Crock Pot Beef Stew Recipe

This Crock Pot Beef Stew recipe is hearty, delicious and a cinch to make. By making this stew ahead of time and letting it simmer all day long, you remove the hassle of wondering what to make for dinner and dealing with fussy kids by having it hot and ready to go!

To make this recipe even easier, buy veggies pre-chopped or chop using an inexpensive plastic chopper as seen in the capsules below. Inexpensive and healthy, this recipe is kid-approved.

I hated stew as a kid (I hated anything similar to soup, to be honest with you) and yet I still loved my mom's crock pot beef stew.

Okay. So I don't exactly love it (I kind of still hate all types of soup), but it is pretty good and I do enjoy a hot bowl on a chilly fall or winter day, so that says how tasty this stuff really is!

1. Optional: In a large skillet, brown beef on all sides. Drain and set aside.
2. In a 5 quart slow cooker (any smaller and it won't fit!), combine the carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and red pepper. Pour the tomatoes over the top. You can mix these layers together if you desire, but it also works fine if you just layer and stir it all together when it's closer to being done.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, tomato paste and beef broth together until smooth. Stir in the salt, garlic, pepper and thyme. Pour into the slow cooker.
4. Spread the beef evenly over the top. If you browned the beef before putting it in the slow cooker, it won't burn. Instead it will be perfectly tender. If you didn't brown the beef, it may not be super tender, but it will be cooked all the way through.
5. Cover and cook on low for about six and a half to eight hours, or until the meat is tender. Mix the layers together well with about one hour remaining (if you didn't mix them all together at the beginning).
6. Add the frozen corn, peas and beans during the last twenty minutes of cooking.
7. Our family recipe book says it yields six servings, but in my opinion, those servings would be absolutely huge, so this serves about eight or nine people for dinner. It's perfect for freezing.

Buying pre-cut vegetables can be ridiculously expensive, so investing in a good, inexpensive chopper saves money and time (plus it's fun!).

I use these kinds of vegetable choppers all the time and they're one of the most handy kitchen tools I own. Take a look at some of these Amazon vegetable choppers.