This slow cooker beef stew is the perfect weekday meal. Simply place all of the ingredients into the slow cooker in the morning and by dinner time you have a hearty and healthy meal ready.

This one pot meal contains tender beef, potatoes and carrots in a rich and tasty sauce. Its simple ingredients are based on a traditional Irish stew recipe with only a couple of additions.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This slow cooker beef stew is hearty and filling.
There are no real fancy ingredients; this is back to basics, old fashioned cooking at its best.
Apart from chopping up the vegetables, this is hands off cooking.
It’s great meal to batch cook to have during the week.
It tastes even better the next day.

Ingredient Notes

Ingredients for slow cooker beef stew including olive oil, water, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, beef and flour.

Bone Broth or Stock

You can use bone broth or stock for this recipe.

Making your own bone broth is easy and will add extra nutrients to this meal. Check out my posts below if you would like the recipes for making your own bone broth.

Chicken Bone Broth

Beef Bone Broth

Alternatively you can use beef stock cubes (bouillon cubes) dissolved in boiling water for this recipe. Or use a good brand of readymade bone broth such as Kettle & Fire.

Just make sure you check the ingredients label on any store bought stock, if you want this recipe to remain gluten and dairy free.

Beef

I used 500g (1lb) of diced Irish beef chunks for this recipe. This cut of beef is also referred to as stewing steak, braising steak, chuck, skirt, leg or flank.

Avoid buying lean cuts of beef, as the fat will add extra flavour and stop the meat from drying out during the cooking process.

A lot of recipes will tell you to seal the beef by gently frying it in oil beforehand, but I just add it straight into the slow cooker raw and let it cook along with the other ingredients. This saves having to use another pan and I personally can’t tell the difference in the taste.

Potatoes

I used peeled Maris Piper potatoes for this recipe, but baby potatoes will also work well. If you are in the US then red, russet or Yukon Gold varieties would work well instead.

Flour

I used gluten free plain (all-purpose) flour in this recipe. If you are able to tolerate gluten then you can substitute this with just normal plain or all-purpose flour instead.

King Arthur’s is a good brand of gluten free flour if you are in the US.

If you are in the UK then I would recommend using Doves Farm.

Worcestershire Sauce

I chose a gluten free brand of Worcestershire sauce for this recipe. This helps to give the stew a nice savoury flavour.

Additional Ingredients

I like to keep my stews quite simple with the ingredients below, but you can add any additional vegetables or herbs that you fancy using.

Beef Stew Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
500g (1 lb) diced beef
3 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) gluten free flour
2 onions
4 medium size carrots
3 cloves garlic
500g (1lb) potatoes
750ml (3 cups) stock or bone broth
2 beef stock/ bouillon cubes (dissolved in 750ml water, only needed if you’re not using bone broth or readymade stock)
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste / puree
Salt and pepper to taste

Equipment

Slow cooker (I use a Crock Pot)
Chopping / cutting board
Sharp knife
Wooden spoon

How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Step 1

Chop up all of your vegetables. That’s the onions, carrots, potatoes and garlic. Aim for bite size chunks of potatoes and carrots.

Step 2

Set your slow cooker to its highest temperature setting.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to your slow cooker. Place your diced beef on top of the oil and then add in 3 tablespoons of flour. Mix well so the beef is coated in flour.

Beef coated in flour and oil inside of a slow cooker

Step 3

Add the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker. That’s the onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves.

Onions, tomato pastes, potatoes, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce added to slow cooker.

Step 4

If you are using homemade or store bought bone broth or stock then it can be poured straight in to the slow cooker, once the other solid ingredients have been added.

If you are using stock (bouillon) cubes instead of bone broth then dissolve 2 stock cubes in 750ml (3 cups) of boiling water. Ideally filter your tap water first before boiling it, this will further help to remove any nasties.

Beef stock in Pyrex jug next to slow cooker containing solid ingredients.

Step 5

Add the stock or bone broth to the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. You may want to add some extra water to ensure that all of the solid ingredients are submerged.

Step 6

Mix all of the ingredients together well. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

All of the beef stew ingredients in the slow cooker

Step 7

The stew is ready when the potatoes are soft enough to easily pierce with a fork.

Taste the stew and add some salt and pepper if needed. Remove the bay leaves and serve.

As you can see below, I served mine with a side dish of tender stem broccoli and sprinkled over some fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves.

Recipe FAQs

Is this a traditional Irish stew?

Traditional Irish stew is made with mutton or lamb, but beef is also commonly used in its place. The key ingredients of meat, onions, potatoes, carrots and broth are the basis for a traditional Irish stew.

The rest of the ingredients have been added to enhance the taste and provide additional depth of flavour. Humans have been eating stews since ancient times for good reasons. Stews are warming and provide all of the key nutrients that you need from a well balanced meal.