This thick and comforting beef stew couldn’t be easier! Just dump the ingredients in and let your crockpot work its magic.

This beef stew recipe is the one I grew up with. It’s a little unorthodox — my mom always included bell peppers along with the standard potatoes, carrots, and peas. I love the flavor this lends to the classic stew. It’s not obviously pepper-y since everything has simmered and melded together, but there’s a little something different about it that I really like.

This is a dump-and-go recipe. There is no real prep, and the only step afterwards is to add the flour to thicken it. I love to serve this with cornbread or biscuits, so I always keep some Bisquick and Jiffy muffin mixes around for an easy weeknight meal. This way, I can just run in the door, toss a few ingredients together, and put a decent dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes.

If you really want to be fancy, you can elevate this by searing the meat before you throw it in the crockpot. This step is unnecessary to create a delicious dish, but it gives the meat a pretty color. My husband also swears that it tastes better this way, but I really can’t tell the difference. The images in this post are of a simple dump-and-go version.

If you’ve been around this blog for any length of time, you’ll know I’m very into the fix-it-and-forget-it school of thought on dinner. It’s honestly really, really difficult to motivate myself to make a balanced dinner after I get home from work when there’s backpacks to unpack, kids to pay attention to, and housework. I’m far too exhausted. And making things in the morning doesn’t always work, since the family still exists then, and I have no desire to get up at 5 in order to prep a meal. Dumping stuff in a crockpot is about all I’m good for. I also love rice sides, muffin mixes, and pre-made salad to round that meal out!

Looking for more easy dinners? Check these out!

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