No-Peek Beef Stew
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Friends, making No-Peek Beef Stew gets NO EASIER than this recipe. My mother-in-law taught me this one when I first got married, and I’ve been serving it up to big crowds ever since. Make ahead and freeze to have on hand for busy nights or when hosting a big group.
“I’ve been making this for the past year. This recipe is not only easy but delicious. Wouldn’t change a thing.” – Carolyn
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- It’s a dump-and-go meal. Simply dump everything in the casserole dish that it bakes in, stir it up, and bake. Here are more dump and go meals if you want ideas.
- It only uses ONE dish.
- This recipe makes 6-8 servings easily, so it’s great for a large family or for serving a crowd. We love big batch meals!
- No-Peek Stew can easily be made ahead of time and frozen for later. Freezer meals are the bomb.
Ingredients
We took some shortcuts in this recipe so you can get dinner on the table with very little effort. If you’d like to make a whole foods version, try our Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe that’s still pretty darn simple to put together.
Here are the basics:
- Onions
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Stew Meat (We get ours from ButcherBox)
- Green Beans
- Tomato Soup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
How to Make No Peek Stew
Here is a quick visual overview of where we are going.
How to Freeze Beef Stew
Our easy No-Peek Stew can easily be made ahead of time and frozen for later.
To Freeze: Follow Steps 2-3, except cover tightly with a few layers of plastic wrap and foil, squeezing out any excess air. Freeze.
To Prepare from Frozen: Thaw the casserole in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours. Remove the plastic wrap and cover tightly with one layer of foil. Bake as directed in Step 4 (or use the slow cooker method).
What to Serve with No Peek Beef Stew
Here are some side dish ideas that would pair deliciously with this beef stew:
- Sweet Potato Biscuits
- Mandarain Orange Salad
- Bread Machine Dinner Rolls
- Double Chocolate Brownies or Cheesecake Brownies for dessert!
FAQs
“No-peek stew” is a name given to this type of stew where the cooking instructions advise against lifting the lid or peeking during the cooking process. This could is to ensure that the flavors and moisture are retained, creating a more flavorful and tender result.
I just always buy what I can find in the health food section to avoid additives and preservatives. My mother-in-law always used condensed canned soup (I got the recipe from her), but I’ve used non-condensed and it works either way honestly. It’s kind of hard to mess this recipe up.
Yes, this recipe works well in the Crockpot. Stir together all the ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the lid on and set to LOW for 8-10 hours.
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No-Peek Stew Recipe
Making beef stew doesn’t get easier than this recipe! Throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning or in oven around lunch time, DO NOT PEEK, and you’ll end up with a hearty and tasty dinner for a crowd.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of beef stew meat (or chuck roast, trimmed and cut-up in about 1-inch chunks)
- 2–3 baking potatoes, peeled and cut up into about 1-inch chunks
- 3 large carrots, peeled and cut up into about 1-inch chunks
- 1 large onion, cut up into about 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or more to your preference
- 1 (15-ounce) can of green beans, liquid and all
- 1 (15-ounce) can of tomato soup (preferably organic)
- 1 (15-ounce) can of cream of mushroom soup (preferably organic)
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Instructions
Make It Now:
Oven Method:
- Preheat oven to 275° F.
- Spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Add stew meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions to the casserole dish. Season with the pepper and gently stir together.
- Dump the can of green beans, liquid and all, over the top of meat and vegetables. Then, pour the tomato soup and cream of mushroom soup over the top. Gently combine with a spoon if you want, but not necessary. Tightly cover with foil.
- Place casserole dish on a cookie sheet with sides, in case of overflow. Bake for 5 hours. Don’t peek!
Slow Cooker Method: Stir together all the ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the lid on and set to LOW for 8-10 hours. (Do not peek!)
Freeze For Later:
Option 1 (Uncooked): Follow Steps 2-3, except cover tightly with a few layers of plastic wrap and foil, squeezing out any excess air. Freeze.
Option 2 (Fully Cooked): Fully cook and cool the stew (do not leave outside of refrigerator or freezer more than 2 hours!). Place in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Try to remove as much air as possible and seal and/or wrap it well before placing in the freezer.
Prepare From Frozen:
Option 1 (Uncooked): Thaw the casserole in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours. Remove the plastic wrap and cover tightly with one layer of foil. Bake as directed in Step 4 (or use the slow cooker method).
Option 2 (Fully Cooked): To reheat, thaw for 24-48 hours in the refrigerator (preferred method) or in the microwave using the defrost setting. Then, warm over low heat on the stove or in the slow cooker, gently stirring occasionally until warmed through.
Notes/Tips
- We get our beef from ButcherBox. The beef is grass-fed and curated from trusted farms.
- This recipe does include some canned, pre-made items, which we normally avoid. Do your best to find organic, BPA-free options. Read labels and find the canned items with the most recognizable and fewest ingredients.
I have this in the oven right now,I stuck to the recipe but I have to be honest I feel like its gonna need lots extra spices …. we will see
If I were to half this recipe, would it still need the full 5 hours? I have a tiny oven and I’m only cooking for 2 adults.
Probably not. Check it at 3 and see. The main thing is that you want the meat to become tender and low and slow cooking it is the key to that.
Hello! I am trying to find freezer meals that can be put into small, single-serve containers (like the Glad or Ziploc ones) and then heated up in the microwave at work. I have had too many bad experiences with the frozen boxed lunches; have you ever heated this up in a microwave?
Hi Mary, I’ve definitely warmed up leftovers of this in the microwave. Keep in mind that from frozen it will do much better on the defrost setting, so you don’t overcook it. But, if you’ve thawed it over night in the fridge (which I would suggest), then you should be able to microwave it for a few minutes, stirring intermittently. I would NOT suggest microwaving in any kind of plastic, however, as they leach chemicals into your food. Check out the Mighty Nest glass containers we recommend on this Freezer Meal post: https://thrivinghomeblog.com/healthy-recipes-index/healthy-freezer-meals-recipes/ for a safe alternative. I hope that helps!
Thank you this has become a family favorite!!
Cool! I’m glad we could add a good one to your repertoire.
This has become part of my rotation in the cooler months. I like to serve it over rice. My favorite tomato base is marinara, preferably a vodka sauce. Thanks for posting this!
Yummy! Great idea to serve over rice.
can I sub frozen veggies for can ? Thanks Anne
I haven’t tried them. My gut shot is it would be fine.
I’ve got two batches of this in the oven now! I’m prepping as much food as I can before baby #2 arrives next week and it was one of the simplest recipes I came across. Anyhow, first question is, would you cook longer with two batches in at the same time? Second question is, am I the only one who just COULD NOT find 15oz cans of soup?! Veggies were 15oz but the soups were 10oz. I’m hoping it turns out anyway!
I think this one is hard to mess up, Casey. You may have to cook just a smidgen longer, but just make sure the potatoes are done and meat is tender.
Lol I see how stupid that sounded. You have it in a bowl at the top. At first I didn’t know if the liquid cooked down and it was something you served on rice or something.
Hi! Looks great! So this is like a soup you would serve in a bowl, right?
I have made this many times. For extra flavor mix a package of beef stew seasoning in with the soups.
Just curious, if you DO freeze before baking this; would you thaw completely in the fridge before baking at 275 for 5 hours? or can you bake directly from frozen (in an aluminum disposable pan) and how long would you have to increase the baking time to?
I have not frozen this when raw, but from my previous experience with similar recipe, I would fully thaw it before cooking if you went this route. Cooking foods from a frozen state is often a tricky game, and can end in some of the food being overdone and some being underdone. Hope that helps!
What are the freezer directions for this meal? Do you suggest not using this as a freezer meal since the potatoes brown?
I have made this two ways as a freezer meal. 1) You can freeze everything before cooking. The downside is that the potatoes do turn brown, especially if not covered well with sauce. 2) You can cook it and freeze it after it cools. This works, but the texture will not be exactly like when it’s fresh. The potatoes will be a bit mushier. You will probably need to add more broth to it after you warm it up, too. But, honestly, it wasn’t a big deal to our family since stew is stew. It still tasted good!
I use a recipe similiar to this. It was published years ago in Peg Bracken’s “I hate to cookbook”. Its fabulous! It calls for 1 envelope dry onion soup mix, can of tomato soup, can of cream of mushroom and a can of red wine. Add potatoes, onions beef and carrots with the soups in a dutch oven with tight lid. 5 hours, no peeking, at 250. The house smells devine. I add defrosted, mixed vegtables (precooked in microwave ) and drained at the end. YUMMY! I have also made this in the crockpot and it comes out perfectly!
I believe she dubbed it “Stay in bed all day stew”.
I have looked through a lot of your recipes and tried 12 or 13 recipes which were wonderful. I would just like to point out that while this recipe looks good, it is not healthy. One can of green beans contains 20 percent sodium. Campbell cream soup is also 12-20 percent sodium. For those with blood pressure issues, this is not a healthy choice.
Thanks for pointing this out and I agree, Tiffanie. For this one, I only buy no-salt added green beans and I buy the organic “cream of” soups which can fair a bit better. I’ll try to go back and make note of that in the post. We use very few canned items in our recipes, but sometimes it’s helpful when feeding a crowd.
If you have sodium issues, read the labels & get no salt added green beans & lower sodium soup if available…or make your own.
Sounds real yummy, I to would use the crock pot and use deer meat, throw some corn and peas in it ….we love our veggies
Oh, yes, corn and peas at the end would be delicious. I have never had deer meat but I hear it is very lean and nutritious!
Can one make this up, put in the freezer and cook at a later date??
Amanda,
I have tried freezing it before cooking and also after it’s been cooked. It works either way, but here are a few disclaimers from my experience. Don’t be surprised if your potatoes turn brownish if you freeze before cooking. To help avoid this oxidation, make sure the potatoes are coated in the sauce before freezing. If you freeze it after it’s been cooked, the potatoes get a little mushy when rewarmed. It’s definitely still edible (my family will still eat it) but either way it’s just not quite as good as fresh out of the oven.
Just curious if this would work in the crock pot? I might rather have that on all day instead of the oven…
thanks!!
I haven’t tried it in there but I have no doubt it would work just fine! My Pot Roast recipe is similar (not canned items though) and it turns out just right every time.
I make a stew just like this in the crockpot all the time 🙂 8 or 9 hours in the crockpot on low . Mine also calls for a can of peas layered in there 🙂
Wow, what a great idea if I’m not going to be home. Thanks for the suggestion!