Traditional Beef Stew Recipe (Without Tomatoes)
This traditional beef stew recipe has no tomatoes and no tomato paste, just tender stew meat, potatoes, carrots and pearl onions slow cooked in beef broth with Dale’s sauce, thyme and black pepper. It’s a lot like an Irish beef stew. The crock pot does the cooking while you’re gone, and the flour on the beef thickens the broth so you don’t have to. Prep takes about 15 minutes, and it feeds about 4 hungry people.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Traditional Beef Stew Recipe
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: flour, Dales sauce, thyme, black pepper, beef broth, stew meat, potatoes, unpeeled and chopped, carrots
- Why You'll Love It: Reminiscent of an Irish beef stew, this traditional beef stew recipe makes a hearty dish overloaded with meat, vegetables, and no tomatoes.
I worked up this recipe for my Aunt Sue, who makes the world’s best pound cake but can’t eat tomatoes. Now it’s the stew I put on the first really cold weekend of the year, and the whole house smells like supper by noon. If you’ve been around here a while, you know we love a good stew, from my slow cooker beef stew to ground beef stew and this smoked sausage and beef stew, but this is the one to make when you want a classic bowl without the tomato.
How Do You Make Beef Stew Without Tomatoes?
Toss 1 to 2 pounds of stew meat in 1 cup of flour and brown it in a skillet with a little oil. Put it in the slow cooker with 32 ounces of beef broth, 1/2 cup Dale’s sauce, chopped potatoes, carrots, pearl onions, thyme and black pepper. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. The flour from the meat thickens the broth.
How to Get Flavor in Beef Stew Without Tomato Paste
A lot of beef stew recipes lean on tomato paste for color and depth, but in this one Dale’s sauce takes its place. It’s a salty, savory marinade, so it seasons the broth as the stew cooks. Browning the floured beef first adds more flavor and builds the thickener right into the meat, and by the time it’s done the broth has turned into a rich brown gravy.
Beef Stew Ingredients
- Stew meat: Stew meat or a boneless beef chuck roast cut into cubes works best.
- Flour: This coats the beef and thickens the stew. Any flour works, including almond flour if you need it gluten-free.
- Dale’s sauce: A marinade sold in my neck of the woods. Moore’s Marinade works the same way, and I use whichever is cheapest. If you can’t find either, make my homemade all-purpose marinade and salt the stew to taste, since mine isn’t nearly as salty.
- Pearl onions: Frozen pearl onions are easy, but one chopped Vidalia onion is what I use most of the time.
- Thyme: No thyme? Use Italian seasoning. The flavor is a little different but still wonderful, and you know I think a $1 bottle of dry Italian seasoning could save the world.
- Potatoes and carrots: Peel the potatoes or leave them unpeeled, your call.
You’ll find all the amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Helpful Tips Before You Start
- You don’t need to cook the beef through when you brown it. You just want a little color on the outside.
- You can put raw beef straight in the slow cooker if you’re short on time, but searing it adds so much flavor that I do it whenever I can.
- Want more veggies? Add 1 chopped bell pepper, 1 celery stalk or 1 cup of fresh or frozen peas.
- For a thicker stew, stir in a few tablespoons of instant potato flakes near the end. You can also stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or 2 tablespoons flour) into 1/2 cup cold water, add it to the stew and cook a few more minutes.
How to Make Traditional Beef Stew in the Crock Pot
1Coat the beef in flour
Put the stew meat in a medium bowl, pour about a cup of flour over it and stir to coat.
2Brown the beef
Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring often, just until it’s lightly browned.
3Add the beef and seasonings
Put the browned meat in the slow cooker, then add the Dale’s sauce, thyme, black pepper and beef broth.
4Add the vegetables
Peel and chop the carrots, chop the potatoes any way you like and add them to the crock pot with the pearl onions. Give everything a good stir.
5Slow cook
Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Ladle it into bowls and top with a little parsley.
What to Serve With Beef Stew
I like this stew best with Jordan rolls, my homemade dinner rolls or a skillet of Dixie cornbread for sopping up the broth. It’s also good with 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits or spooned over mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes or cauliflower rice.
Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, and the stew freezes for up to 3 months.
Beef Stew FAQs
Can I make this beef stew in the Instant Pot?
Use the sauté setting to sear the beef and onion, then add the rest of the ingredients, seal the lid and pressure cook on high for 35 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
What can I use instead of Dale’s sauce?
Moore’s Marinade is the closest swap. My homemade all-purpose marinade works too, but you’ll need to add a little salt to taste.
Can I make this beef stew in under two hours?
Not in the crock pot, since it takes 3 to 4 hours on high. For a faster stew, use the Instant Pot method above. It cooks for 35 minutes under pressure plus a 10-minute natural release.
Does beef stew without tomatoes taste different?
It’s a little more savory and beefy, more like a pot roast gravy than a tomato-based stew. The Dale’s sauce and thyme keep it full of flavor.
Traditional Beef Stew (Without Tomatoes)
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup Dale’s sauce
- 1 tablespoon thyme or Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 32 ounces beef broth
- 1-2 pounds stew meat
- 5-6 medium potatoes, unpeeled and chopped
- 4 large carrots
- 1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions or 1 large chopped onion
Instructions
- Place stew meat and flour in a medium bowl. Stir to coat. Then place a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet and heat on medium heat. Add the coated meat and cook, stirring often, just until brown.1-2 pounds stew meat, 1 cup flour
- Place the meat and all other ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.1/2 cup Dale’s sauce, 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 32 ounces beef broth, 5-6 medium potatoes, unpeeled and chopped, 4 large carrots, 1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions or 1 large chopped onion
I had to laugh as I was reading this post! When my now 30-year old son was 9, I went on a 2 week trip. I spent 2 weeks preparing an “everything you need to know” report for my backup team…who was picking up, dropping off, switching out for school, basketball practice and games, Cub Scouts, holiday parties, etc. I ended up with 6 pages of details. Everyone laughed but I felt more in control knowing that everyone knew who was doing what, when and where.
Now that the juice and TP are under control, you can relax a bit. Dad will figure out pig-tails – or not – and Katie Rose will not be warped for life! LOL
OMG- the pony tail test! be prepared for hearing the story of another mother fixing her hair before school (how my dad coped! LOL)
this is how my mother always made stew…can’t stand it with tomatoes. In my world that is called vegatable soup or chili. Love your blog and SL article. Glad I tripped across it. Shame on Ricky for not telling me about it sooner!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I just bought stew meat yesterday and thought I would look up some recipes. You did the work for me. It looks great.
Dear Christy,
I am praying for you as well as your precious family. What you are feeling is just called being a loving and caring Mom. I can so relate. I did not have to leave mine very often either when they were growing up, but it is that God given feeling of wanting to protect our children that always kicks in. My husband reminded me one time, “Even Mother animals try to protect their young, so why wouldn’t you?!” Even though we know in our hearts that God will keep them safe and keep you safe, we can’t help but have a concern… and He understands.
Just wait until they go off to college. I have not seen my 20 year old in over a month. I talked with him today and he sounds so grown up and responsible, he is a good young man. But I still miss him so and find myself wanting to know that he is eating right, has what he needs, know that he is safe. I don’t think that feeling will ever leave us Moms, but I only make it because I know that God is watching over him.
I told him about getting to meet you when you come to Asheville,NC. That was the latest news from home!!! Big news!!!
This stew recipe sounds wonderful My other son does not like tomatoes, so he will love it! It is coming up on good soup and stew weather. Thank you for the great recipes. I can’t wait to get your Grandmother’s pound cake recipe in the book. My Mother and I share the love of cookbooks and she is always trying new pound cake recipes. I have ordered her a book and she is coming with me to the signing! Can’t wait!
God bless you and your precious family. My love and prayers are with you all,
Pam
Looking forward to fall weather and fall cooking. Nothing beats savory slow-cooked foods on a chilly fall evening. Thanks for posting the stew recipe and getting the season started early.
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to make it…we love beef stew, but my 3 year old can’t have tomatoes so this is perfect for us! 🙂