Poor Man's Beef Stew is a hearty and filling stew with minimal ingredients and cost. Frugal eating never tasted so good with this poor man's stove top stew!
Recipe: $9.84 | Per Serving: $1.23 | Servings: 8
Making Stove Top Beef Stew is perfect for chilly nights when you crave something hearty.
But pricey beef cuts can strain the budget, and sometimes a trip to the store isn't an option. When this happens, we make do with what we have, as taught in our Tips for Meal Planning on a Tight Budget.
That's where Stove Top Poor Man's Stew shines! With just a pound of beef or leftover ground beef and affordable veggies, you can whip up a pot of flavorful stew that tastes gourmet.
For more budget-friendly meals, explore my Cheap Family Meals Under $10, Egg Drop Soup, Lemon Garlic Butter Pasta, and Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen.
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- It's simple yet delicious. With this easy stove top beef stew recipe, you're going to get a flavorful and thick broth packed with veggies, meat, and bowl-licking goodness.
- Easy prep. We can use up a lot of "whatever is on hand" with this recipe as it's very versatile. This is a great opportunity for a Clean Out the Pantry Challenge.
- Even the leftovers taste great! It's not often you get to hear that, but this poor man's beef stew tastes even better the next day. My guess is that the flavors had longer to develop. So make sure to set aside leftovers for lunch while you still have a chance!
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Ground Beef- While ground beef is preferable, you could use any ground meat (cooked or uncooked) that you may have on hand. If you have more ground beef on hand, use it up in our Ground Beef Pot Pie or Taco Mac and Cheese (with Rotel).
Potatoes- I personally prefer Russets because they're cheaper, but golden potatoes work great too and don't get grainy when cooked.
Flour- This is the soup thickener and helps to give a thicker broth that fills tummies.
Tomato Paste- Just a small 6 ounce can of tomato paste helps to add flavor and the red color we expect from stews. I have also had success using leftover spaghetti sauce instead- turned out incredible!
Beef Broth- A 32 ounce carton of beef broth is enough, but you could also do water and bullion.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
📖 Variations
Enhance with Veggies- Experiment with additional vegetables like cherry tomatoes, summer squash, or mushrooms. Incorporate mushrooms early for richer flavor. Other veggies can join later with potatoes.
Use Leftover Meat- Utilize seasoned taco meat, sloppy joe meat, or shredded beef from a slow cooker roast instead of ground beef. They add varied flavors and textures.
Try Different Sauces- Substitute tomato paste with pasta, marinara, or pizza sauce for depth and flavor. Each sauce variation brings a unique taste to the soup.
🧾 Substitutions
Flour. Need to be gluten free? Swap out the requested flour for ⅓ cup of cornstarch. Just add it in at the end as a slurry by taking 1 cup of broth from the soup and adding it to a bowl with the cornstarch. Whisk until dissolved and stir into the soup.
🔪 Instructions for Poor Man's Beef Stew
Step 1: Brown your ground beef in a large pot over medium high heat and drain excess grease.
Step 2: Add in the celery, onion, and carrots. Stir and then cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Add in the potatoes and stir to combine.
Step 4: Add in the flour, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Stir to combine and coat everything.
Step 5: Add in the tomato paste and stir until well combined.
Step 6: Add in the beef broth and water. Stir until well mixed.
Step 7: Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce heat to medium/low and let simmer for 45 minutes. It's ready when the potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
🍴 Recipe Tips
- Savor the Flavor- This ground beef stew offers a delightful twist from traditional recipes, with smaller, more tender meat chunks.
- Let it Simmer- Allow the stew to simmer to meld flavors. Initially tomato-heavy, it transforms into something savory and rich over time. Patience pays off with delicious results.
- Test for Doneness- Check potato readiness by mashing a chunk against a cutting board. If it mashes easily, the stew is ready. For smaller pieces, adjust simmering time accordingly, as russets cook faster than golden or red potatoes.
🥗 Side Dishes
This poor man's stew recipe pairs really well with breaded items like Air Fryer Canned Biscuits, Frozen Garlic Bread in Air Fryer, Homemade Dinner Rolls, and 2 Hour No Knead White Bread.
💭 Recipe FAQs
It's a low-cost soup that tastes great! Made with cheap veggies like onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, and ground beef instead of a pricier cut this soup packs a lot into every heart-warming bowl.
Yes, after allowing the soup to cool completely, store it in a freezer bag or other freezer-friendly container for up to three months. Thaw and reheat before eating.
No, ground beef will naturally produce its own grease and oils as it cooks. Drain excess grease for better tasting (and slightly healthier) soup.
❤️ More Delicious Soup Recipes
If you tried this Poor Man's Stew, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Poor Man's Stew
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef ($4.97)
- 3 stalks celery, chopped ($0.63)
- 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped ($0.54)
- 1 medium onion, chopped ($0.90)
- 3 medium potatoes, chopped (Golden or Russet work best!) ($0.69)
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour ($0.04)
- 1 teaspoon salt ($0.01)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder ($0.08)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ($0.08)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper ($0.04)
- 6 ounces tomato paste (small can) *see note ($0.86)
- 32 ounces beef broth ($1.00)
- 4 cups water ($0.00)
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium high heat, brown your ground beef and drain excess grease.
- Add in celery, carrots, and onion. Stir and let cook for 5 minutes.
- Add in potatoes and stir to combine.
- Add in flour, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper, stirring to combine and coat well.
- Add in tomato paste and stir until everything is well coated.
- Add in beef broth and water. Stir until well mixed.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium/low and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes and veggies are fork tender.
Notes
- Tomato paste can be substituted for 1-2 cups of leftover spaghetti sauce.
- Additional veggies can be added depending on what you have on hand. Mushrooms should be added with the onions to get the most flavor but other veggies like zucchini can be added with the potatoes.
- Different potato varieties and sizes will cook at different rates. Russets will cook faster than yellow or red potatoes and smaller chunks will cook faster than larger ones so keep an eye on your soup and check every 5-10 minutes for doneness because you may not need all 20 minutes, or you could need longer.
- Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Emily says
With some adjustments, this turned out well. Some of the directions were confusing. 32 ounces IS 4 cups. 4 cups of water would've been way too much, so I only added 2 cups, plus the 4 cups of broth. I added some frozen peas toward the end of the cooking. I tasted it and decided it needed some depth, so I added a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a few shakes of curry powder (couldn't really taste curry; just added some oomph). I didn't add the teaspoon of salt, instead adding to it "to taste." Oh and I made this vegan by using Impossible Burger and BTB no-beef for the broth. The final result was great. Thanks for the inspo.
Courtney says
I made this tonight and it’s really good. I made it exactly as written except:
I added 1 teaspoon of extra Italian seasoning (in hindsight, probably not needed) and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme.
I also gave it 2 shakes of Cavender’s . One probably would have been fine.
It’s very good and I will make again. Served with cornbread.
BeeyondCereal says
Glad you liked it! Your additions sound delicious.
Frances Lee says
What is Cavender's? Is there a substitute if I can't find it in the store?
Jan says
This was super easy & totally delicious!!
Mackenzie says
This was delicious! I think I'm gonna add more potatoes next time tho because I love lots of potatoes! Also I accidentally tripled the beef but oh boy it was delicious, I think I'll continue to do that! So good
Nicole says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Amy says
I made this and it was wonderful. Thinking of adding pasta instead of potatoes next time.
Nicole says
Pasta noodles sound like a great addition (my husband loves adding egg noodles to soups)!
Bonnie Dietrich says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was very good.
Nicole says
So happy to hear that 🙂
Bonnie Dietrich says
Thanks
Bonnie Dietrich says
Can you use canned carrots
Nicole says
I don't see why not! I recommend adding them in towards the end though so that they don't become mushy.