This easy beef stew recipe is delicious, hearty, and a perfect weeknight family meal! Just set it to cook in the crock pot or slow cooker and you’ll enjoy the heavenly smell of simmering stew all day until dinner. Read on for the recipe!
Let me just start this post by saying: if you don’t eat meat, I apologize profusely. Not only for the fact that this is a meaty post, but for the fact that you mouth will be missing out on this absolutely delicious easy beef stew recipe. For the rest of you, prepare yourselves for the best stew in the whole world.
Psst — before you read on, be sure to book mark this kale soup if you need another incredible winter or fall recipe! And our easy-to-make beer bread goes particularly well with both recipes, too.
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The Stew We’ve Made for a Decade
Ryan and I started making this recipe when got married because we got a crock pot for our wedding and it seemed like the right thing to do when you have a crock pot. Ya know. Make stew.
And once we had it we couldn’t quit it. This recipe comes out every fall and stays in heavy rotation until the weather gets warmer again. Over the years we’ve tweaked it to make it faster, easier, and more delicious (in the opinion of my humble taste buds).
Now don’t get scared about the list of ingredients when you see it. Because they’re common spices, you probably already have most of them in your cabinets. Also, once you make the base seasoning you can keep a little jar of it and you won’t have to make it every time.
Easy Beef Stew recipe
Ingredients for Stew Seasoning
- 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
Ingredients for Stew
- olive oil
- 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Stew Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups beef stock, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 pound small (golf ball size) potatoes, quartered
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup coarsely diced onion
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- a few sprigs fresh parsley
Make Time: 10 Minutes Prep, 8 Hours Cook Time
Beef Stew Seasoning
First, mix up your stew seasoning. (Note! We made the seasoning the first time we ever cooked the stew and found that it lasts for at least a year. You’ll just need to do this once in a blue moon. If you don’t want a ton of leftover seasoning, cut the measurements down.)
Quick-Prep Stew Instructions
Sautee all meat in a pan with a splash of olive oil and a tsp of salt, a tsp of creole seasoning, and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Don’t cook your meat all the way through; just brown it for a few minutes on each side.
Into the crock pot, put butter, mushrooms, flour, beef stock, tomato paste, herbs, spices, and browned meat. Then cover and cook on high for one hour. Next, add potatoes and carrots, stir, cover, and cook for another six hours. Add diced onions, stir, cover, and cook for another hour. Finally, during the final few minutes, stir in the peas. When you serve, sprinkle with parsley (or you can chop and mix it in when you add the peas).
Serving Beef Stew
Take it to the next level with some rustic bread that you love. This stew is also really great with a glass of your favorite red wine. It’s the perfect winter meal, guys!
Hope you try it out. And if you have another favorite stew recipe, leave a link in the comments! xoxo
Easy Beef Stew Recipe

This hearty and delicious easy beef stew is sure to become one of your weeknight favorites!
Ingredients
Stew Seasoning
- 2 1/2 TBSP paprika
- 2 TBSP salt
- 2 TBSP garlic powder
- 1 TBSP black pepper
- 1 TBSP onion powder
- 1 TBSP dried oregano
- 1 TBSP dried thyme
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
Stew Ingredients
- olive oil
- 2 lbs stew meat in 1-inch cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp stew seasoning
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 TBSP unsalted butter
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 2 TBSP flour
- 3 c beef stock
- 2 TBSP tomato paste
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
- 1 lb small potatoes (golf ball-sized), quartered
- 1 c diced carrots
- 1 c coarsely diced onion
- 1 c frozen green peas
- fresh parsley (optional)
Instructions
- First, mix up your stew seasoning. (Note! We made the seasoning the first time we ever cooked the stew and found that it lasts for at least a year. You’ll just need to do this once in a blue moon. If you don’t want a ton of leftover seasoning, cut the measurements down.)
- Sautee all meat in a pan with a splash of olive oil and a tsp of salt, a tsp of creole seasoning, and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Don’t cook your meat all the way through; just brown it for a few minutes on each side.
- Into the crock pot, put butter, mushrooms, flour, beef stock, tomato paste, herbs, spices, and browned meat. Then cover and cook on high for one hour.
- Next, add potatoes and carrots, stir, cover, and cook for another six hours.
- Add diced onions, stir, cover, and cook for another hour.
- Finally, during the final few minutes, stir in the peas. When you serve, sprinkle with parsley (or you can chop and mix it in when you add the peas).
YUM! That totally does look like the best stew in the whole world. Definitely trying this. Thanks! ♥
This looks and sounds delicious! Totally trying this one.
YUM!
I saw this too late to use the slow cooker, so I made it in the pressure cooker. It looked so good I coulnd’t resist making it for dinner today, so I had to make do with what I had, and since I was almost out of potatoes and had no mushroom, I added 1/2 medium chopped cauliflower. It was sooooo good!
I can see how the flavors might develop better in the slow cooker though, so next time I will shop beforehand and get started early so I can follow the recipe to the letter!
Thank you for sharing this, it was delicious.
So glad you tried it, Elisa! Your substitutions sound fab.
I’m super into this. I also love that you said “If you’re a vegetarian, sorry, you’re just missing out.” HHAHAHAHHA
I mean…. It’s just THAT GOOD. 😉
I will try to make this recipe in a quite different way and thanks for sharing,it looks yummy.