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.
This stew is so easy to make, and it was a delicious Sunday dinner for my family. Thank you!
I’m glad you liked it, Kim. Thanks for the feedback!
This is the best beef stew recipe I’ve made! I have tried (and failed miserably) to make a good beef stew! I especially love the ease and the use of ingredients that most folks can find and not have to go to chef school to make! My hubby is thrilled too because he was the poor soul who had to pretend to enjoy my failed attempts. He had many bowls of tough meat, bland sauce and veggies that were sometimes hard sometimes overdone, etc. Thank you! I love all your recipes and it drives me nuts to read some of the negative comments people seem to just have to put out! If you don’t like something, hush up and move on. I admire the way you deal with the negative nells. My motto has always been if you can’t say something nice SHUT UP 🙂 ! I’m now on my way to my stove to get out hubby’s favorite dinner (your beef stew). God Bless!
Hi Shari. So thankful to hear you and your husband enjoyed this stew that my MIL taught me so many years ago!! Appreciate the review, too. As for negative comments, as long as it’s constructive, I alway appreciate the feedback and we always want to improve our recipes/site/etc. We’ve been at this online business gig for a while. You develop tough skin and also learn a lot from others. 😉
Loved the easy throw ingredients in one pan, bake and good to go. Taste great!
Totally agree!
This was super easy, smelled delicious as it was cooking, and even my three year old who doesn’t normally want to eat dinner ate two bowls! I used additional meat from what it called for because I need a lot of protien grams and it turned out nice and tender! It stayed good as a leftover too!
Thanks for the review, Denise! My mother-in-law, who taught me this recipe 20 years ago, would be so happy to hear this (RIP, Karen).
I have made MANY beef stews and this recipe was HANDS DOWN my family’s favorite! And could not be easier!
Awesome! Love hearing that! Thanks for the feedback, April.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet. I love soups and stews and make them regularly. I will definitely try this method with ingredients. I like the suggestions of additions like corn. Stews are great over mashed potatoes but not sure I would do that if there are potatoes in the dish. Can’t wait to try it.
I have not tried the recipe as of yet but i will. I wanted to comment on some of the viewers comments. Why do people have to point out such negative comments about someone’s recipe, if you do not like and ingredient change it out for what you prefer, like salt add less buy soups with no salts etc. A beef stew is a thickened soup which contains potatoes and so I’m not understanding why you would put it over mashed potatoes or even rice. Too much carbohydrates..make no sense. Try the recipe and comment on its totality, you can’t change it and then comment on it because you didn’t like it , etc.
love the 2 ways to fix/freeze
Thanks! Glad it’s helpful!
Very delicious. I have made this my cold weather go to many times. I have also tried this over regular mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes. Also delish. Thanks for receipe
Glad you enjoyed it! Great idea to serve over mashed potatoes of any kind.
Very tender but I’ve got to be honest. Unless you love the flavor of canned tomato soup you will not like this recipe. It was just so overwhelming. Will try it again with a can of French Onion soup and see if that helps.
Thanks for your honest feedback. It might depend on the brand you use. French Onion soup sounds good, too.
Made this today as an easy meal in all of the Christmas business. It is a simple, filling, flavorful meal that will become an addition to my rotation.
Thanks for the feedback, Kristia!
Have you tried this without meat?
No I haven’t. Sorry.
I put this on to cook at 1pm and it was ready to eat by 5:30. The meat was tender and potatoes and carrots were soft. I used can of corn in mine as well. So easy and good.
Thanks for this recipe! It’s become a regular in our house 🙂 Smells great when cooking!!
Awesome! It’s so easy, isn’t it? I’m glad it’s been a winner for your family.
So I needed to shorten the cooking time for this one. It came out great and was family approved. What I did was marinate the meat with apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, onion powder. I cut up smaller pieces of carrots and potatoes so they would cook faster. I chopped up some onions and sauteed and browned the meat. I threw in the browned meat with the juices into the rest of the mixture. Baked in the oven for 2 hours @ 350. It cut down cooking time and the meat was very tender.
Yum, sounds great. Thanks for the ideas!
Sounds so good and easy,will try.