This Keto Beef Stew is filled with tender beef and healthy vegetables, all smothered in a thick gravy. Cook it in the slow cooker or make it in the oven! The recipe is low carb and grain free, so it’s perfect for Trim Healthy Mama (THM S), Keto and Whole30 diets.
I absolutely love a good beef stew – it’s one of my favorite comfort foods! And it’s so easy to make healthy/THM friendly. No gravy packets needed here 😉
Stew is a great meal to make low in carbohydrates/S-friendly on Trim Healthy Mama. Just leave out the potatoes and starch-based thickener. I’m replacing the potatoes with radishes and using glucomannan to thicken – easy and just as delicious!
Ingredients you’ll need
This is just an overview of the ingredients (great as a visual guide!). Scroll down to the recipe card for quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Peas/carrots: These are higher starch vegetables, especially the peas. I throw in a handful because it makes the stew feel more “classic”. You can absolutely leave these out if you’re not comfortable eating peas on your personal diet plan! If you want to leave out the carrots, add 2 more sticks of celery.
- Soy sauce: I use soy sauce as an accessible lower sugar alternative to Worcestershire sauce, as it’s very easily available. You can use liquid aminos if you prefer/have access to it.
- Tomato paste: I use just enough tomato paste to give the stew a richer color and a deeper flavor. If you don’t have this on hand, you can omit it. It will alter the gravy a little though. Ketchup could be a substitute, but make sure it is sugar free if you want to keep the carb count down.
- Radishes: I used pink baby radishes, the lose a lot of their color during cooking and look more like white baby potatoes in the end. You can also use a large white radish or Daikon and dice it up if that’s all you can find.
- Glucomannan: This is my favorite low carb thickener for gravies, stews and soups. You can use arrowroot if you don’t mind the starch, or organic cornstarch.
- Stew meat: You can use cheap meat here, it will get tender during the long cooking time. Save your expensive cuts for date night 😉
A note about the radishes
If you’re wondering if the radishes will add a sharpness to the stew, I do notice the gravy is a little more peppery when I use baby red radishes. BUT all of my children (6, 4 and 19 months) eat it without a complaint, and they are VERY sensitive to the slightest amount of pepper.
How to make Keto Beef Stew
1. Start by browning the beef in some oil in a large skillet, in 2-3 batches if needed.
I know this is an extra step and an extra dish to wash if you cook the stew in the crock pot, but believe me… It’s worth it! If you’re cooking the stew in the oven, use the pot you’re going to use in the oven to brown your meat (I use a large Dutch oven if making it in the oven).
2. While the meat is browning, I chop up all of the vegetables. I took a picture for you to see how I cut everything – I always find this helpful in recipes when I’m unsure how exactly I’m expected to slice up something.
3. Once the meat is browned, remove it from the pan (place it in the slow cooker if using a slow cooker, else just set it aside on a plate).
Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the tomato paste and seasoning.
Now pour about 1/2 cup of the beef broth into the pan to scratch away any browned bits. Transfer this to the slow cooker as well, OR add the meat back to the pan if making the stew in the oven.
4. Add all of the vegetables EXCEPT for the peas to the stew.
Then, add the remaining beef broth.
Cook the stew in the slow cooker, or place it in the hot oven with the lid on. In the oven you’ll need to stir it a couple of times, but be careful – the pot and the liquid are very hot!
5. Once the cooking time is up, stir well and add the peas. Continue cooking with the lid off (in the slow cooker on HIGH or in the pot on the stove) until the peas are completely heated through.
6. Finish by thickening the gravy to your liking. At this point, you can also ad more beef broth if you would like more gravy than formed during cooking (it can be hard to gauge how much liquid will release from the ingredients during cooking, so I like to adjust in the end).
Dissolve the glucomannan in a few tablespoons cold water – it will thicken into a pudding-like substance pretty much instantly! But this will dissolve in the stew.
Add it to the stew (I like to add it about 1/3 at a time so I can stop adding more when the stew is thick enough for our liking) and stir well, simmering over medium heat. It will take 1-3 minutes for the stew to thicken.
Then, serve immediately 🤩
Recipe tips
- Please do not skip browning the beef/cooking the onion before adding the broth! It will really enhance the flavor of the stew so, so much.
- You can add broth in the end to make more gravy if your family likes a lot of gravy. Keep in mind, you’ll need to use more glucomannan if you add more broth than the recipe calls for.
- Please add the glucomannan/water mixture gradually. You don’t want to end up with beef stew pudding!
- Slice the vegetables evenly for best results.
- Hold back on the salt if you have a strongly salt beef broth, otherwise you might end up with an overly salty stew.
- If you cook the stew in the oven, do not forget about the stirring if you’re using a Dutch oven. The lid reflects the heat very strongly and if you don’t stir at least once, the top layer of ingredients could burn.
Serving ideas
The stew is great by itself if you’re short on time or don’t want the hassle of making a side dish. If you want to add to the meal, here are some of our favorites:
For an S-Meal/low carb:
- Serve over mashed cauliflower – heavenly comfort food!
- Add a side of coleslaw
- Serve with a green bean salad
For a crossover/healthy carbs:
- A wholegrain dinner roll
- Regular mashed potatoes
- Mashed sweet potatoes
More low carb comfort food
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback! You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!
Keto Beef Stew
Ingredients
For the meat
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2.5 pounds beef stewing meat in chunks
- 1 teaspoon salt or less, depending on what kind of broth you’re using
- black pepper to taste
For the gravy
- 1 small yellow onion diced (about 1/3 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce OR liquid aminos to taste
For the vegetables
- 1 pound radishes halved
- 2 large carrots peeled, ends trimmed and cut into thick slices
- 5 large celery sticks trimmed and thickly sliced
- 1 (8oz) package mushrooms cleaned and sliced
- 3 tablespoons frozen peas no need to defrost
To finish
- 2 teaspoons glucomannan
Instructions
- If using the oven, heat oven to 350°F.
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet (OR in a large oven-safe pot – like a Dutch oven). Brown beef for a couple of minutes on all sides, sprinkling with salt and pepper as it cooks. Transfer to a 5-6 quart slow cooker (OR set aside on a plate).
- Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in Italian seasoning and tomato paste, then stir in 1/2 cup beef broth and the soy sauce. Scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan, then transfer to the slow cooker (OR add the meat back into the Dutch oven).
- Add all vegetables EXCEPT for the peas, then pour over the remaining 2 cups of broth.
- Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. (Cook 2 hours in the oven, stirring CAREFULLY (HOT!) every 30 minutes; lower heat to 320°F if ingredients on top start browning too fast); do not stir in slow cooker!).
- Open the lid, stir, then add the peas. Cook without the lid for 15 more minutes (OR 5 minutes on the stove).
- To thicken, stir glucomannan into a few tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl. Add to the stew, 1/3 at a time, stirring well after each addition. The stew will thicken after 1-3 minutes. Only add enough glucomannan until the stew has thickened to your liking! Then serve immediately.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Peas/carrots: These are higher starch vegetables, especially the peas. I throw in a handful because it makes the stew feel more “classic”. You can absolutely leave these out if you’re not comfortable eating peas on your personal diet plan! If you want to leave out the carrots, add 2 more sticks of celery.
- Soy sauce: I use soy sauce as an accessible lower sugar alternative to Worcestershire sauce, as it’s very easily available. You can use liquid aminos if you prefer/have access to it.
- Tomato paste: I use just enough tomato paste to give the stew a richer color and a deeper flavor. If you don’t have this on hand, you can omit it. It will alter the gravy a little though. Ketchup could be a substitute, but make sure it is sugar free if you want to keep the carb count down.
- Radishes: I used pink baby radishes, the lose a lot of their color during cooking and look more like white baby potatoes in the end. You can also use a large white radish or Daikon and dice it up if that’s all you can find.
- Glucomannan: This is my favorite low carb thickener for gravies, stews and soups. You can use arrowroot if you don’t mind the starch, or organic cornstarch.
- Stew meat: You can use cheap meat here, it will get tender during the long cooking time. Save your expensive cuts for date night 😉
Recipe tips
- Please do not skip browning the beef/cooking the onion before adding the broth! It will really enhance the flavor of the stew so, so much.
- You can add broth in the end to make more gravy if your family likes a lot of gravy. Keep in mind, you’ll need to use more glucomannan if you add more broth than the recipe calls for.
- Please add the glucomannan/water mixture gradually. You don’t want to end up with beef stew pudding!
- Slice the vegetables evenly for best results.
- Hold back on the salt if you have a strongly salt beef broth, otherwise you might end up with an overly salty stew.
- If you cook the stew in the oven, do not forget about the stirring if you’re using a Dutch oven. The lid reflects the heat very strongly and if you don’t stir at least once, the top layer of ingredients could burn.
Marci says
This recipe was surprisingly good. Wasn’t sure about the radishes, but they were definitely were worth adding.
Rheann says
Comfort Food!!!!!!!! I made it as written, man o man was it delicious! Just in time for the fall season, I will be making this on repeat. Thanks for sharing!
Emily says
This was outstanding! The radishes were such great dupes for potatoes. The only thing I changed was that instead of using thickener, I puréed some of the cooked veggies with a little beef broth in the blender once the stew was finished – it made such a silky gravy without any thickeners. Also topped with chopped parsley. Will make all winter!