Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Onion Soup Mix

Slow Cooker beef stew with onion soup mix is an easy protein packed one pot meal in a Crockpot. Add all the potatoes and vegetables you want. Just one of our favorite stew meat recipes.

Beef Stew with Onion Soup Mix

Yes we have made a “traditional” slow cooker beef stew before and that is amazing too. It is one of the homemade meals my mom made when I was growing up. She never had much time in the morning to prep much before work but every once and a while this was served.

Packed with vegetables and bite size fork tender beef I will say it was one of my favorite meals. The easier the better really. Using Lipton soup mix is key to fast prep, let me show you…..

Let’s talk a little bit about slow cooking shall we?? First off I have a few different varieties and I love them all. Each one has an occasion to be used like….

1. This is my favorite 6 quart programmable one with a locking lid so it’s great for bringing to a potluck too.
2. I prefer not to use liners, but rather just spray olive oil inside before adding my food for easier cleanups.

Let me give you a peek of my pretty thang I bought recently. It goes with my kitchen so I can just leave it out on the countertop all the time. 😉

Easy Beef Stew Recipe

You actually don’t have to use already cut up meat. If you have a chuck roast or steak on hand you can cut that up into bite size pieces too and use that.

I like to use what I have on hand or what is in the freezer I can defrost. If you buy meat in bulk too you probably do the same thing. I use a 6 or 8 qt. Crock pot for slow cooking almost everything.

Beef Stew Ingredients

1. Large bite size pieces of beef, yes I typically just buy a package of already cut stew meat
2. Potatoes cut into large chunks, russet or red potatoes work
3. Carrots peeled and cut into large chunks or baby carrots
4. 1 pkg onion soup mix
   1. I buy these in bulk because I use it to make slow cooker pork roast onion soup mix too
5. I add more freshly sliced onions too
6. Vegetable oil or olive to brown the meat initially
7. Tomato paste will make the sauce thicker
8. Flour to thicken the onion gravy
9. Worcestershire sauce and onion seasoning packet

This really is a one pot meal so you don’t need a side dish but our cheddar bay biscuits are great if you want some carbs.

What is the difference between onion soup mix and French onion soup mix?

Not much. French uses a yellow variety while the other can use a variety of types. If you buy the packets at the store with dry seasoning in them, or use our Lipton French onion soup mix recipe. There are only a few ingredients and is way cheaper than buying it. If you use this often I’d make a batch to store and use.

Then you can make dishes like this one and our meatloaf recipe from Lipton onion soup mix on a weekly basis and know you have all the things in your cupboard.

Slow Cooker Stew Meat Recipe

You can tweak the flavors a ton with this meat. Even with American versions there is a ton of difference. Some insist on potatoes and lots of vegetables and others think potatoes don’t belong. You can add a ton of flavors from other countries too like our Puerto Rican beef stew recipe.

Crockpot Brunswick stew is great, and packed with potatoes like this one as well. The thing I love about stews in general is that you can add your favorite veggies. It was a great way for us to get our kids to actually taste them too because they became so very tender.

Get ready for some goodness during those cooler months when all you want is a bowl of comfort food for dinner.

How to Make Beef Stew with Onion Soup Mix

• Spray the inside of your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. In a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag add the flour and 1 teaspoon salt.
  • Shake to combine. Add the meat to the bag, seal, and move around until the meat is entirely coated by the flour.
• In a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add oil. Carefully add about half of the meat to the skillet and brown on all sides.
  • Remove the browned meat and place in the pot to keep warm.
• Repeat until all of the meat is browned. Add the sliced onions to the skillet. Cook until softened. Stir often to avoid burning.
  • Transfer sliced or diced onions to the pot too. Pour about one cup of the beef broth into the skillet, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to remove any cooked on pieces.
• Pour all of the broth from the skillet into the slow cooker. Add the vegetables over the meat. In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef broth, remaining salt, garlic powder, dried thyme, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste.
• Pour over the vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until meat is very fork tender.

The larger your pieces of protein are the longer it will take to reach fork tender status but this timing should do it for anything that is around bite size. Jump to recipe card below to get started.

Is it better to cook stew on low or high in a slow cooker?

If you have been a reader of my blog for any length of time I yell from the rooftops that LOW – part of the word of the machine itself is key. That is the whole point of a slooooooooow cooker y’all. Don’t rush things if you want the best results with the tenderest stew meat possible.

What is the best thickener for beef stew?

You can use some flour or cornstarch and water to whisk together to create a roux. Arrowroot works as a gluten free option for this as well. If not this then potato flakes like the ones used to make instant mashed potatoes are actually a great option as well to get the gravy thicker.

You shouldn’t need any other seasonings when this is served. My husband is more of a salt person than I am so he usually adds some to everything but that is another story….. I usually whip up some pull apart bread with refrigerated biscuits as a side but other than that it’s a complete meal, truly.

Hope this is added to your meal rotation because y’all love it so much. If you add something else into your mix that turns out great let us know. We will give it a go on our next round and see what we think. 😉