Slow Cooker Cheater Beef Stew–if you’re looking for the easiest beef stew recipe you may have found it! The ingredients are dumped into your slow cooker and then you can come back to a cooked dinner several hours later. This recipe requires little to no prep and only 5 ingredients. No sauteing, chopping or browning. And best of all it tastes great!
Get the INSTANT POT cheater beef stew recipe here
Slow Cooker Cheater Beef Stew
I love stews and soups a lot! But they can take a while to make because of all the peeling and chopping of the vegetables. For this cheater beef stew I found a product that is a major time-saver. I found a bag of frozen stew vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions and celery) at my grocery store and decided to give them a shot. They worked really nicely in this stew. I will definitely use this time-saver again. Of course if you don’t want to buy frozen vegetables you can just cut up your own potatoes, carrots, celery and onions.
I also decided to cheat on the browning step. I didn’t do it. I just threw the meat in raw. The meat still was very tasty and tender. Plus I used a package of stew meat instead of buying a roast and cut it up myself.
The third cheat on this recipe was using a packet of onion soup mix and brown gravy mix. No measuring of ingredients, just throwing it all in. Everything was seasoned nicely.
If you’re in a hurry but still want to have dinner on the table tonight this is a great recipe for you! Pick up some crusty bread to serve with it and you’re set.
More Slow Cooker Beef Recipes…
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos
What Slow Cooker Did You Use?
To make Slow Cooker Cheater Beef Stew I used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.* My favorite feature of this slow cooker is that it has a stove top function. This is perfect for sauteing or browning before you slow cook. This slow cooker has four manual cooking functions: slow cook, stove top sear/Saute, steam, and bake.
Slow Cooker Cheater Beef Stew
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 6-8 hours on LOW
- Total Time: 19 minute
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
If you’re looking for the easiest beef stew recipe you may have found it! The ingredients are dumped into your slow cooker and then you can come back to a cooked dinner several hours later. This recipe requires little to no prep and only 5 ingredients. No sauteing, chopping or browning. And best of all it tastes great!
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 1 ½ pounds beef stew meat
- 1 (1 oz) packet onion soup mix
- 3 Tbsp brown gravy mix
- 1 (24 oz) bag frozen stew vegetables (see note)
- Cornstarch
Instructions
- Add water, stew meat, onion soup mix, gravy mix and vegetables to your slow cooker. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (every slow cooker cooks differently yours may be faster or slower)
- Remove the lid and stir. If you want to thicken the stew you can make a cornstarch slurry. Mix 2-3 Tbsp of cornstarch with 2-3 Tbsp of cold water and stir until smooth. Add the slurry into the pot. Turn the slow cooker to high and cook for 10-15 minutes without the lid. Once it’s thickened serve and enjoy!
Notes
I used my Ninja Auto-iQ 6 Quart Slow Cooker.*
If you don’t want to use frozen vegetables you can cut up your own potatoes, carrots, celery and onions.
To make gluten free: use a gluten free gravy mix package and onion soup mix packet.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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