Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew
Savor the season with this Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew. Warm, cozy, and perfectly spiced. This easy slow cooker dinner recipe takes 15 minutes to prep and is sure to become a fall favorite!
If you’re looking for more pumpkin recipes, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Eggless Pumpkin Spice Scones, Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Without Eggs, or Buttermilk Pumpkin Waffles.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew
- Ready In: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Makes: 6 servings
- Main Ingredients: beef, pumpkin, cauliflower, beef bone broth
- Flavor Profile: cozy, warm, spiced earthy stew with savory beef
- Dietary Info: gluten free, no seed oils, eggless, dairy free, vegan swap available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: only 15 minutes to prep, will make your house smell amazing
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- 15 Minutes: All you need is 15 minutes to meal prep, then this stew slow cooks all on its own!
- Uses Pumpkin: This is a favorite recipe during pumpkin season. I use a whole can of pumpkin in this recipe making it easy! If you have leftover pumpkin, also try Pumpkin Spice Pop Tarts With Pie Crust for an anytime snack!
- Great for a Crowd: This beef stew is a great recipe for a crowd as it serves a lot of people. Especially if you serve with bread, rice or quinoa. Try serving it with crusty bread like Sourdough Discard Bread With Bone Broth, Sourdough Irish Soda Bread, Lemon Rosemary Sourdough Bread, or Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast.
- Leftovers: I love this dish because it’s great for leftovers. We’re a small house, just the two of us. So I love making recipes that heat up well and this one is great for leftovers!
- Flexible: This is a great recipe to use up leftover veggies in your fridge. I have easy substitutions for adding different vegetables, meats, and also to make this vegan!
This Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew is amazing all on its own. But, I also love serving this with a slice of crusty Lemon Rosemary Sourdough Bread or Sourdough Discard Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread toasted up with Homemade Garlic Herb Butter. You can even serve Easy Bone Broth Rice as a side or Cheesy Pumpkin Garlic Bread which is a favorite in our house.
If you're looking for more slow cooker recipes, also check out Slow Cooker Turkey, Slow Cooker Beef Brisket Stew, Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Street Tacos or How to Make Turkey Carcass Soup With Bone Broth.
Ingredients
- Beef Bone Broth: I use organic beef bone broth, my favorite is Kettle & Fire. Use code MIMIBAKESCOOKIES for 20% off. You could also use regular beef broth, beef stock, or vegetable broth too if you prefer or if you want it a little less rich.
- Pumpkin Spice: I use my Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix, but store bought also works.
- White Onion: I use a white onion as they hare a sharper, crisper taste that goes better with the cozy spice, in my opinion. But yellow onion also works too.
- Garlic: You can use fresh garlic or organic minced garlic like I use here for ease. If you don't have either, you can use a little garlic powder, but it's not as flavorful in my opinion.
- Cauliflower: Organic cauliflower is a wonderful veggie for stew because it's texture doesn't turn into mush!
- Stew Meat: I use organic stew meat for ease, as this type of beef comes pre-cut. You could also use chuck roast or brisket, just cut into 2-inch cubes beforehand.
- Parsley: I garnish this with fresh parsley, but this part is totally optional.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Tips for Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew
- If you don't have a slow cooker, you can make this on the stove using a large Dutch oven or even a large soup pot works too. Start it out on medium-high heat, then reduce to low heat to simmer while everything cooks.
- I use stew meat for ease as it's already chopped. But, you could also use chuck roast or brisket and cut into 2-inch cubes as well. You could even use ground beef or ground turkey too.
- If you want seared beef, you can brown it before adding anything into your slow cooker or Dutch oven. Use a little bit of olive oil and use the sauté setting on your slow cooker or high heat on your Dutch oven to brown the beef with a little bit first. Then, you can add in the other ingredients.
- If you want it a little less rich, then use a vegetable broth or plain beef broth instead of the bone broth.
- Feel free to swap out veggies or add more to use up veggies from your fridge! Other veggies that would work well include broccoli, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, or green beans.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
- You can also freeze this stew in a freezer safe zip bag. Just thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before reheating.
- Vegan: Use vegetable broth in place of beef broth. And replace the stew meat with more veggies. Try root vegetables like sweet potato, carrot and also kabocha, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, more. You can even add in some black beans or garbanzo beans for added protein.
How to Make Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew
- Roughly chop the onion and set aside.
- Chop the cauliflower into small pieces.
- Add the pumpkin puree, bone broth, salt, pepper, pumpkin spice, and garlic to a slow cooker. Stir to combine completely.
- Add in the cauliflower and onions. Then add the stew meat and stir everything up. Slow cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender and cauliflower is cooked to your liking.
- Slow cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender and cauliflower is cooked to your liking.
- Top with freshly chopped parsley for serving (optional).
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew FAQ’s
No, this has an earthy and cozy flavor that's lightly spiced.
Yes, you could use chuck roast or brisket but you'll need to chop into small cubes. You could even ground beef or ground turkey too.
No, I specifically do not brown the beef for ease. Plus, slow cooking it creates a tender, pull apart beef that I don't think needs to be browned. But, if you want to brown it, you can do that before adding anything into the slow cooker. Most slow cookers have a sauté or brown setting that you can use to do that first.
No, don't use pumpkin pie filling as that has added spices and sugars. We don't want the added sugars here and we are already adding in our own spice. So, you need a plain pumpkin puree for this recipe.
Yes, just replace the beef broth with vegetable broth. And, replace the beef with more veggies. Other vegetables that would be delicious here are zucchini, squash, carrots, celery, bell peppers, or mushrooms. You could also add sweet potatoes or Russet potatoes.
Yes, if you prefer to cook this on low you can, but you'll need to cook it longer.
Yes, you can use a Dutch oven to make this on the stovetop instead.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Yes, you can freeze this in an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then it's ready to reheat.
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Slow Cooker Pumpkin Stew
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
Ingredients
- 1 white onion
- 1 head cauliflower
- 4 cups beef bone broth (or beef broth)
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 pound stew meat
- Fresh parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Roughly chop the onion and set aside.
- Chop the cauliflower into small pieces.
- Add the pumpkin puree, bone broth, salt, pepper, pumpkin spice, and garlic to a slow cooker. Stir to combine completely.
- Add in the cauliflower and onions. Then add the stew meat and stir everything up.
- Slow cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender and cauliflower is cooked to your liking.
- Top with freshly chopped parsley for serving (optional).
Video
Notes
- If you don't have a slow cooker, you can make this on the stove using a large Dutch oven or even a large soup pot works too. Start it out on medium-high heat, then reduce to low heat to simmer while everything cooks.
- I use stew meat for ease as it's already chopped. But, you could also use chuck roast or brisket and cut into 2-inch cubes as well. You could even use ground beef or ground turkey.
- If you want seared beef, you can brown it before adding anything into your slow cooker or Dutch oven. Use a little bit of olive oil and use the sauté setting on your slow cooker or high heat on your Dutch oven to brown the beef with a little bit first. Then, you can add in the other ingredients.
- If you want it a little less rich, then use a vegetable broth or plain beef broth instead of the bone broth.
- Feel free to swap out veggies or add more to use up veggies from your fridge! Other veggies that would work well include broccoli, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, garbanzo beans, or green beans.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
- You can also freeze this stew in a freezer safe zip bag. Just thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before reheating.
- Vegan: Use vegetable broth in place of beef broth. And replace the stew meat with more veggies. Try root vegetables like sweet potato, carrot and also kabocha, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, more. You can even add in some black beans or garbanzo beans for added protein.
- High Altitude: Follow the recipe as noted.
Nutrition
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This stew is literally fall in a bowl