First off, maybe a useful tip — when I make beef stews, I use a shortcut here. The point of browning, obviously, is not to start cooking, but to put some actual brown color on the outside, for texture and flavor. When the meat goes into the stew for a few hours (or into the pressure cooker for an hour), it tenderizes and falls apart, and the browned bits add layers of flavor into the broth.
But I don’t bother with the half hour or more, sauteeing the chunks in batches, laboriously rotating them through (because you can’t crowd them, or they don’t brown). I just lay them out on a sheet pan, give them a quick dust of salt and spray of oil, and stick them under the broiler for five or ten minutes, while I chop the celery and carrots and onion and stuff. You do have to keep your eye on it, because it’ll go from perfectly browned to burned inside a minute, but the result is perfectly serviceable for stew purposes, and a lot less effort. You’ll also end up with a bit of cooked-out liquid in the sheet pan that you can pour into the stew pot.
For the recipe itself, I’m going to suggest a highly simplified version of a classic boeuf bourguignon. If you’ve ever seen Julia Child’s classic recipe, you know there’s a ton of steps, which is the opposite of what you’re asking for. But you can cut a bunch of corners and still get within throwing distance of the original.
I don’t really have a formal recipe, but here’s the basic overview.
- Chop some bacon (or buy pre-cut lardons).
- Per the above, start browning the stew meat under the broiler, including the bacon.
- Dice a big onion; wash and chop celery; peel a couple carrots and cut 'em into bite-size chunks.
- Slice some mushrooms (or just buy 'em pre-sliced and save an additional five minutes).
- (Optional: If you have the time, roast the mushrooms ahead to reduce liquid and add another layer of flavor. I also add the onion here to eliminate the need to saute it separately. Since I work at home two days a week, I can toss 'em in the oven pretty much any time, and they’ll be ready when I need 'em. The recipe works basically the same without this step. Up to you.)
- The beef is probably browned at this point, so pull it out.
- Saute the onion with a pinch of salt for a few minutes until soft.
- Put everything above in the crock pot. Edit to add: with salt & pepper to taste of course.
- Add 1 tbsp fresh thyme finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried).
- Optional: Add some baby potatoes (see note below).
- Optional: Add any other ingredients to preference/taste (e.g. thin ribbons of kale or chard).
- Add a generous cup of red wine along with liquid to cover (I go half stock, half water).
- Cook for a few hours per usual crock pot method.
- At end, thicken sauce per your preference (bring to boil for several minutes, or add a corn starch slurry and boil briefly, as you like).
Re the potatoes: You can optionally serve this stew over a starch, like separately cooked pasta or mashed potato. If you do that, omit the potatoes from the stew.
Serve alongside a roasted vegetable (I like Brussels sprouts with this) or green salad.
It’s a very basic beef stew method. Adding the wine and mushroom makes it “bourguignon.” 
If I skip roasting the mushrooms ahead, I can get all the pre-work done and have the stew in the cooker inside half an hour.