A warming bowl of slow cooker beef stew is the perfect way to warm up on a winter evening. This simple gluten free recipe is full of tender beef, delicious vegetables, and a thick, flavorful broth. Your family will love this easy, comforting recipe.
There’s nothing like the smell of a delicious slow cooker meal wafting through your house on a cold day. A hearty beef stew simmering in the slow cooker will have your family running to the table to eat.
The slow cooker is so helpful during busy seasons, isn’t it? I know when I have a long day, it’s really reassuring to know that I have dinner ready to go at the end of it. Recipes like minestrone soup or dairy free broccoli chicken rice are delicious made in the slow cooker.
When I want a cozy beef dinner, I can spend about 15 minutes in the morning to put this stew in the crock pot, and it’s well worth the effort at the end of the day.
The great thing about this home style beef stew is that it’s naturally allergy friendly. There’s no reason to have dairy, eggs, or most of the top 8 allergens in this recipe.
Ingredient Notes
- Beef – Chuck roast that has been cubed is the best meat for beef stew. You can either ask the butcher to cut a chuck roast into cubes for you, or you can purchase beef that is already cut and ready to cook.
- Beef Broth – Packaged beef broth or stock works well in this recipe. Please use the brand that is safe for your dietary needs. You could also use homemade beef stock.
- Thickener – Some soups or stews use all purpose flour as a thickener, but that’s not really necessary. You can use cornstarch, tapioca starch, or potato starch to thicken the stew. Any of those gluten free starches will work just as well as all purpose flour.
- Onion – Onion adds a lot of flavor to soups and stews. If you can’t eat onion, try adding more carrots and celery instead. You can also top your stew with lots of fresh herbs to bump up the flavor.
Substitutions
Feel free to use different vegetables in this beef stew. You can use sweet potatoes, shallots, peas, mushrooms, or whatever works for your dietary needs. Be creative! A variety of mushrooms, some chopped tomatoes, or diced squash could also be good additions to this simple recipe.
Special Equipment
A slow cooker is a necessary tool for this recipe. Technically you can make this without one, but it definitely makes things easier and results in really tender beef. As far as size goes, a 6-quart or larger slow cooker should work well.
See the frequently asked questions below for instructions on how to make this on the stove top.
FAQs
You can make beef stew on the stove top if you wish, but I really think that making it in the slow cooker is the way to go. Cooking it all day long on low in the slow cooker results in really tender meat, and a great flavor.
If you’d like to make it on the stove, you can bring the ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about two and a half hours. Then add the cornstarch mixture and continue to cook for about 30 minutes more.
You will want cubes of chuck roast for beef stew. At the butcher counter, you may see stew meat, which is chuck roast, or you might see it as a whole roast. You can ask them to cut it into chunks if you like, or cut it yourself at home.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this stew with:
- gluten free crackers
- simple green salad
- gluten free bread or toast
- red cabbage apple slaw
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Recipe
Slow Cooker Beef Stew (Gluten Free).
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat boneless chuck roast cut into cubes
- 1 large sweet onion chopped
- 4 carrots peeled and sliced
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 4 Yukon Gold Potatoes peeled and chopped, for about 3 cups
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 3 ½ cups beef broth
To thicken the stew:
- 1 ½ Tablespoons corn starch or tapioca or potato starch
- ¼ cup beef broth
Instructions
- Place the beef cubes, chopped onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes in a slow cooker.
- Add the minced garlic, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to the slow cooker. Pour 3 ½ cups of beef broth over the ingredients.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker, and cook for 7-8 hours on low heat.
- Towards the end of the cooking time, whisk the cornstarch into the ¼ cup beef broth. Pour this mixture into the slow cooker and stir. Allow to cook for another 20 minutes or so to thicken the stew.
- Top with fresh parsley if desired. Serve with gluten free bread or crackers.
Basilia Ramsdale
I am constantly thought about this, thanks for putting up.
Sara K.
This is an outstanding recipe! Just made it for supper night, and my whole family loved it! I subbed arrowroot powder for the corn starch and it still turned out awesome. Thanks for publishing it!
Kelly Roenicke
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this!
Meredith
Fantastic recipe. Used chuck casserole for the meat and it was beautiful. I found that it didn’t have a lot of flavour, so we added some Gravox gravy powder which is gluten free and it was just the added bit of flavour that it needed. Will definitely make this one again.
Kelly Roenicke
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know!
Sue
Hoe much is 1 serving?
Kelly Roenicke
About a cup or so.
Barb
Going to a potluck. A few people will be gluten free. I need to make enough for 20 or more people. How big of a slow cooker will I need to make large amounts? 2/4-6 qts. maybe?
Darryl
Extremely delicious and satisfying and easy to make provided you follow the recipe as written!
Excellent flavor and very satisfying!
Kate
If using an instant pot, do you think this will be 7-8 hours on the slow cooker function. Learning the ways of the instant pot :)