Honey Balsamic Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe

close up of a speckled bowl filled with beef stew and a spoon in it.

Honey Balsamic Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 8

Total Time: 8 15

Servings: servings

Calories: 304cal

Author: Ashley Fehr

Comfort food doesn't get any better than Honey Balsamic Slow Cooker Beef Stew! This stick to your ribs beef stew is hearty, flavorful as can be and loaded with beef and veggies. You're gonna love this set it and forget it recipe!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb baby potatoes (halved or quartered)
1 lb round steak (cut into 1" pieces)
3 large carrots (cut into ¾-1" pieces)
1 rib celery (chopped)
½ medium onion (cut into ½" pieces)
1 cup low sodium beef broth*
⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
⅓ cup honey
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons corn starch

Instructions

Add potatoes, beef, carrots, celery, and onion to a 3-4 quart slow cooker.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 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 6-8 hours until potatoes and carrots are tender. If desired, strain out sauce and thicken further on the stove top with a corn starch/water slurry.
Taste and adjust seasonings as desired before serving.

Video

Notes

Ingredients and Substitutions:

Beef broth: I have increased the beef broth in this recipe from 1/4 cup to 1 cup for a saucier stew. If you prefer, you can reduce the broth or increase the vinegar and honey as you prefer.

Potatoes: any variety of potatoes cut into 1/2-1" cubes will work just fine!

Beef: you can buy stewing beef, but I find it more economical to buy an inexpensive round steak and cut it myself. The steaks are often fresher as well! Since we are cooking it low and slow, we do not need a tender cut of beef.

Vegetables: feel free to improvise and use what you have on hand. Some frozen peas added at the end of the cook time add a great pop of color!

Honey and balsamic vinegar: I know these seem like strange additions, but trust me on this one! If you love a slightly sweet and tangy sauce, you'll love this version. It's a little unexpected but packed with flavor!

Browning beef before adding:

You can absolutely brown the beef in a skillet before adding to the slow cooker. This will build flavor and prevent some of the juices of the beef from escaping into the gravy. For my purposes, I wanted to keep this recipe super simple so we skipped it!

Nutrition