heaping) chopped 350 g, 2 medium potatoes
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic 2-3 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 6 cups beef broth 1.4 L
Instructions
- In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add beef chunks and onion and sear the beef for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned.
- To the slow cooker add all vegetables, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, bay leaves, cornstarch, and beef broth. Stir well and cover.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours (lower heat is recommended).
Sara says
We've made this with beef, elk, antelope, and even duck meat! It's delicious every time. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! Please leave a comment here and share your feedback with a star rating. I really enjoyed creating this recipe and post for you!