McCormick Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Stew Seasoning Mix, 1.5 oz

While beef stew is almost too easy to make, I will admit to not being great at replenishing my seasonings supplies as needed. Because seasonings and spices/herbs are so expensive, I keep putting off purchasing them and the list to replenish them just keeps getting longer and longer. Eventually, I don't have anything with which to work. As such, I planned 2 6-qt crock pots of beef stew for over the holidays to always have something hearty and warm on hand for family as they came/went. Lo and behold, when I finished cutting up all the meat and veggies and loaded them into the crock pots, I had nothing on hand to actually flavor those main ingredients. So, sent hubby off to the grocery store for a quick cheat...McCormick's beef stew seasoning packets. Of course I never told him how many to get, and as he wanted to 'do it right the first trip', he got a handful of them. Actually, in error, he grabbed the ones I'd never seen before: the "SLOW COOKERS" item. Man, oh, man! To heck with buying expensive, one-jar spices to keep on hand for this meal. This product worked perfectly! Open packet, mix with 1 1/3 Cups water, pour over ingredients in crock pot, mix it up just once and let the cooker rip for a few hours. The stew was excellently cooked, beef was so tender one needed a spoon with which to lift it otherwise it would break apart and the veggies were tender but not mooshy. It was more than flavorful; the au jus was not too thick and not too thin - perfect for sopping up with homemade bread that, unlike my spices, is always available in this house.I liked it so much, as did the family members, I'm back to purchase the pack of 12 here to keep on hand as well as the "SLOW COOKERS" for pot roast. I confess, for these two meals from now on, I'm being lazy, but quick and efficient. No serious measuring, no countless bottles of assorted spices, no mess and a tremendous result.NOTE: I did use 2 packets for each 6-qt slow cooker for although there is an easy recipe on the reverse of the packet, I don't measure my meat and veggies. I use what I have on hand and once the crock pot is at least 3/4 full, that's when I usually throw in my seasonings. The recipe provided would not be enough for my family. I didn't notice any additional recommendations on the packets indicating how much for what size slow cooker. I began with just one packet dissolved in the recommended 1 1/3 Cups of water (I used boiling water to dissolve it quicker add some warmth to the slow cooker as it begins cooking), but after pouring it over all the meat and veggies in the first pot, I just didn't think 1 packet was enough as my family likes a lot of the 'gravy'. Therefore, I added an additional prepared packet to each 6-qt crock pot which gave me perfect results.This product uses only natural spices, no MSG, 0g trans fat per serving and no artificial flavors.Edit: 1/2/10 - Another batch made for New Year's...this time, I reduced the amount of water per packet to 1 Cup (vs 1 1/3) and got thicker, more substantial 'gravy' vs the usual 'au jus' consistency. The family liked it much, much better that way.

I had to buy a whole box, because I can no longer find this packet in stores. It makes a delicious and very easy beef stew in the crockpot. I add stew meat, a bag of frozen peas, a bag of frozen carrot slices, a bag of frozen pearl onions and the seasoning packet mixed with water (directions on package). I serve it over mashed potatoes. It is such an easy dinner on a work night.

Can't complain

I’ve been using McCormick Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Stew seasoning packets for my crockpot stew for years. I probably have 5 packets in my pantry at the moment.It’s great as it is but I like to substitute beer for the water (or at least for half of the water), to give the stew a deeper, heartier flavor. Anything from dark beer to apple-cider beer works best—avoid light beer for this. The alcohol in the beer cooks off so no need to worry about serving the stew to kids or alcoholics.If I have no beer, I cook it with just the seasoning packet and water, and throw in some splashes of Worcester Sauce. Usually, I’ll then add Sherry or red wine (to taste) to the stew at the END of cooking (when I switch the crockpot to “warm”). If I’m feeding kids or alcoholics too, I’ll serve room temperature Sherry in shot glasses (3/4 full) along side the stew so folks can add as much or as little as they want to their own (rather than adding directly to the crockpot).Great, consistent, product. I particularly recommend it for beginner crockpot cooks.

Made beef stew a month ago with a store bought McCormick packet for stew that had a blue label. TASTED LIKE GARBAGE. I've been using McCormick beef stew packets in my stew for a decade now and this immediately tested off. Not just blander, but chemically. No amount of red wine, vinegar, salt, garlic, NOTHING helped. Looked at the ingredients list on the packet and it was missing about 5 ingredients from the old packets - I found a photo of one on google to confirm. This one on Amazon has all off the ingredients. Which makes me think this is old stock and that McCormick changed their recipe due to supply change costs going up since 2020. I made stew with a packet from this box and it tasted like how I remember. 10/10. Showed up quickly and was exactly what I wanted.

I used this a couple of time and really like the flavor. It is easy to use in an instant pot.

I use it for both beef stew and a slow cooker roast. Better price than in-store singles.

Love that this includes instant pot directions right on the back, best and easiest beef stew ever!