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This hamburger stew recipe is thick, hearty, and easy to make! It’s a delicious family meal that uses inexpensive everyday ingredients.
You may also like my Hamburger Soup or this American Goulash recipe.
Why you’ll love it
Ground beef stew is sometimes referred to as “poor man’s stew”, but this dish is full of rich flavors! Sometimes it’s nice to spend some extra time making a Classic Beef Stew, but when you’re looking for a comforting stew that’s ready fast, this is your recipe!
Your whole family will devour this budget-friendly stew, and you can feel good knowing you’re serving up a complete one pot meal with real ingredients like beef, vegetables, and hearty potatoes. It’s ready in under an hour, and a lot of the cooking time is hands off.
What you’ll need
- Celery, onion, garlic, and olive oil – sauté these aromatics to make a wonderfully flavorful base
- Beef – I use lean ground beef. It’s a good compromise between saving a few calories but keeping flavor and moisture, and you typically don’t have to worry about draining extra fat after it’s been browned.
- Flour – don’t skip the flour as it’s a thickener
- Tomato paste – an easy way to add more savory flavor
- Beef broth – way tastier than simply using water
- Worcestershire sauce – it gives this stew more depth of flavor; it’s not overpowering!
- Italian seasoning – a blend of dried herbs that comes in a single jar
- Potatoes, carrots, and peas – hearty and filling vegetables to round out this stew
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Any soup pot will work, but I love my Staub Dutch oven.
- I quickly crush the garlic using my garlic press. I do this for most recipes that call for minced garlic!
- Chop up the veggies with a quality chef’s knife.
How to make hamburger stew
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Sauté the onion and celery in a soup pot until softened, then add in the garlic. Stir in the ground beef and cook until browned.
Sprinkle in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often (this cooks the floury taste out). Stir in the tomato paste.
Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, potatoes, and carrots. Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Stir in the peas and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Substitutions and variations
- Feel free to throw in any extra veggies you happen to have on hand! This is a very forgiving stew, and you can clean out your fridge of any extra vegetables. Root vegetables would work especially well.
- I used Italian seasoning to give the stew some extra flavor, but you could use a different kind of dried herb blend or even something like steak seasoning if you prefer.
- Like a little heat? Add in some crushed red pepper flakes.
What to serve with hamburger stew
- It’s a complete meal in itself, but I’ll never say no to a slice of crusty bread to make it even heartier. Or go all out with a slice of Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread.
- You could also pair it with a side salad. Try mixed greens and this Homemade Ranch Dressing. You’ll never buy the bottled stuff again!
Leftovers and storage
- This stew is even better the next day after the flavors have a chance to meld more. Reheat on a low heat, and if you find the leftovers are a little dry, simply add a splash of beef broth when reheating to make more sauce.
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container, and this stew also freezes well.
If you made this ground beef stew recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! You can also tag me on Instagram if you made it.
Hamburger Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 sticks celery chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 4 cups beef broth + more if needed
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 Russet potatoes peeled & diced
- 4 medium carrots peeled & sliced
- 1 cup frozen peas optional
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil, onion, and celery to a soup pot and sauté over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the beef to the pot and cook, breaking it up with your spoon as you go along, until it's browned (about 8 minutes).
- Sprinkle in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes (stirring often).
- Stir in the tomato paste.
- Add in the broth, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, potatoes, and carrots. Increase the heat to high and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a rapid simmer and cook, covered (with the lid slightly open), stirring occasionally, for at least 30 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are tender and the flavors have had some time to build. Add more broth if the stew starts to get too thick, and if you want it thicker, cook it for longer with the lid off.
- Stir in the frozen peas and season with salt & pepper as needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This stew is wonderful and very flavorful. My husband is in hospice care and he needs foods with sauce so he can swallow it easily. This fit the bill and more. He loved it and ate a more than average portion. I followed the recipe to a tee and will definitely make again. I want to thank you so much for the recipe.
You are very welcome, Teresa! XOXO
Made this for the second time .
Absolutely loved it, perfect for the hubby as not a soup person.
Very flavourful, hearty meal with crusty bread.
Very easy to make. My kind of recipe. 😋
Thank you so much, Virginia!!
Great recipe…however, nutrition info is worthless without serving sizes.
Hi! Glad you liked it. It’s for 1/6 of the recipe (the # of servings is at the top of the recipe card). I am not a trained nutritionist, and as such I cannot include more info than that – sorry! It’s meant to be an estimate to give readers a ballpark idea. If you need to track calories etc., for health reasons, I assume you’ll be weighing your food.
This Moose says this stew is as good as Mama made, maybe better! Try it exactly as written—- I guarantee you will like it!
Thanks, John! 😀
I didn’t have tomato paste so I used about half a jar of pasta sauce and frozen peas/carrot mix and it turned out amazing!!! Definitely going to be making this a staple in our home. Thank you!!
You’re very welcome!
Really great stew. I had some leftover ground beef from the stuffing of bell peppers and I used your recipe as the foundation of beef stew with some tweaks based on what I had already put in the bell pepper stuffing (aka ground beef with seasoning). I then also added extra veggies I had on hand (sweet potato, mushroom, green beans, peas, and tomato sauce). I always finish anything that is super acidic with 1/2 – 1 c of half and half to reduce acidity on the stomach. It is delicious. Saving this one for future use!! Love it! Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Cece!
Recipe turned out well! My 3 young kids ate it up. I didn’t have any crusty bread handy so I buttered some sandwich bread just like I used to as a kid. Total food memory. Thanks for sharing!
PS- I misread that I needed raw carrots, but I had a frozen blend of peas & carrots and it worked out perfectly.
I love that!!! Thanks for your review, Amy!
My first time making a hamburger stew. I always thoroughly brown ground beef. Like searing a steak, browning ground beef renders the meat so much more flavourful.
My wife is in long term care so I am always looking for good tasting easily prepared meals to take to her on days when she just can’t stand to browse the same four week menu yet once again! This stew makes the grade. I am well advanced in years and my taste buds ain’t what they used to be . . . like everything else these days ! Even I find it flavourful.
It’s been in the fridge for two days so I am now going to freeze the remainder for later.
I’m so happy that this was a hit, Don!! 🙂 Thanks for your review!
This was so good and easy to make with things that we had in hand. Every time I need a quick, easy delicious meal I look at your site. Thank you for all the great recipes!
Awww you’re very welcome, Lorien!! 😀 Thank you!
I was wondering if you ever made this in an InstaPot? If so, would there be any changes in the amount of broth?
Hi Kathy! I haven’t, so you would have to experiment a bit. I am a little worried about the flour causing a burn warning in the IP. Perhaps adding a cornstarch slurry at the end may be a safer bet?
Another great recipe! Hubs loved it and said the flavor was excellent. I loved that it makes a great stew with hamburger, which is considerably cheaper than a cut of beef.
I’m so happy it was a hit, Susanna!! 😀 Thank you!