A rich tasting low carb beef stew featuring meltingly tender beef chuck and perfectly cooked vegetables. You’ll never believe this is a low carb stew recipe. Your ketogenic diet just got better.
I’m a big fan of stew. Place a steaming bowl of this comfort food fave in front of me and watch it disappear. I’m an equal opportunity stew eater, fabulously happy with any good bowl of Thai or Indian coconut milk curry, New Mexico green chili verde, carne guisada, Moroccan chicken tagine, Cioppino, chowder, chili, and my favorite – good old American beef stew.
Traditional Beef Stew
Most traditional American style beef stews are thickened with flour or cornstarch and are often overly-thick and gloppy. Except for celery, traditional stew vegetables are starchy and sweet: potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, and peas. Root vegetables feature heavily which is why we see stew recipes in the Fall.
Low Carb Beef Stew
This Gluten-free stew recipe is perfect for those on a low carb ketogenic or Whole30 diet. Making beef stew without flour or thickeners reduces carbs while intensifying overall flavor. To make it truly low carb, choosing low carb vegetables is a must (see a complete list of low carb foods here). But properly cooking the stew is equally important. The ideal low carb stew should feature fork tender beef and tender (not mushy) vegetables in a meaty tasting broth.
Low Carb Vegetables for Beef Stew (keto beef stew)
The best low carb vegetables for beef stew are: celery, mushrooms, green beans, celery root, turnips, rutabaga, and radishes. Some people like to add zucchini and summer squash.
When making low carb beef stew:
- choose low carb vegetables
- replace potatoes with less starchy root vegetables
- use onions and garlic judiciously
- small amounts of colorful vegetables add visual appeal
- add the vegetables at the last 40-60 minutes of cook time
Food should be appealing, so I include one medium (3 oz) carrot. “Rolling” the carrot while slicing, produces small irregular-shaped chips which provide a pop of color throughout. Green beans are a great sub for peas and add color and variation in shape. Replacing starchy potatoes with less starchy root vegetables like radish, turnip, rutabaga, and celery root (celeriac) is a great low carb trick. I used celery root in this stew recipe, that I cut to mimic the shape of potatoes.
TIP: To have the vegetables look and taste their best before serving, add them to the stew at the last 40 – 60 minutes of cooking. They will soften and cook-through but keep their integrity. To me, that’s the hallmark of a perfect low carb beef stew.
How to Make Stew Meat Tender?
We’ve all experienced eating stews with tough chewy bites of beef and others where the beef was fall apart tender. Wanna to know how to make stew meat tender? Use the right cut of beef.
- use a chuck roast (trim and cube it yourself)
- let it come to room temperature for 30 mins. before cooking
- brown well in batches
- cover the pot with a lid and simmer in broth until fork-tender
BUY THE RIGHT CUT: I used to buy “stew meat” from the grocery store as a convenience. Then, I wondered why it was tough. Now, I buy a chuck roast or pot roast. It has the best beefy flavor, it’s affordable, and it becomes meltingly tender when cooked. It only takes a few minutes to trim off any excess fat and cut it into chunks.
DON’T SHOCK THE MEAT:Let the chuck come to temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Searing cold meat shocks it, causing it to pull together and toughen. Mix a little oil into the beef pieces.
DON’T CROWD THE PAN: Brown the chuck in batches to ensure good caramelization on the exterior of the beef and in the bottom of the pan.
USE A LITTLE ACID AND THE RIGHT COOKING METHOD: Add a little acid in the form of wine or tomato paste to help lift the fond (brown bits) from the bottom of the pan. It also helps break down connective tissues in the meat. Add enough broth or stock to just cover the meat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Pierce with a fork to check for tenderness. When there is just slight resistance, it’s time to add the vegetables and gently simmer uncovered for 40 minutes to an hour more.
Gluten Free Low Carb Beef Stew is 6 net carbs per serving and yields 6 servings.
A rich tasting low carb beef stew without potatoes featuring meltingly tender beef chuck and perfectly cooked vegetables. Your gluten-free ketogenic diet just got better.
- 1 1/4 pound trimmed beef chuck roast, cubed (1 inch)
- 8 ounces whole mushrooms, quartered
- 6 ounces celery root, peeled and cubed into 3/4 inch pieces (or sub turnips or radishes)
- 4 ounces pearl onions, trimmed and peeled (or regular onion, large dice)
- 2-3 ribs celery, sliced
- 3 ounces carrot, roll-cut (or sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp olive oil, avocado oil, or bacon grease
- 5 cups beef broth (I used Kettle and Fire bone broth)
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- marjoram, winter savory, oregano, summer savory, juniper berries, clove, orange peel, red wine, balsamic vinegar
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Remove the chuck roast from the refrigerator to come to temperature. Quarter the mushrooms and set aside. Wash and chop the vegetables putting them together in a bowl for later. Trim the excess fat off of the chuck roast (pot roast) and cut into 1-inch cubes. (I used 1 1/4 pounds of meat, but you may use more if you wish.) Thoroughly mix two teaspoons of oil into the beef.
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Place a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot on the stove over medium heat. When hot, add the rest of the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the mushrooms and stir to coat. Do not disturb them for 2 minutes. Stir and let them cook for two minutes more. Remove the mushrooms from the pot and add them to the other vegetables.
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Brown the beef in the pot in batches, adding more oil as needed. Place all of the beef into the pot and stir in the bay leaf, thyme, and tomato paste making sure to coat the beef. Let it cook for less than a minute, then slowly add 1 cup of broth while scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the broth and bring the stew up to a simmer. Cover and reduce the heat to low-ish and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours.
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Insert a fork into a piece of meat to check for tenderness, it should meet little to no resistence. If tough, let it cook another 20 minutes. When tender, add the vegetables and turn up the heat until it simmers. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes to an hour or until the vegetables and meat are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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Makes 11 cups with approximately 1 3/4 cups per serving.
HIGH ALTITUDE INFORMATION: A reader said that it took 4 hours of cooking for her beef to get tender. She also said that the recipe was worth the time.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: It's important to get nice color on the beef and in the bottom of the pot. The fond (browned bits on the bottom of the pan) should be dark in color (not black) and dry. This caramelization is what gives a nice depth of flavor to the stew. Other ways to add more flavor is by adding 1/2 cup of red wine after adding the tomato paste and letting it reduce by half, or adding 1 teaspoon of beef base, and also making sure that the broth is seasoned appropriately with salt and pepper. I find that adding more pepper makes the stew nice and savory.
New Mexico Green Chile Pork Stew (Green Chile Stew or Chili Verde)
Husband and I loved this! I did add 1/2 cup red wine after the tomato paste mixture. The vegetable I chose were, carrot, celery, turnip, mushrooms and onion. I love how much flavor is in this! I appreciate you posting this quality recipe!
I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed the recipe, Ashana. I like the addition of red wine – sounds delicious. Have a wonderful week. -Kim
Dear Kim,
I made your recipe exactly as you said, used radishes, it turned out PERFECT! Thank you!
Yay. I’m glad you liked the recipe, Virginia. Radishes are a great option to sub for potatoes. Thanks for sharing. -Kim
No size listed
Nutrition Facts
Low Carb Beef Stew (Gluten-free, Keto, Whole30)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 288 Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 20g 31%
Total Carbohydrates 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Protein 20g 40%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Hi Steven. It serves 6 at approximately 1 1/2 cup per person. -Kim
I was directed to this recipe via a link on Pure Wow that said these were instant pot recipes. It also said this was a pork. Ha. It’s neither pork nor instant pot. But sounds delicious based on the recipe & the comments below.
oops! I’m sorry for any confusion! I don’t have any instant pot recipes. It is a really good recipe and even better the next day. -Kim
This was Delish!! I finished it with Calabrian chili oil (had crushed Calabrian Chilis in the oil) and fresh squeezed lemon juice. It added a little heat and brightened it up. I will definitely make this again!! I even learned something new-how to roll carrots so that all I f the pieces are of equal size. Thank you!
DELISH!!! I made this about 2 weeks ago as is and was awesome. This time I reduced the initial 1 cup of broth to 1/2 cup and subbed in 1/2 cup of dry red wine. I also added 1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum about 10 minutes before serving. Helped thicken it up WITHOUT making it over the top goopy. Nom NOm NOM!!!
Fantastic, Michele. I love how you made this recipe your own. Thanks for sharing your tweaks and taking the time to share them. Happy Monday1 -Kim
This isn’t stew, it’s soup. Stew is suppose to be thick and “gloppy”. The thickness is the whole point to stew.
Thank you for your feedback, Janet. You could puree some of the vegetables, thickening the dish. It’s my experience that soup has a greater liquid to solid ratio and that the broth is not as concentrated in flavor as this is. I am sure that stews around the world vary in thickness of their broth. I believe that “stew” more refers to the method of cooking than the actual dish, though. Because this uses a tough and flavorful cut of beef, it must be braised or “stewed” to achieve tenderness. But, everyone has their own idea on how a stew should be. Have a wonderful week. -Kim
My husband and I just made this over the weekend and at first we thought it was going to be “watery” or more soup like, but after it cooled off in the crockpot it started to appear more like stew. BUT… then after overnight, it seemed to have a rich dark broth and was no longer clear. No salt or pepper needed, the melding of all the ingredients really made this a hearty stew!!! We will definitely be making this again 🙂
I’m so glad you liked the recipe, Jen. An option to make this a little thicker is to puree half of the vegetables after cooking. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment sharing your experience with the recipe and for rating it. Have a wonderful week. -Kim
This is the tastiest stew I have ever tasted! Used turnips and they added a unique flavor. Also used balsamic vinegar to after Browning meat to clean up the bottom of pan and wow what a flavorful stew!
This Pot Roast looks very appetizing it’s nice to be reminded of what you can make throughout the week or weekend.
Thank you, Diana. Enjoy your week. -Kim
Thank you, Diana. Enjoy your week. -Kim
I’ve made this twice, and I ABSOLUTELY love it! Definitely very flavorful! I did include the 1/2 cup wine, and made it with the veggies that were readily available – onion, celery, carrot, mushroom and radishes. This is on the weekly rotation.
Thanks, Jenna. I am thrilled that you like the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to leave such a nice comment and for rating the recipe. Have a great week. – Kim
Are you using whole dried thyme or ground thyme?
Whole dried thyme, Caitlin.
Made this tonight and it’s delicious! Only difference is I added extra veggies then took some out when cooked and blitzed them in the blender. When you add them back in, they act as a thickener. Yummy!
What a great idea, Kryssi. Thanks for the suggestion. I bet it was wonderful. Have a great weekend. -Kim
This looks wonderful! Do you think it would work to freeze it, or would the vegetables change texture too much?
I think the vegetables would be fine, but the celery root might sog-out. I honestly haven’t frozen this recipe before, although I have frozen stew with potatoes before with no problem. -Kim
This soup is good although i don’t care to bite into a big chunk of onion. That’s the only thing I would do different is have bits of onion. I used a chuck steak instead of buying a whole roast.
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! Other than making suggested substitutions of turnips and regular onion, I made it exactly by the recipe. This will definitely be a favorite recipe to use again and again.
So glad you like the recipe, Gaye. Thanks for coming back to let me know. Have a wonderful week. -Kim
I made this a couple weeks ago and it was delicious. I will keep this in rotation
Fantastic. Thank you. -Kim
I made this recipe twice with rutabaga and it was delicious and easy!
Fantastic, Julie. I’m glad you found it both delicious and easy. That’s the best combination to me. Thanks for taking the time to comment on and rate the recipe. Have a wonderful week. -Kim
I’m making it right now with rutabaga. Couldn’t find celery root, so glad someone else liked rutabaga as a substitute. Gives me some confidence mine is going to turn out great!
I’ve cooked the beef in the stock (doubled the recipe), but the broth seems to have no depths. Any suggestions?
Carol, did you brown the meat in batches and brown the mushrooms? Producing a lot of color in the pan before adding the liquid is key. It should be dark brown and dry when the other ingredients go in. I have sometimes added an extra teaspoon of beef base to the broth, but I did not need to for this recipe. Something else you can do is add 1/2 cup of red wine and let it reduce to a few tablespoons before adding the beef broth. As you can see from my pictures, my broth was very rich in color and has a nice body to it. Did you double the whole recipe or just the broth? I’ve never doubled the recipe, so I’m not sure what happened. Another thought is that the broth wasn’t reduced enough or perhaps there wasn’t enough seasoning added at the end? It’s hard for me to say since I wasn’t there. I will go through the recipe and add these tips and see if I can make the recipe more clear. Thanks for your feedback. Have a nice day. -Kim
The stew was great and the meat was so tender! I will make this again. Thank you.
Good! I’m glad you liked the recipe, Cheryl. Enjoy your weekend. -Kim
The nutrition facts show 8 carbs(6 net carbs) per serving but it does not show how much is in ONE SERVING….do you have that info?
Hi Karen. My nutrition label does not have an appropriate place on which for me to put amounts. If you look at number 4 in the directions. You will find all of that information there. I try to add it to the instructions as a work-around. Enjoy! -Kim
So SORRY!!! After I printed it out and just quickly glanced over the recipe & nutrition label, I then saw how much the recipe makes and how much is in each serving…DUH!!! Sorry for bothering you Kim!! Can’t wait to try this!
No problem. It’s hard to find, Karen. I’ve asked the recipe programmer to make that option more user friendly… I’m still waiting for it to happen. Lol. Have a great weekend and enjoy the stew. -Kim
Hey there. If I wanted to use a slow cooker how would I achieve this as far as cook time? Looks so good!
Thank you! Great question, Kelicia. First, you need to reduce the liquid by almost half. Crock pots make liquid, so your stew would be too watery. To get the best taste, add 2-3 tsp of beef base in the crock pot to up the flavor because you probably wont be browning the meat and mushrooms which results in the best flavor. Cooking in the crock pot is a whole different process to achieve the same great flavor as something cooked on the stove. My tips are just a starting point. It would take me several times the get the recipe just right for the crock pot. I would cook the meat 4 hours on low? then add the vegetables and cook for 1 more hour. If you are putting them all together, then cook for 4 hours and see if the meat is tender. I don’t use my crock pot very much because the stove is faster for me. I hope this helps. have a wonderful weekend, Kelicia. -Kim
Hi, Kim, I served your low-carb beef stew with your focaccia bread last night at a dinner party, and they received RAVE reviews.
Just one thing you might want to know: we are currently in Colorado at a very high altitude, so it took 4 1/2 hours of simmering instead of 1 1/2 to tenderize the meat. But it was totally worth it, because the meal was fantastic. Thank you again for your excellent recipes.
Yay! I’m so glad you all enjoyed the beef at your dinner party. Thank you for the information on high altitude cooking. I will make sure add the information to the post. Thanks again and enjoy your weekend! -Kim
My son uses the Instant Pot because they live at high altitude and it cooks meat and hard boiled eggs etc. really well and really quick, The meat comes out very tender.
I see. I am not familiar with instant pots. I just had someone comment that it took their stew meat to cook four hours before it was tender. I wonder if that is why my mom used a pressure cooker when I was a child in New Mexico – higher altitude? I don’t know if less liquid is needed or anything. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. -Kim
I totally love stews as well, I have so many of them published on my blog. 🙂 I cannot seem to get enough! What a wonderful low carb version, I would love to try it, I do use celeriac a lot in my cooking, but I think I only cooked with rutabaga once or twice. I should give that a chance again soon.
Thank you, Adira. Yes, I like celeriac as a sub for potato in several dishes. It has such a beautiful flavor – rutabaga is more sharp or bitter, but some people love it. As you know, I am a big fan of your beautiful blog and he recipes you share. Have a wonderful week. -Kim
This looks like bowl full o’ comfort. yum.
Thanks, Ben! -Kim