This Honey Balsamic Slow Cooker Beef Stew is full of flavor and couldn’t be easier — just throw everything in and let it cook! Loaded with veggies and thick honey balsamic sauce. Step by step recipe video.
Looking for more easy crockpot recipes? Check out these Dump ‘n’ Go Slow Cooker Recipes!
Often I think about how I wouldn’t be nearly as excited to see the seasons changing if I lived somewhere further South. Occasionally in the dead of winter it seems tempting, but the anticipation of Spring, then Summer, then Fall and then the first snowflakes of Winter just wouldn’t be there.
So now that we are officially onto Fall food (along with back to school and holiday chaos), I’m here with a a slow cooker recipe that can be an easy weeknight meal or an elegant holiday dinner with a loaf of crusty bread.
The honey balsamic combo is one we are familiar with around here — from this Slow Cooker Honey Balsamic Pulled Pork (our favorite!) to this Honey Balsamic Grilled Chicken (save that one for summer), we can’t get enough. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and tangy and savory and it goes with everything.
Next month is baby month here friends, and so I chose to keep things super simple. I love that these Little Potatoes are just dump and go — no peeling, not chopping!
If you do want to take this from “easy everyday” to “elegant dinner”, feel free to brown the beef cubes before adding them to the slow cooker. This adds an extra layer of flavor and the juices remain in the beef and don’t dilute the sauce quite as much.
But the flavor of this stew is incredible — the sweet and tangy sauce, the creamy potatoes, the earthy carrots — even without the extra work, so I opted to skip the step and just get a real, hearty dinner on the table even on the days I only have one free hand 😉
Tips and Tricks for Making this Honey Balsamic Slow Cooker Beef Stew:
- With most slow cooker recipes, I find that the flavors become muted after cooking for such a long time. With this stew though, I didn’t find that at all! It was still so good and didn’t need any adjustments after cooking, other than a bit of extra corn starch if you want a thicker sauce.
- If you wanted to make this a vegetarian meal, you could simply swap the beef for mushrooms and add in extra veggies.
*This post is generously sponsored by The Little Potato Company and I was compensated for my time in creating the recipe — thank you for supporting the brands that keep us fed!
Honey Balsamic Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe + VIDEO
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 lb Little Potatoes I used red Little Charmers, large ones halved
- 1 lb stewing beef
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- 2 large carrots peeled and chopped
- 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup low sodium beef broth
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup liquid honey
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
Instructions
- Add potatoes, beef, celery, carrots and onion to a 2.5-4 quart slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, combine broth, vinegar, honey, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, seasoning salt, pepper and corn starch with a whisk until combined. Add to slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours until potatoes and carrots are tender. If desired, thicken sauces further with a corn starch/water slurry. Serve.
Nutrition Information
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Tarah says
Would it be ok to leave out the honey or only use half what the recipe calls for?
Courtney Simms says
I was hesitant because I don’t particularly like balsamic vinegar and I couldn’t imagine how it wouldn’t taste sour but as it cooks magic happens I guess 😆 For some reason it took a little longer for my potatoes to fully cook but I believe that extra cooktime added more depth of flavour. This was very delicious, trust the process!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Courtney! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Alyssa says
Just tried this recipe today and it was so good! I did use russet potatoes (cut up) and baby carrots instead just to use up some things I had and it turned out great. Love slow cooker recipes like this that I can just toss together before work.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Alyssa! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Donna says
This was excellent. My family loved it. So much flavor.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Donna! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Gina says
Do you have recommendations for pre-freezing the ingredients?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Gina! I think it should freeze well with everything cooked! I haven’t tried it but I’d love to hear if you do!
Alisha says
I was worried at first but this turned out great thank you!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Alisha! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Michele says
I have a 6qt Crockpot instead of 2.5qt. If I double the ingredients, should I keep the same cook time as your recipe? If I keep the same amount of ingredients, should I cut the cook time in half? What would you do?
Thank you!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Michele, if you are doubling it, I would keep the same time.
Bia says
I made this recipe for my boyfriend and he loved it! Like many who left a comment before me, I was initially worried that there wasn’t enough sauce in this recipe. Good thing I followed it as it was written. By hour 4, it looked like the sauce/broth had doubled and by the end of the 8 hours everything was fully cooked and delicious. In the beginning, I did place my potatoes at the bottom, followed by the veggies and then the meat on top and everything cooked perfectly. Mine was actually done in 7 instead of 8 hours.
The Recipe Rebel says
Love that! Thank you Bia! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Linda says
If I can’t get the liquid honey, can I substitute regular honey?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Linda, it should be okay but depending on which one you use, it may result in a different flavor. Enjoy!
Caitlin says
Do you cook the beef first at all? Or just put everything in together raw?
Very keen to try this 😊
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Caitlin, no cooking the beef prior is required. Enjoy!
Nicole Daniel says
This is our absolute favourite slow cooker recipe. I do cut the potatoes a bit smaller so they cook.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Nicole! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for the kind review!
Megan says
I’m so confused.. I followed recipe exactly and there is no way those things are going to cook in that little amount of fluids. I also have a small crockpot. There is no “submerging” to anything. I am making it right now and added almost a half a box of beef broth just to cover things half way. We’ll see how it turns out.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Megan! You actually don’t need to submerge anything. I have a smaller crockpot as well and my cooks perfectly every time we make it. Hope you enjoyed it!
SR says
I’m making this right now and I already have backup plans for dinner. The recipe calls for a whole pound of potatoes and a pound of beef but there’s barely a cup of sauce, how does that make sense for a stew? I ended up adding a ton more beef broth so the potatoes at least have something to cook in. We’ll see how it turns out.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi SR! The amounts are correct. Hope you enjoyed it!
Allison says
Hello! Easy to make recipe and nice flavors. My only question is was I supposed to do something to the potatoes to help them cook better? I cut into halves or some even into quarters, but even after 8 hours they were not tender. Any suggestions on getting them to cook better?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Allison, I’m not sure why they wouldn’t be done at that point. Maybe make sure they are submerged in the liquid?
Michele says
Did you use the smaller potatoes like in Ashley’s picture? Also, make sure you put the vegetables on the bottom and meat on top of them. Maybe that will help.
Ashley says
My family and I LOVE this recipe!! It is so dang good!! I’m making it again today, and for the future I was wondering if I could use baby carrots? Thank you!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Ashley! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Elizabeth says
Can I cook this on high for 4 hours if I am short on time?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Elizabeth! You should be able to do it this way, I just haven’t tried it myself. If you decide to experiment, let me know how it goes!
Jason S says
Really good favor and easy!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Jason! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Ryan says
Trying it the first time today but I did not have as much sauce as the video did was the video a double batch?
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Ryan! The video is not a double batch. I do have a pretty small slow cooker which may be why it looks like there is a lot of sauce.
Michael Gard says
If I double the steak (2lbs) then should I double the marinade? I’m not sure if there will be enough liquid but my family loves steak and didn’t want to double the entire recipe.
kathleen timmins says
Sorry but this was awful. I followed the recipe exactly and the basalmic overpowered. All the fixes I looked for to salvage recommended adding more vinegar and or sugar. That was the problem sweet vinegar. Maybe it was the basalmic I used, but I can’t afford to try again.
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear you had problems with this recipe Kathleen! It’s hard to know what went wrong without being in the kitchen with you. It definitely has a balsamic flavor to the stew.