Slow Cooker Cowboy Stew
Slow Cooker Cowboy Stew is the easiest, most delicious stew you’ll ever make. This slow cooker version is loaded with all the good stuff – ground beef, smoked sausage, potatoes, beans, veggies, and more!
If you love a hearty stew, then get ready for one of the best you’ve ever had. Our cowboy stew is hefty, hearty, and so easy to make. So tasty as it cooks all day in a flavorful broth. All you need is a slow cooker!
This Slow Cooker Cowboy Stew is such a hearty meal perfect for all those nights you want a bowl of comfort. This is always a crowd pleaser and family friendly!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s a hearty stew that fills you up.
- It only uses a few simple ingredients.
- It’s a set-it-and-forget it recipe that you cane easily make in your slow cooker.
🛒Ingredients
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You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe, and it only takes a quick trip to the store to get them. Check out the recipe card at the end of the post for exact amounts.
- Ground beef
- Smoked sausage
- Garlic
- Onion
- Baby potatoes
- Canned pinto beans
- Canned corn
- Diced tomatoes with green chiles
- Frozen mixed vegetables
- Chicken stock
- Ground cumin
- Chili powder
🔪 How to Make Slow Cooker Cowboy Stew
This is an incredibly easy recipe to make. It uses canned and frozen ingredients, and the slow cooker does almost all of the work!
Step 1: Cook the Beef
Brown the beef in a medium skillet and drain.
Step 2: Add Ingredients to the Slow Cooker
Add the ground beef, smoked sausage, garlic, onion, potatoes, beans, corn, tomatoes, frozen vegetables, chicken stock, and seasonings to the slow cooker.
Step 3: Cook
Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours until the potatoes are tender. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Spicy – For more flavor and heat, add diced jalapenos.
- Ground Beef – Use ground turkey, pork, or chorizo.
- Smoked Sausage – Omit the sausage and double the ground beef.
If this recipe is making you hungry, then check out our hearty beef stew.
🥄 Equipment
- Skillet
- Spoon or spatula
- Slow cooker
- Can opener
🥫 Storage
Store this stew for up to 4 days in an air-tight container. For longer storage, freeze it for up to 3 months in an air-tight freezer-safe container.
💭 Tips
- Cook your beef until browned, but don’t overcook it. Dried-out beef has zero flavor.
- Always drain your beef, no matter how lean it is. Even ultra-lean sirloin will have some grease left over.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
It’s a ground beef stew with potatoes and vegetables in a tomato-based, Southwester-spiced, broth.
Cowboy stew gets its name from the people who originally ate it. So it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that this stew was first made as an easy, no-nonsense dish for cattle drivers in Texas before the advent of railroads.
If you don’t drain your beef, or you don’t drain it enough, you could end up with greasy stew.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy beef? Then try these delicious recipes:
📌 PIN IT!!
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Slow Cooker Cowboy Stew
Equipment
- Skillet
- Spoon or spatula
- slow cooker
- Can opener
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 16 ounces smoked sausage sliced into bite size pieces
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 pound baby potatoes halved
- 15 ounces pinto beans canned, undrained
- 15 ounces canned corn
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 10 ounces frozen mixed vegetables
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
Instructions
- In a medium skillet cook and brown your ground beef and drain.
- To your slow cooker add the ground beef, smoked sausage, garlic, onion, potatoes, beans, corn, tomatoes, frozen veggies, chicken stock and seasonings.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 until potatoes are tender.
- Serve!
