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Freezer Meal Beef Stew

There’s truly no meal better suited to the slow cooker than a delicious Beef Stew! This is my favorite (and the best!) beef stew recipe updated with instructions for making as a freezer meal! Imagine finding this on a busy day and being able to come home to a hot delicious meal!

overhead shot of beef stew

Beef Stew is a tasty combination of tender meat and veggies that cook perfectly together for a hearty and healthy meal that’s all in one pot.

 

To make Freezer Meal Beef Stew, you don’t need to precook anything. Everything can go into the freezer bag raw.

 

Freezer Meal Beef Stew becomes a time-saving meal that will save you headaches and stress on busy days. Just thaw, dump into your slow cooker, and GO!
ingredients for freezer meal beef stew in bag

Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Freezer Meal Beef Stew…

  • stew meat
  • sweet onion
  • carrots
  • turnips
  • small tapioca pearls
  • beef broth
  • tomato paste
  • honey
  • herb and garlic seasoning
  • salt
beef stew in an instant pot

How To Make Freezer Meal Beef Stew…

  1. thaw freezer bag and empty contents into slow cooker
  2. cover and cook on High for 2-3 hours or Low 6-8 hours
beef stew in bowl with spoon

What kind of meat is stew meat?

Many times the stew meat you buy prepackaged at the grocery store is just leftover scraps of different types of beef. While this is probably fine, for best results buy a high quality stew meat (I used Butcher Box) or buy a chuck roast and cut it up yourself.

Do I need to brown my stew meat first?

You can and it might add a bit of extra flavor, but I don’t find it worth the hassle. The convenience of just throwing everything in far outweighs any small flavor difference and after making this recipe for many years, I can’t say I’ve ever noticed a difference in flavor or texture.

Other cooking notes:

  • Be sure to thaw before cooking
  • If you can’t find tapioca pearls, you can use tapioca flour or just regular flour. I prefer the tapioca because I feel it thickens nicely without giving the sauce any grittiness.

Related Recipes…

I have several other amazing Stew Recipes for you to try:
Chicken Stew:  A quick and easy stew full of family-friendly ingredients.
Fall Harvest Pork Stew:  A hearty pork stew with apples–a truly unique dish.
Irish Stew:  Tender pork and some stout beer make this classic stew taste amazing.
Beef and Herbed Dumpling Stew:  A tomato-based broth with drop biscuit-style dumplings.
Spicy Chicken Stew:  Classic comfort food with a green chili kick!
Seafood Stew:  Shrimp, scallops, and crab legs in a savory broth.
overhead shot of beef stew
overhead shot of beef stew

Freezer Meal Beef Stew

Jennifer Draper
There's truly no meal better suited to the slow cooker than a delicious Beef Stew! This is my favorite (and the best!) beef stew recipe updated with instructions for making as a freezer meal! Imagine finding this on a busy day and being able to come home to a hot delicious meal!
5 from 3 votes
Save
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6
Calories 288 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 pounds stew meat
  • 1 small sweet onion diced
  • 4 carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
  • 6 oz turnips cut into large bite sized pieces
  • 2 tablespoons small tapioca pearls
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons herb and garlic seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • Thaw freezer bag and add contents to a slow cooker
  • Cover and cook on High 2-3 hours or Low 6-8 hours

Notes

  • Be sure to thaw before cooking
  • If you can't find tapioca pearls, you can use tapioca flour or just regular flour. I prefer the tapioca because I feel it thickens nicely without giving the sauce any grittiness.
  • It's not necessary to brown the stew meat first in this recipe

Nutrition

Calories: 288kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 36gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 521mgPotassium: 862mgFiber: 3gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 6903IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 92mgIron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @slowcookergourmet or tag #slowcookergourmet!
Important nutritional disclaimer

6 Comments

  1. Do you literally just throw it all in the freezer bag raw and then defrost and cook it in the crock pot? Or is it cooked and then frozen and just reheated?

  2. Your recipe calls for 6 oz. of potatoes but doesn’t specify the weight or volume of the carrots (carrots can vary in size the same as potatoes). Sorry to be picky .. your recipe sounds amazing .. a real time saver. Can’t wait to try it!

  3. Is the Nutrition Infomation correct? Or is that for the total 5 servings??? Sorry, but I’m T@ Diabetic and I need to check.

    1. Thank you so much for the catch! Some info got input incorrectly but I’ve fixed the number of servings and nutrition information now. The information shown is per serving.

5 from 3 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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