Slow Cooker Poor Man Stew 5 Ingredients is a simple, budget-friendly dinner that helped my grandpa swear by it during the hard times. With only 5 ingredients, this complete and hearty meal feeds an entire family while delivering rich, comforting flavor. Slow cooked to tender perfection, this easy stew proves that affordable ingredients can still create a filling, satisfying dish everyone will love.
Servings: 6
Slow Cooker Poor Man Stew Ingredients
Ground beef (80-85% lean)
- Quantity: 1 pound
- Notes: Brown before adding to the slow cooker.
Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- Quantity: 4 medium
- Notes: Cut evenly for uniform cooking.
Carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds
- Quantity: 4 medium
- Notes: Slice evenly to prevent overcooking.
Yellow onion, diced
- Quantity: 1 large
- Notes: Spread evenly at the bottom layer.
Tomato sauce
- Quantity: 2 cans (15 ounces each)
- Notes: No water needed; thickens during cooking
Cooking Instructions for Slow Cooker Poor Man Stew
- In a big skillet heated on medium-high, crumble the ground beef and cook stirring occasionally, until it is well browned and there is no pink left in it 6-8 minutes. In case of excess grease, then carefully remove most of the fat by spooning leaving only a small portion of the fat as a flavoring.
- As the beef is browning, veggies are ready: peel the potatoes and chop them into cubes about 1 inch, peel the carrots and cut them into 1/2 inch round slices, chop the onion.
- Put the potatoes, carrots, and onion in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker in a layer so that they are evenly distributed.
- Pour the cooked ground beef into the slow cooker, and spread it evenly as much as possible to ensure that each spoonful of stew has a portion of meat.
- Evenly spread tomato sauce over the beef and vegetables. No water is added; water will be lost during cooking and the tomato sauce will turn into a fat gravy.
- Stir lightly only once or twice, scraping a slice of the tomato sauce about the meat and vegetables, but not scraping away most of the layers. This assists in cooking all the things in unison as well as avoiding the breakdown of potatoes and carrots.
- Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on either LOW 7-8 hours or on HIGH 4-5 hours until the potatoes and carrots are extremely tender and the tomato sauce has reduced to a thick, hearty, red stew-like gravy.
- After cooking, stir the stew thoroughly down to the top to make the beef, vegetables and sauce a very even mixture. Season and add a little salt and black pepper to your pantry to taste to your liking and preference for your family.
- Allow the stew to simmer with the lid off for 5-10 minutes to ensure the escape of the steam and the slight thickening of the sauce, and then ladle it into bowls and serve hot directly out of the slow cooker.
Variations & Tips
- Changes in this case are at the discretion of the cooker, and can be drawn out of what you already possess, to retain the spirit of the original five-ingredient conception.
- You would prefer a little more bulk you can add to the browned beef a handful of oats of quick oats, or a spoon of flour, then add them to the slow cooker; both were traditional means of stretching stews in leaner days.
- To add additional flavor without more expense, add seasonings in the pantry such as garlic powder, dried thyme, Italian seasoning or a bay leaf to the tomato sauce.
- You may use it in the gravy in place of some canned tomatoes in order to add more texture.
- In case you have any other root vegetables, like parsnips or turnips, you can use some of the potatoes or carrots in place of those in the crisper.
- To make it leaner, ground turkey can be used instead of beef but the pan may need a drizzle of oil when it is being browned.
- Reheated leftovers are suitable to reheat and may be used again: the following day, spoon the stew over toast, rice, or noodles, or press it through a potato masher and then fill it into a baked potato.