How to Make Beef Stew With Mushrooms in a Crock Pot

Last week, we had a Stew Challenge on my Facebook page: What I Cooked For Dinner Last Night. The idea is for everyone in the group to prepare a favorite stew and share it by submitting a photo. I knew I would have a busy day and play tennis in the evening so I decided to prepare this beef and mushroom stew in a crock pot.

I ran out to the market and picked up some ingredients I like in my stews. It's cold and rainy today so this beef and mushroom stew will be great comfort food. While typing this post, I can smell the meat and vegetables cooking.

What is the best cut of beef for slow-cooked stews?

I like using a beef chuck roast for beef stews. You can also use a bottom round roast, top round roast, or rump roast, but I think chuck provides the best flavors and doesn't dry out as easily.

Check out my beef chart to see where the beef chuck roast comes from.

The worst mistake you can make is using a leaner cut of beef like sirloin. You'll end up with sawdust-tasting cardboard chunks of meat that no amount of sauce will save.

Start With A Sear

Yes, it adds a little extra time to the cooking but it is so worth it in the end. The sear (browning the meat before adding to the crock pot) produces brown bits that stick to the pan.

You'll want to either scrape those brown bits up and add them to the cooking pot or deglaze the pan with a little red wine or beef stock and add everything to the pot.

Today I seared two pieces of chuck separately on both sides and then cut them up into chunks before adding them to the crock pot. The advantage of doing it this way was working with just two pieces of meat rather than twenty or more chunks.

The disadvantage is not being able to sear all sides of the beef cube, but I don't think it will make that much of a difference. I wonder if I seared one piece whole before cutting it up and the other cut up into pieces if I would be able to tell the difference?

How Big Should You Cut the Cubes

Most recipes say to cut the cubes to 1-inch pieces. I often say to go larger, to about 1 - ½ inch pieces, so the meat doesn't dry out so quickly, but today, I went smaller.

I decided to cut the pieces into ½ inch to ¾ inch cubes for easier eating and no need for a knife. Yes, I was concerned the meat would be dry, but it wasn't. It was moist and tender, in fact one of the most moist and tender stews I've ever prepared.

So that got me thinking, if it isn't the size of the cube of meat, what else could play into the moisture? The only other factor that could have made the difference is the meat.

I picked up the Certified Angus Beef Chuck Roast - USDA Choice Angus Beef Chuck. It was $6.99 per pound. I'm unsure if this meat made a difference, but I can attest to its tenderness and moistness. Delicious!

Next Time, Chicken Thighs

This stew was delicious and so easy to prepare that I'm going to try to duplicate it but this time with chicken thighs. I prefer the legs and thighs for braising and stewing because they don't dry out as easily.

I may make a few adjustments to the seasonings, but the basics will be the same. You might want to substitute chicken stock for the beef stock and how about adding a few chopped apples.

As always, experiment and have fun with the recipe. If you happen to leave the house while the slow cooker is cooking for several hours, you will come home to a home filled with amazing aromas.

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

Beef and Mushroom Crock Pot Stew

How to make a fantastic beef and mushroom stew in a crock pot.

Prep Time20

Cook Time8

Total Time8 20

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

Ingredients

4 ½ pounds beef chuck roast or two beef chuck roasts each weighing about 2-¼ lbs
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
7 ½ ounces Baby Bella mushrooms about 9 mushrooms, sliced
3 cups beef stock
3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
7 ounces fresh carrots about 4 carrots, washed, peeled & cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 pound small red potatoes cut into ⅛'s
1 large yellow onion peeled, halved, quartered and then cut into eights
2 ribs of celery hearts washed and cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning or use your own favorite seasonings
2 bay leaves

Instructions

Prep the Ingredients

Wash and dry all the vegetables that need to be cleaned. I removed the bottom halves of the mushroom stems with a paring knife.
Slice, cut, chop or mince what needs to be prepped.
In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
I like to remove the chuck roast from the packaging, give it a rinse and dry before working with it.

Brown the Beef

Heat up a pan large enough to hold one of the chuck roasts over medium heat. When hot, add the roast and let it sear until one side becomes brown and easy to turn to the other side with kitchen tongs. If the meat is stuck to the pan, it needs a little more time.
Flip and brown the other side. When done, transfer to a cutting board and when cool enough to work with, cut the roast into pieces. I cut mine into ½ inch pieces but you can go larger. I wouldn't go too much larger than 1 - ½ inches unless you are going to serve one or two pieces per person.
While the meat is cooling down to handle, add the other piece of meat. I'm assuming you purchased two pieces and not one 4 - ½ pound roast. When browned, repeat the process of cutting the beef into pieces.
When all the meat is cut into pieces, add it to the crock pot.

Add the Other Ingredients

After the beef cubes are added to the crock pot, sprinkle some of the seasoned flour and stir. Add more flour and stir again. Keep adding flour and stirring until you use it all up.
Add the beef broth, stir, then the vegetables, stir, then the Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay Seasoning, stir and then the bay leaves.
Place the cover back on and cook on High for 5 hours or Low like I did for 9 hours.

A couple of things to remember:

You can overcook food in a crock pot. Just because you are cooking with low heat for hours, you want to be careful not to overcook meat so it dries out and tastes like shoe leather.

If you are cooking on Low, check after 6 or 7 hours and see how it is coming along. You can tell by sticking a fork into the meat and potatoes to see how they are doing. Or taste and see if the stew needs a little more seasoning.

Leave the stew alone until you test it, or give it a stir. Every time you remove the cover from a crock pot, you lose heat and slow down the cooking process, so trust your slow cooker and leave it alone.