This easy ground beef stew recipe makes a quick budget friendly meal that's great for week night dinners. (The leftovers reheat well, too.)

The ground beef cooks up tender taster than stew meat, and you can chop the veggies while the beef browns to save time. Homemade beef broth adds great flavor if you have some on hand.

Hearty Ground Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
5 carrots, peeled and chopped into bite size chunks
5 Russet potatoes, or other mid-sized starchy potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite sized chunks
2 quarts beef broth or stock (low sodium or unsalted)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (optional)

Directions

In a medium stock pot or Dutch oven, sauté ground beef and onion on medium-high heat. Cook until beef is browned, not pink, and onions are translucent. Drain off excess fat, if needed. (Our grass-fed beef usually doesn't have any excess fat.)

Add butter, garlic, and celery and sauté for a few minutes, until tender.

browned ground beef with onion and celery

Add beef stock, potatoes, and carrots and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To thicken the stew, whisk flour and water together in a small bowl. Stir flour/water mixture into the main pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for a few more minutes. Add salt and pepper and other seasonings to taste.

hamburger stew — Big chunks of carrots and potatoes give this stew a satisfying hearty texture.

Serve hot with fresh baked bread or a salad. Refrigerate leftovers for 2-3 days, or freeze in an airtight container for longer storage. Make sure to label your freezer container, and use within 6 months for best quality.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Starchy potatoes are the norm for hamburger stew, because they help to thicken the stew, but we what we have on hand. Blue potatoes, red potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes – it's all good.

One thing to note if you're serving fussy eaters – blue potatoes turn grey after cooking. If you use all blue potatoes, they may tint your stew somewhat purple or grey.

potatoes and carrots — We use a mix of garden veggies for our stew.

To cut prep time, you can use baby carrots and cut them into 2-3 pieces each.

If you don't have beef stock on hand, you can substitute water and some beef bullion instead.

For your protein, it's fine to substitute ground venison or ground turkey for ground beef in your stew. You can also substitute canned beans for half of the beef. Add the beans along with the carrots and potatoes. Use one pound of beef and more veggies to stretch your meal dollar further.

If you like more veggies, go ahead and add some green beans, mixed frozen veggies, or a bag of frozen peas. Add raw vegetables with the potatoes and carrots, and add more tender cooked vegetables like the peas near the end of cooking.

My crew likes the stew more “beefy”, so we sometimes add a spoonful or two of low sodium beef bullion. (This is our favorite brand.) My friend, Julie, likes to add diced tomatoes or tomato paste with the Italian seasoning.

Some other spices that go great with beef include:

Cumin
Chili powder
Red pepper flakes
Cayenne pepper
Curry powder
Mustard powder
Horseradish

Stove Top, Slow Cooker or Instant Pot

We usually make our ground beef stew on the stove top, but you can certainly use the slow cooker or instant pot if you prefer. I do recommend browning the beef and onions to get started, both for the texture and the flavor.

For the slow cooker, you'll need 7-8 hours of cook time with all the ingredients except the thickening in the pot.

For the instant pot, about 5 minutes at high pressure should cook your carrots and potatoes. Add your thickening and seasonings to finish the recipe.

Gluten Free Ground Beef Stew

Substitute a tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot powder for the all-purpose flour. You can also substitute 2-3 tablespoons of a gluten free flour blend, like Namaste.

Mix the slurry just as you would for all purpose flour and cook it into the stew. Gluten free flours may take a little longer to thicken than gluten flours.

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