Slow Cooker Witches Brew Stew

This festively eery recipe for Slow Cooker Witches Brew Stew is full of beef, vegetables and Halloween shaped pasta. Cook up in your crock pot cauldron and serve on Halloween night for a hearty and cozy meal.

This fun and festive Slow Cooker Witches Brew Stew is a great hands-off dinner for Halloween. It's packed with vegetables, beef and Halloween pasta shapes. It's a warm and comforting dinner to serve during the fun of trick-or-treating night.

This recipe was inspired by my slow cooker sausage casserole, a similar recipe to witches stew that uses Italian sausage instead of beef. Crockpot pepper steak, beef and broccoli and a traditional beef roast are also great ideas for hearty dinners to serve on chilly nights during Halloween time.

And once dinner's done, make sure to check out these fun, spooky Halloween treats. Zombie cupcakes, graveyard brownies and graveyard pudding cups make great desserts!

Ingredients

Beef strips or cubed steak
Vegetables: cauliflower, tomatoes, carrots and celery
Aromatics: onions and garlic
Seasonings: parsley, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper
Halloween pasta

slow cooker casserole with beef and vegetables

Substitutions

Beef strips: any type of beef cut into cubes or strips works in this recipe. Beef for stir fry, sirloin or other steaks cut into pieces, cubed steak, etc. can all be used.
Vegetables: I use cauliflower to look like brains and carrots to look like pumpkins, plus celery to add some green in keeping with the colors of Halloween. I wouldn't substitute the carrots or celery, as they add a certain flavor to the stew, but the cauliflower can be replaced with mushrooms or artichokes. In this recipe for another version of witches brew stew, mushrooms are cut to look like skull faces!
Pasta: I can usually find Halloween shaped pasta on Amazon and in my local grocery store starting in August. But if you can't, use other fun shaped pasta, like wagon wheels, fusilli or rotini.

Instructions

Add all ingredients except for the cauliflower florets and Halloween shaped pasta to the slow cooker. Stir, cover and set to high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.

ingredients for witches stew in a crockpot

When the time is complete, add the cauliflower florets, cover and slow cook for 30 minutes more.

cauliflower added to the slow cooker with witches stew ingredients

After the 30 minutes is done, add the Halloween shaped pasta. Mix well to submerge the pasta in the broth, adding additional broth or water as necessary to ensure the pasta is submerged. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Transfer the stew to a serving dish immediately, so as not to overcook the pasta. Serve topped with fresh green herbs and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Variations

Make it spicy: add red pepper flakes, hot peppers or a little bit of cayenne pepper to the crock pot while cooking to add some heat.
Make it gluten-free: omit the pasta to make this a gluten-free witches brew stew, or use gluten-free pasta like chickpea pasta.

How To Store

This witches stew recipe can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to 7 days. This recipe can be frozen for up to 6 months, but the pasta will become very soft.

Recipe Tips

Be careful not to leave the stew in the crockpot on the warm setting, as this will overcook the pasta and it may fall apart. Those fun Halloween shapes will no longer be recongizable!
This recipe will appear at the start not to have much liquid for the broth, but as it cooks a lot of liquid will be released from the meat and vegetables, creating a delicious broth. When the pasta is added, you will need to add more broth, as the pasta will absorb a lot of it. The pasta should be covered with more broth or water when you add it.

Recipe FAQs

How Can I Thicken The Stew If I Find It Too Watery?

You can thicken stew by adding cornstarch or flour to the liquid during the last hour of cooking if you find it too watery. Do this in increments of 1 teaspoon of each until the sauce is a consistency you're happy with.

How Can I Make The Stew More Brothy?

If the stew is too thick or too much of the broth absorbs into the pasta and vegetables, you can add more beef broth 1 cup at a time until you find a consistency you're happy with.

close up of Halloween witches stew in a casserole dish

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