This was really, really good. But not as good as my mom's. The only thing I did differently was add three cubed russet potatoes, because it's a crime against nature to not have beef stew with potatoes in it. I browned the beef on the stove and just cooked it all in the same pot. It took about 1.5 hours until it was done. I didn't have time for a crock pot.

This was delicious and a great spin on beef stew. I've never added cloves or lemon juice before and it made a wonderful subtle difference. My only changes were braising the vegetables with the beef and adding mushrooms to it.

A very tasty recipe, but the ratio of meat to veggies was too high for me, even though I added a potato and some green beans. Will add even more veggies next time. Hubby requested I leave out the cloves in future. Will definitely make this again.

NOT FOR KIDS This was an ok stew. It was flavorful without making modifications. Neither my husband nor I were fans of the clove flavor. My kids, very good eaters, did not like it. I will stick with a more basic recipe with traditional seasonings in the future. This I would like to note...I found this recipe last minute and decided to use it based on the 5 star rating without reading the recipe reviews. You should not give a recipe 5 stars if you made 5 adjustments to make it taste great.

This stew was very good, though I will be adding potatoes next time I cook it up.

This was a good stew base.. My family liked it but it wasn't the best in my eyes. A little bland...will try again and add more seasonings.

This was not a very good recipe. My husband didn't like the cloves taste in it (neither did I), and there wasn't much to it. It needed potatoes for sure, but that still wouldn't have helped much! I did add some beef bouillion to the water to give it flavor, and had to thicken with corn starch once it was done so that it wasn't completely runny. We will not be making this again.

I love this stew recipe! I add about a half-cup of red wine and about 2 teaspoons of organic beef stock powder for a little extra flavor. I don't have a crockpot, so I cook it on low on the stove and it still turns out tender and delicious.

We really liked this recipe. I added a little Kitchen Bouquet to taste and to darken the appearance of the stew. I will use this recipe again.

So great that it dissapeared before I got myself a full helping. Darn guys!!

I added potatoes to this recipe to make it into more of a meal, also added half teaspoon of celery salt and 2 oxo cubes and replaced the water with beef stock it was worth waiting 8 hours in the slow cooker anyway

This was perfect winter dinner food. I cooked this on high for 4 hours. I added two extra cloves of minced garlic, three red potatoes cut up into chunks, and added the celery to cook only for the last 1 1/2 hours, so it wouldn't get soggy & limp. Celery was overcooked anyway. Next time I'll add it 1 hour before it's to be served. The cloves add the tiniest hint of that certain special something, such a good flavor. I will be making this again!

After having a can of beef stew last week my son announced that he wanted beef stew for his birthday dinner. I turned to allrecipes since I'd never made beef stew before, and I was not a bit disappointed in this recipe. I only made a couple minor changes one of which was to add 3 diced potatoes because I've never heard of stew without potatoes. The second thing I did different was that I marinated the meat in Worchestershire sauce overnight. Finally, rather than cooking it in the crockpot I did it on the stove. I probably cooked it about an hour after I had cooked the meat and added the remaining ingredients. The potatoes did get mushy so next time I will add those halfway through the cooking time. Coating the meat with the flour thickened the stew perfectly. Thank you for a great recipe that the whole family loved! I will be making this often!

Kind of disappointed. Only used 3 cups of water as suggested by other users. It smelled great cooking, but the taste lacked something. Good base recipe, but will not use this one again. Sorry.

Very good, a little bland on taste, maybe add some garlic...

Now this is the best way to make stew. I did thicken it with cornstarch. I also added 1 beef bullion cubes and 4 or 5 small red potatoe wedges. Whats a stew without potatoes. Delicious!!!I will never again buy the pre-packaged dry stew mix.

As the others have submitted, best beef stew ever! I do not like beef OR stew, and I loved it! Added a can of crushed tomatoes (using the juice as part of the water), and 3 cubed potatoes. I also thickened it at the end as it was too thin for my taste. But DELICIOUS!

Made this recipe for the first time today and was very happy. The