Keto Beef Stew

by KetoFocus.com

Hearty keto soup to warm your belly

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Keto Beef Stew is a delicious meal perfect for a cold winter day. It's filled with beef stew meat, has a ton of flavor, and keto friendly vegetables. This comforting dish can be made in a Dutch oven, in the slow cooker, or in an instant pot. It's a dish your whole family will love.

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Nutrition Facts

8

Servings

335

Calories

22.3g

Fat

23.4g

Protein

4.7g

Net Carb

6.8g

Total Carbs

If you love keto soups, like my chicken noodle soup on a chilly day, then you will want to make this keto beef stew recipe with a side of low carb rolls or cornbread.

Looking down into two pots filled with chunky beef soup with lots of vegetables and chopped vegetables near by.

This traditional beef stew recipe is made without potatoes which makes it perfect for a keto diet. In their place, we use daikon radish, which is similar to a potato (appearance, texture and flavor) and very filling.

Try to get the best stew meat or beef chuck roast you can find since it’s the best part of this dish. Keep in mind that this tougher meat needs to cook longer to get it tender. Once it’s softened, these chunks of beef will fall apart in your mouth.

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How to make keto beef stew

Here are the brief instructions to make this stew. For the full description, see the recipe card below.

  1. Add butter to a large stock pot and melt over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the stew meat in a single layer and cook on all sides until seared. Remove and sear the next batch.
  2. Return all meat to the pot and stir to get up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the beef broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 60 minutes.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
  4. Stir in arrowroot powder to thicken this keto stew if you decide to use it.

Serve and enjoy.

A pot of beef stew on a wooden board with carrots in the background and spoons nearby.

Key ingredients & variations

These simple ingredients combine to make a delicious keto beef stew.

  • Beef – Can use beef stew meat or cut up chunks of beef from chuck roast or other roast beef.
  • Broth or stock – Use chicken or beef broth; however, water can be used if you have neither.
  • Red wine – Helps to depth the flavor of the keto stew recipe and acid from the wine tenderizes the beef.
  • Vegetables – Used green beans, mushrooms, daikon radish, carrot, onion and garlic; however, any low carb vegetable can be used.
  • Tomato paste – Add umami flavor to the stew.
  • Thickener – Used to thicken up the soup so it’s not so liquidy; however, this is an optional ingredient.

Keto Beef Stew Recipe Video

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Keto Beef Stew Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 lbs stew meat or beef chuck or roast, cubed
  • 4 cups beef or chicken broth
  • ½ (14oz) can diced tomatoes with juices
  • 1 ½ cups green beans chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 6 oz portabella mushrooms, chopped
  • 8 oz daikon radish, cubed
  • ½ medium carrot, sliced
  • ½ cup yellow onion, finely chopped
  • ½ cup red wine
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon arrowroot powder, optional

Keto Beef Stew Directions

  • STEP
    1

    Season beef (all cooking methods)

    Season stew meat on all sides with salt and pepper.

    A plate with stew meat on it seasoned with salt and pepper.
  • STEP
    2

    Stove top instructions: sear and tenderize beef

    Add butter to a large stock pot or Dutch oven and melt over medium high heat. Working in batches, add stew meat and cook on all sides until seared. Remove and sear the next batch. Return all stew meat to the pot. Add beef broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Then reduce to simmer for 60 minutes.

    Ingredients

    • Butter
    • Stew meat
    • Beef broth or chicken broth
    • Diced tomatoes

    A stock pot with stew meat seared on the bottom.
    Quick Tip
    Work in batches to prevent steaming the meat. Slowly simmering the beef will help to tenderize tough cuts of meat.
  • STEP
    3

    Stove top instructions: add vegetables

    Add remaining ingredients (except arrowroot powder or thickener) and let simmer for 30-40 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add additional seasoning if needed. Add arrowroot powder as a thickener if desired.

    Diced daikon radish, green beans, carrot and mushroom inside a large stock pot.
  • STEP
    4

    Slow cooker instructions

    Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

    A crockpot with beef stew cooking inside.
    Quick Tip
    Add thickener right before serving.
  • STEP
    5

    Instant pot instructions

    Add butter and stew meat to the liner of the instant pot. Use SAUTE mode to sear the outside of the beef on all sides (working in batches to prevent steaming). Return all beef to the pressure cooker and add remaining ingredients except the thickener if using. Pressure cook on high for 25 minutes. Let pressure release natural for 10 minutes before releasing remaining pressure. Stir in thickener if using.

    An instant pot sitting on a counter.
    Quick Tip
    Can be cooked from frozen, see Storage Information section.
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A cream colored pot filled with soup with mushrooms, daikon radish, beef, carrot and green beans inside. Spoons rest off to the side along with carrot and mushroom.

How to thicken keto beef stew

Thick beef stew is delicious and exactly what you need during cold weather. Instead of using all-purpose flour (which isn’t keto-friendly), this recipe uses arrowroot powder. It has 7x the thickening powder of all-purpose flour, is gluten-free, and it’s 2.7 carbs per teaspoon. Divide that over 8 servings, it adds 0.3 carbs per serving in this recipe.

Other options to thicken beef stew:

  • Xanthan gum – This is a great option because it has zero net carbs. Use 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum, but be careful not to add too much, as it can make your soup slimy.
  • Heavy cream – Add ¼ cup of heavy cream to thicken it up. Doing so gives the soup more of a cream base rather than a stew base.
  • Cream cheese – Add 4 ounces of cubed, softened cream cheese. Keep in mind that this also makes it creamy.
  • Gelatin – Add powdered gelatin to the stew as a protein boost and a carb-free option.
  • Corn starch – While corn starch isn’t the perfect keto option, it’s a better option than flour. Even though all-purpose flour is lower in carbs compared to cornstarch (6 g vs 7 g), corn starch has twice the thickening power compared to flour, so you don’t need as much to thicken the soup. This results in adding less carbs overall to the stew compared to if you had used all-purpose flour.
  • Mashed cauliflower – Add mashed cauliflower to your stew to thicken it. This does add carbs and may give your soup a grainy texture.
Top down view of a small bowl of stew filled with beef, carrot, green beans and daikon radish next to another pot with a lid on it. Various diced vegetables are nearby.

Crockpot

Cooking this hearty stew in the slow cooker is an excellent option if you have some time in the morning to get dinner started but not much time at night.

If you have time, sauté the beef and vegetables and then add them to the pot. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover with the lid, and set the time to cook on low for six hours or on high for 4 hours. This will trap the juicy flavors from the beef inside each chunk so they don’t escape while cooking in the stew.

Before serving, add the arrowroot powder to thicken the stew if you’d like. Sprinkle the top with chopped parsley for a beautiful presentation.

Instant Pot

Turn on your pressure cooker and make this keto recipe in the instant pot. The biggest advantage of cooking it this way is that the cooking time is cut way down without compromising flavor. This is a great option if you’re running short on time in the evenings.

To cook in the instant pot, use the sauté function to cook the beef and vegetables first. Again, this helps to trap in the flavor and juices from the beef.

Chunky keto beef stew with big chunks of daikon radish instead of potatoes. Beef, carrot, green beans and parsley are in the soup broth too.

What can I substitute for potatoes in beef stew?

Potatoes aren’t very keto-friendly, so this hearty low carb beef stew uses a daikon radish as a substitution. You can use other low-carb vegetables to make beef stew without potatoes.

  • Daikon radish is used in this recipe for its neutral flavor. It takes on the flavor of the stew, looks like a potato (white), and gets soft like a potato when cooked.
  • Other options include parsnips, turnips, jicama, cauliflower, rutabaga, or celery root

Other substitutions

Try these substitutions and variations in this easy keto beef stew recipe.

  • Try using zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, or other low-carb vegetables.
  • The red wine can be left out, or white wine used in its place.
  • Tomato paste adds a delicious umami flavor, but Worcestershire sauce can be substituted.
  • Substitute the apple cider vinegar with a splash of red wine vinegar at the end of cooking to balance the richness of this classic comfort food.

Storage information & meal prep instructions

To store: Keep leftover beef stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Freeze: Freeze beef stew for later if you’d like. You can even make an extra batch and keep it in the freezer for up to three months. This keto stew recipe can be stored frozen, uncooked as a dump and go meal. Add all your ingredients to a freeze safe bag and freeze.

To cook stew in the slow cooker from frozen: Thaw overnight and add to the crockpot in the morning. Cook as instructed above.

To cook stew in the instant pot from frozen: Sauté in Instant Pot for 5 minutes, then flip meal over. This should create enough liquid to pressure cook the stew without risk of burning. Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Release pressure naturally for 10 minutes.

Meal prep: Prep the ingredients the morning or night before you plan to cook. This saves time on busy weeknights.

Keto Beef Stew: FAQS

How many carbs are in beef stew?

There are about 20 grams of carbs in one cup of traditional beef stew.

Can you have potatoes on keto?

Potatoes are not part of a keto diet. At 37g, that's too many carbs to be keto-friendly.

Why does the stew have to cook for so long?

It's a good idea to cook stews and soups for at least an hour to make the meat tender and infuse flavor in the broth. You may need to add additional broth or water if it cooks down too low. Also, don't add salt until the end, so it doesn't concentrate and makes the stew too salty.

Nutritional information & Macros

Nutrition Information

Keto Beef Stew

Servings: 8

Amount Per Serving
Calories 335
Fat 22.3g
Protein 23.4g
Total Carbs 6.8g
Net Carbs 4.7g

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