Hamburger Stew
This Hamburger Stew recipe is one I love to make when the weather starts cooling down. It’s good, old-fashioned comfort food—nothing fancy, nothing difficult, and loaded with veggies. Ground beef makes it hearty enough for dinner, while V8 juice creates a rich, tomato-y (is that a word?) broth without needing a long list of ingredients.
And I especially love a meal like this when I’m wanting something cozy but don’t want to fuss over dinner. Chop a pile of vegetables, brown the hamburger, get everything simmering together, and before long you’ve got a big pot of stew that tastes like you worked much harder than you actually did.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s packed with vegetables. Carrots, onions, celery, green beans, corn, mushrooms, and bell pepper all make their way into the pot.
- It’s budget-friendly. One pound of hamburger stretches into a generous pot of stew.
- It makes plenty. This recipe serves about 8, so there’s enough for a family dinner and possibly lunch the next day. Or, you can freeze the leftovers for a quick, easy meal later on.
- It’s simple. There aren’t any unusual ingredients or complicated steps.
- The V8 does the heavy lifting. Regular V8 juice gives the broth plenty of tomato and vegetable flavor all by itself.
📝Ingredient Notes
- Ground Beef: I like lean ground beef here so the stew doesn’t become greasy. If you’re using hamburger with a higher fat content, just drain it well after browning. I’ve also made this with ground turkey, and it works well if that’s what you have on hand—although I suppose we can’t call it Hamburger Stew anymore!
- V-8 Vegetable Juice: I use regular V8, not the spicy variety. It gives the stew a flavorful tomato and vegetable base with virtually no effort—which is exactly the sort of shortcut I appreciate.
- Vegetables: This is definitely not one of those stews where you have to hunt around for the vegetables. There are a lot of them, which is part of what makes one pound of hamburger go so far.
- Sugar: Two teaspoons may seem like an odd addition to a savory stew, but it’s not enough to make the stew taste sweet. It simply helps balance all that tomato flavor.
👩🍳 How to Make Hamburger Stew
This stew is loaded with vegetables, so I always start by chopping and dicing all the vegetables I will need. Chop the onion and bell pepper and slice the mushrooms and celery. I love using the slicing blade on my cheese grater to slice carrots and celery. It’s so much easier on my hands!
Granny Says: Since you’re already chopping celery, why not prep the rest of the bunch for another meal? I like having chopped vegetables tucked away in the freezer for soups, stews, and casseroles. Different vegetables need slightly different preparation before freezing, so check out this handy guide to freezing vegetables from Penn State Extension.
Next, brown the ground beef and chopped onion in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Once the beef is no longer pink, drain off any excess grease.
Add the carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms, celery, green beans, corn, V8 juice, sugar, celery seed, salt, and pepper.
Give everything a good stir.
Bring the stew to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and let it simmer for about 30–35 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
That’s it! Give it a taste, add a little more salt or pepper if you think it needs it, and dinner is ready.
Can I Make Hamburger Stew in the Slow Cooker?
Absolutely. If you’d rather get dinner going earlier in the day, Hamburger Stew works well in the slow cooker, too.
Brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet over medium heat until the beef is no longer pink. Drain off any excess grease.
Transfer the beef and onion to a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the carrots, green bell pepper, mushrooms, green beans, corn, celery, V8 juice, sugar, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6–8 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours, until the carrots and celery are tender.
Since everything except the fresh vegetables is already cooked, I like to start checking the stew around the six-hour mark when cooking on LOW. There’s no prize for cooking those poor green beans into submission.
🍽️ What to Serve With Hamburger Stew
Hamburger Stew is already a pretty complete meal in a bowl, so there’s no need to complicate things.
A warm slice of my Easy Cornbread is just about perfect alongside a bowl of stew. Homemade biscuits, crusty bread, or even a few crackers would be good, too.
Granny Says: On a chilly evening, give me a warm bowl of stew, a piece of buttered cornbread, and permission not to cook anything else.
🧺 How to Store Hamburger Stew
Let leftover stew cool before transferring it to an airtight container. Store it in the refrigerator and reheat individual portions in the microwave or warm the stew gently in a saucepan on the stove.
And like so many soups and stews, this is one of those meals that may taste even better the next day after all those flavors have had time to blend.
Can You Freeze Hamburger Stew?
Absolutely. In fact, this is a great recipe to make a big batch of and tuck some away for another meal.
Hamburger Stew freezes particularly well because it doesn’t contain potatoes, pasta, or dairy, which can sometimes change texture after freezing.
Let the stew cool completely, then portion it into freezer-safe containers, leaving a little room at the top for expansion. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave.
That makes this a handy recipe for those days when cooking dinner just isn’t happening. Future you will be very pleased with present you.
🧺 Granny’s Favorite Tools
Some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting The Budgeting Granny.
🔪 Grater/Slicer — This is the one we use to grate cheese and slice celery, carrots, and potatoes.
🩵 Vegetable Chopper — We use this at least once a week to dice onions and peppers. It makes perfect little pieces!
A Simple, Cozy Dinner
One of my favorite things about old-fashioned recipes like this one is how much you can make from fairly simple ingredients.
One pound of hamburger doesn’t sound like much for eight servings, but add carrots, celery, mushrooms, green beans, corn, bell pepper, and a big can of V8, and suddenly you’ve got a hearty pot of dinner.
It’s nothing fancy. It’s simply warm, filling, budget-friendly food that makes the house smell good while it simmers.
And sometimes that’s exactly what dinner needs to be.
Hamburger Stew
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 medium carrots, sliced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 16-ounce can cut green beans, drained
- 1 16-ounce can corn, drained
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 46-ounce can regular V8 vegetable juice
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and chopped onion in a large Dutch oven. Drain excess grease.
- Add the carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms, celery, green beans, corn, V8 juice, sugar, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Bring the stew to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 30–35 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Taste before serving and add a little more salt or pepper, if needed.
🍞 More Cozy Recipes To Try
☕ Pour Yourself Another Cup of Tea…
Continue your cozy journey…
- Little bits of life here at Birdsong Cottage can be found in the Cozy Homemaker Journal Category.
- 5 tips to help you avoid those sneaky spending triggers.
- Just one more recipe…A fall favorite: My Not-So-Secret Apple Dip
