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
Thank you Christy…I HATE tomatoes!!!
I finally made this tonight! They don’t sell Dale’s up here so I had to use your marinade recipe and I added extra bouillon cubes to make it salty enough for us, as well as 2 teaspoons of browning sauce. I don’t know why, but browning sauce is necessary for beef stew and other things with beef in a sauce (like steak and ale pie) to taste right, at least for us. The stew was delicious though and was great with Jordan Rolls and salad with your Thousand Island dressing.
Yummy! This is my stew, except for the seasonings and a can or two of mushrooms. Tomatoes in beef stew???? Never heard of such a thing! My family would ban me from the kitchen for a week!!! LOL! To each his own though! Makes life more interesting that way.
Made this stew last week. Knew Dales was salty so I didn’t put in the whole half cup and added a bit more pepper. We just LOVED this stew!!! Thinking about making it again before Thanksgiving. Thank you.
I have the stew in the crock pot and it is almost done. I have been tasting it and it is very salty. I love salty flavor but I must have done something wrong cause, girl this one is even too salty for me. Anything I could do to take away some of that salt! woo. So glad your tour is going so well. I have been keeping up with your travels and blogs. Thanks for including all of us.
Thanks for posting this recipe:) Hubs said that it was perfect! He said it tasted like a bowl of fall, but gave me permission to make it any time of the year! Thank you for all your inspiration, you will make a fine cook out of me yet:)
Yum! I LOVE cornbread. Good SWEET cornbread thats nice and moist.