Learn how to make the best Hamburger Stew Recipe! This ground beef stew can be made in the instant pot, crockpot, or on the stove for dinner.
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You will love this recipe for Ground Beef Stew
Stew is one of the ultimate comfort food meals! Cozy, hearty and delicious – it’s one of our favorite things to enjoy on a cold night.
Beef Stew and Chicken Stew are two of our favorite stews to make, but this Hamburger Stew is equally as delicious.
Lean ground beef is cooked until tender with potatoes, carrots, and spices to create a comforting dish that is SO easy to make!
Love one pot meals? If so, you have to try this Hamburger Helper or Dairy Free Beef Stroganoff
Why we love this Ground Beef Stew Recipe
There’s a lot to love about hamburger stew with potatoes! Here are some of the reasons we love this dinner:
- made in one pot -Whether you use your instant pot, crock pot, or your stove – this stew is made in one pot! If you want more one pot meals, check out these 60+ Healthy One Pot Meals!
- budget friendly– To make this recipe you’ll need ground beef, potatoes, and a few basic pantry/fridge staples that are very affordable
- hearty & healthy– this is one of those meals that doesn’t ‘feel’ healthy. It’s total comfort food!
Hamburger Stew Recipe Ingredients
To make Hamburger Stew you’ll need:
- olive oil
- ground beef
- onion, garlic
- carrots, potatoes
- coconut aminos
- dried oregano, dried parsley, pepper
- Worcestershire sauce
- petite diced tomatoes
- beef broth
- cornstarch
- frozen peas
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
Hamburger Beef Stew substitutions
Olive oil: You can substitute melted butter, avocado oil, vegetable oil or coconut oil for olive oil.
Ground Beef: We like 85/15 ground beef. Feel free to use lean ground beef depending on what you like. To make vegetarian you can use cooked lentils or ground beef substitute. You’ll need to adjust your cooking time. I haven’t tried making this with ground turkey or ground chicken but I think it would work. You can also try our Instant Pot Chicken Stew Recipe or Instant Pot Beef Stew
Onion/Garlic: I haven’t tried making this without onion/garlic. It shouldn’t impact the cook time by much but will decrease the flavor if you omit
Carrots/Potatoes: I would not recommend trying to substitute cauliflower for the potatoes or carrots. I think it will be way too mushy.
Coconut aminos: If you don’t have coconut aminos – substitute soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos. If you use Bragg’s, use 1/2 the amount as it is much saltier.
Dried Spices: You can add more or less dried spices. Dried basil would be a nice addition. Feel free to substitute 1/2 tablespoon fresh herbs in place of 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Worcestershire sauce: Worcestershire sauce isn’t easy to substitute. If you don’t have it, use 1/2 a tablespoon of soy sauce
Diced Tomatoes: We haven’t tried making this without canned tomatoes. I think it would work but you may need to use a little extra liquid. If you omit it would be good to add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste for flavor.
Beef Broth: Broth, bone broth, and stock can all be used interchangeably in recipes. You can use chicken broth, beef broth, or vegetable broth in this recipe/interchangeably.
Cornstarch: is used to thicken the stew. It’s completely optional. You can substitute tapioca flour in place of it with a 1:1 ratio
Peas: Peas are optional. Feel free to omit
Extra Vegetables: You can add more vegetables. Frozen green beans or corn would be a great addition!
Soup – If you want a beef soup, try our Roast Beef Soup!
How to make Hamburger Stew in the Instant Pot
You can make this stew in the instant pot, crockpot, or on the stove in a dutch oven. Here’s how to make it in the instant pot.
- Select Sauté on the instant pot. Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in oil for 10 minutes. C
- Cancel Sauté mode and add the rest of ingredients except for the cornstarch, water, and peas. Close the lid and set the valve to Sealing
- Select ‘High Pressure’ for 8 minutes.
- Once the stew has cooked, do a quick release on the vent. Thicken with cornstarch if you’d like.
- Add the peas and stir until combined.
Hamburger Stew variations
Hamburger Stew on the Stove
Making hamburger stew on the stove top is very simple!
- In a large pot or dutch oven, brown ground beef, onion, and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot except for the cornstarch, water, and peas. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Once cooked, mix in corn starch/water. Add peas and stir until combined
Ground Beef Stew in Crockpot
You can also make ground beef stew in the crockpot!
- In a large pot brown ground beef, onion, and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes.
- Add the beef/vegetable mixture to the crockpot base along with the rest of the ingredients to the pot except for the cornstarch, water, and peas.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
- Optional for thickening: The last hour the stew is cooking, mix cornstarch with water and add to the stew. Add peas and stir until combined
How to serve this Hamburger Stew Recipe
Hamburger Stew is a complete meal on its own, but if you want you can serve it in a few different ways. Here are our favorite ways to serve hamburger stew:
- With fresh bread
- With extra veggies like Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Green Beans Almondine
- Spinach Strawberry Salad
Ground Beef Stew storage
Hamburger Stew stores very well!
Refrigerating: This stew can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing: You can freeze Ground Beef Stew for up to 3 months. We like these containers for freezing soup! For all my freezing tips, check out my post on How To Freeze Soup.
Reheating: To prevent the vegetables from getting soggy when reheating, thaw the stew overnight. You can microwave the stew to reheat it or cook it in a pot on the stove.
Ground Beef Stew Recipe FAQs
Yes, you should brown the meat for hamburger stew. Browning meat adds a depth of flavor to dishes and also ensures that the meat is completely cooked.
Typically you use beef broth for liquid in beef stew. You can also use vegetable or chicken broth. Canned tomato sauce also is a great way to add liquid and flavor to beef stew.
No, you shouldn’t boil potatoes before putting them in stew. If you pre-cook your potatoes it will give you mushy potatoes. Potatoes should be added to stew raw so that they cook while the other ingredients cook.
Potatoes shouldn’t get mushy in stew. If you’re worried about them over cooking you can add them in after the stew has cooked for a little bit so they’re cooking for less time, or cut them into bigger chunks. If you do that though you run the risk of them not cooking all the way
The best way to make beef stew more flavorful is to add herbs and spices. Adding a 1/2 teaspoon of herbs like parsley, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder and onion powder can add a lot of flavor!
The worcestershire sauce, beef broth, herbs, and tomatoes all pair together to make this hamburger stew taste rich and delicious!
Other healthy ground beef dinner recipes:
Looking for other easy dinners? Check out these 40+ Healthy Ground Beef Recipes to lose weight. Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
Hamburger Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 cup onion chopped (one medium onion)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic 3 cloves
- 2 cups carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 cups potatoes peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch omit if paleo/Whole30
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup frozen peas defrosted
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Select Sauté on the instant pot and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes until ground beef starts to brown and the onion is softened. Make sure to scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the pot to avoid a burn notice
- Cancel Sauté mode and add the rest of ingredients except for the cornstarch, water and peas. Stir until combined. Close the lid and set the valve to Sealing
- Select ‘High Pressure’ for 8 minutes. (It will take about 20 minutes for the pressure to rise and start cooking. Tip: Microwave your broth to speed up the cook time.)
- Once the stew has cooked, do a quick release on the vent.
- Select Sauté mode and bring to boil. While the stew boils, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with water and add to the stew. Once the stew is boiling, cancel sauté mode.
- Add the peas and stir until combined.
Stovetop Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes until ground beef starts to brown and the onion is softened.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot except for the cornstarch, water and peas. Stir until combined. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Once cooked, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with water and add to the stew.
- Bring to boil; once the stew is boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add the peas and stir until combined.
Crockpot Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes until ground beef starts to brown and the onion is softened.
- Add the beef/vegetable mixture to the crockpot base along with the rest of ingredients to the pot except for the cornstarch, water and peas. Stir until combined
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
- Optional for thickening: The last hour the stew is cooking, mix cornstarch with water and add to the stew.
- Turn the crockpot to high.
- Before serving, add the peas and stir until combined.
Stacey says
Added salt and hot sauce at the end but it was good
Heather says
Was a family favorite! I cheated and used a bag of frozen mirepox mix, but this recipe was delicious!
Sandra says
This is my favorite recipe. Trying to lose weight and this recipe is very healthy. I use everything except veggies. Replace with pinto beans. Thank you
Kay says
Delicious and easy! I would use chicken in place of hamburger and chicken broth instead of beef for my people that don’t eat beef! I also used stewed tomatoes.
Melanie Tegeler says
This was very good! My family loved it. Thanks for sharing it!