Slow Cooker Grandpa’s Mulligan Stew: This easy slow cooker stew brings back old-fashioned comfort food. Made with just four humble ingredients—beef, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes—it cooks low and slow until everything turns soft and tasty. It’s a budget-friendly meal that feels like a warm hug, just like the stews grandparents used to make during hard times.
This slow cooker mulligan stew is a warm, filling meal that reminds me of what my grandpa used to eat during hard times long ago. It’s simple, cheap, and made with things you probably already have at home. This is an old-style stew from the Great Depression days—just ground beef, potatoes, onions, and canned tomatoes cooked slowly until they turn into a thick, dark, tomato-flavored soup.
If you want an easy dinner that you can start in the morning and have ready by dinnertime, this stew is perfect for you. It doesn’t take much work, and it won’t cost a lot of money either.
How to Serve It
Scoop this stew into bowls and serve it with thick pieces of buttered bread—white or wheat both work great. The bread is perfect for dipping into the yummy tomato broth. Saltine crackers or cornbread are great choices too, especially if your kids like to crumble crunchy stuff on top of their food.
You can also serve a small green salad or some steamed frozen veggies on the side to make the meal even better without much extra work. If you’re feeding a lot of people, try pouring the stew over cooked white rice or egg noodles. This will help stretch the meal further so everyone gets a full plate.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 2 pounds ground beef (80–85% lean)
- 4 cups russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces (about 3–4 medium potatoes)
- 2 cups yellow onion, chopped (about 2 medium onions)
- 2 large cans (28 ounces each) crushed or diced tomatoes, with the juice
Slow Cooker Grandpa’s Mulligan Stew: Directions
- Cook the beef. Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and break it into small pieces with a spoon while it cooks. Keep cooking for about 7–10 minutes, until no pink meat is left and most of the liquid has cooked away. If there’s a lot of grease, pour it off so your stew doesn’t turn out too oily.
- Add beef to the slow cooker. Move the cooked beef into a large slow cooker (one that holds 5–6 quarts works best). Spread the beef in a flat, even layer across the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Layer the vegetables. Place the chopped potatoes on top of the beef in an even layer. Then sprinkle the chopped onions over the potatoes. Don’t stir it yet—keeping the layers separate helps everything cook evenly in the broth.
- Pour in the tomatoes. Dump both cans of tomatoes, juice and all, over the top of the onions and potatoes. Try to cover as much of the mixture as you can. If the tomatoes are thick, gently shake the slow cooker or press down lightly with a spoon so the juice spreads around evenly.
- Cook on Low: Put the lid on the slow cooker. Cook it on LOW flame for 7 to 8 hours, or on HIGH heat for 4 to 5 hours. You’ll know it’s ready when the potatoes are soft all the way through and the onions have almost melted into the broth.
- Stir it together. Once the cooking time is done, gently stir the stew from the bottom up. This mixes the beef, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes into one rich, dark, tomato-filled broth. Taste it, and if you’d like, add a little salt and pepper at the table. Just remember, this stew is supposed to be simple and cheap, the same way grandpa made it long ago.
- Serve it warm. Scoop the hot stew straight from the slow cooker into bowls. Make sure every bowl has a good mix of beef, potatoes, onions, and broth. If your family likes to come back for more later in the evening, just keep the slow cooker on the WARM setting.