Super Easy Garlic Butter Beef and Potatoes

02/28/2026
ByKatelyn Anne

This garlic butter beef and potatoes recipe is so easy to make for how delicious it is. Everything goes into the slow cooker in minutes, and by dinnertime, you have juicy, tender beef and buttery, flavorful potatoes ready to serve. It’s the kind of recipe that’s perfect for any night of the week.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

The slow cooker’s low, steady heat does all the heavy lifting, breaking the meat down until it is melt-in-your-mouth tender, while the potatoes absorb the garlicky, buttery juices that pool around them. The combination of fresh garlic and onion powder gives you great flavour without overcomplicating it, and the butter melting slowly over everything ties it all together into a rich, glossy sauce. This recipe is one of my all time fav’s for weeknight dinners, as it’s so incredibly easy for how delicious it is.

Ingredients

For the Beef and Potatoes

2 lbs (900g) beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 lb (450g) baby potatoes, halved if large

Seasonings

1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Garlic Butter

5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pads
1 tbsp fresh garlic, finely chopped (about 3-4 cloves)

Instructions

1. Prep the Slow Cooker

Lightly coat the inside of a 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. This makes cleanup at the end so much easier, especially with the buttery sauce that builds up during cooking.

2. Arrange the Beef and Potatoes

Place the beef stew meat into one side of the slow cooker and the halved baby potatoes into the other side, keeping them loosely separated. This arrangement helps both cook evenly since the beef releases more moisture during cooking and you don’t want the potatoes sitting in that liquid the entire time.

3. Season Everything

Sprinkle the onion powder, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and black pepper evenly across both the beef and the potatoes. Give everything a gentle toss to coat, trying to keep the beef and potatoes roughly on their own sides. Getting the seasoning onto every surface here is what builds the flavor in that finished sauce.

4. Add the Garlic and Butter

Scatter the chopped fresh garlic across the top of everything, then lay the pads of butter evenly across both the beef and the potatoes. As the slow cooker heats up, that butter will melt down and combine with the garlic and released meat juices into a genuinely incredible sauce.

5. Cook Low and Slow

Place the lid on and cook on LOW for 6 hours, or until the beef is very tender and pulls apart easily with a fork and the potatoes are cooked through. If you need to speed things up, HIGH for 3 to 3.5 hours will also work, though low and slow always gives the most tender result with beef.

6. Stir and Serve

Once cooked, give everything a gentle stir to bring the buttery garlic sauce up and coat all the beef and potatoes. Taste and add a little extra salt if needed. Serve straight from the pot with the sauce spooned generously over the top.

Tips

Pat the beef dry before adding it to the slow cooker. Moisture on the surface of the meat prevents proper seasoning absorption. A quick pat with paper towels takes seconds and makes a real difference in how well the flavors cling to the beef.
Do not be tempted to add extra liquid. The beef releases its own juices during cooking, and the butter melts to create more than enough sauce. Adding broth will make it watery and dilute that concentrated garlic butter flavor you are going for.
Use fresh garlic over garlic powder alone. The recipe calls for both and that is intentional. Garlic powder seasons throughout the cook while fresh chopped garlic, added on top, blooms in the butter and gives a brighter, more noticeable garlic hit in the finished dish.
Uniform potato sizing matters. If some of your baby potatoes are much larger than others, halve or even quarter the big ones so everything cooks through at the same rate. Under cooked chunks of potato next to perfectly tender beef is a frustrating result when it is so easy to avoid.
Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving. Just like any cooked meat, a short rest after the heat turns off lets the juices redistribute through the beef bites instead of running straight out when you cut into them.

Variations and Substitutes

If you want to add vegetables, carrots and green beans both work well here. Cut carrots into thick coins and add them at the start with everything else. Green beans are more delicate, so nestle them in during the last 45 minutes to an hour of cooking so they stay bright and do not turn mushy.
For a dairy-free version, swap the butter for a good quality dairy-free butter or a couple tablespoons of olive oil. The richness will be slightly different but the garlic flavor still shines through and the dish is still deeply satisfying. Seasoned salt often contains no dairy so double check the label and you are good to go.
Chuck roast cut into cubes makes an excellent substitute for pre-cut stew meat and is often cheaper per pound. It has a great fat marbling that renders down beautifully over the long cook, making the sauce even richer. Just cut it into roughly 1 to 1.5 inch pieces so it cooks at the same rate as the potatoes.

Storage and Reheating

Refrigerating

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Freezing

Freeze in portion-sized airtight containers for up to 3 months, making sure to include some of the sauce so the beef does not dry out.

Reheating

Microwave: Place a portion in a microwave-safe bowl, add a small splash of water or broth to keep it moist, cover loosely, and heat on medium power in 90-second intervals, stirring in between, until heated through.
Oven: Transfer to an oven-safe dish, add a splash of water or broth, cover with foil, and warm at 325°F (165°C) for about 20 minutes or until heated through.
Stovetop: Add leftovers to a skillet over medium-low heat with a small splash of water or broth, cover, and heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until warmed through.

Super Easy Garlic Butter Beef and Potatoes

Tender beef bites and soft buttery potatoes slow cooked all day in a rich garlic butter sauce that pools at the bottom of the pot. The beef pulls apart easily, the potatoes soak up every bit of that savory garlic flavor, and the whole thing comes together with almost zero effort on your end.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 6

Total Time 6 15

Course Dinner

Servings 6

Ingredients

2 lbs 900g beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 lb 450g baby potatoes, halved if large
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp fresh garlic finely chopped
5 tbsp unsalted butter cut into pads

Instructions

Spray the inside of a 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
Place the beef stew meat on one side of the slow cooker and the baby potatoes on the other side, keeping them loosely separated.
Sprinkle the onion powder, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and black pepper evenly over the beef and potatoes and toss gently to coat.
Scatter the chopped fresh garlic over the top, then lay the butter pads evenly across the beef and potatoes.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours, or until the beef is tender and the potatoes are cooked through. Alternatively, cook on HIGH for 3 to 3.5 hours.
Stir gently to coat everything in the buttery garlic sauce, taste and adjust seasoning, and serve warm.

Notes

Pat the beef dry before seasoning so the spices stick properly and the flavors absorb well during the cook.
Do not add extra liquid. The beef releases its own juices and the melting butter creates more than enough sauce on its own.
Use both fresh garlic and garlic powder. The powder seasons throughout the entire cook while the fresh garlic blooms in the butter and gives a brighter finish.
Cut any large baby potatoes in half so they cook through at the same rate as the beef, avoiding under-cooked chunks.