Recipes

Beef stew

Brown the meat, build the broth, simmer until tender. Carrots and potatoes late. Stovetop primary. GF with coconut aminos.

Brown20–25 min

Simmer1½–2 hr

Veg45–60 min

Thicken2–3 min

Log this

Beef stew

~6 bowls · about 1½ cups

495 cal 42g protein 31g carb 22g fat

MyFitnessPal · Beef stew (calculated)

Estimates for ~2½ lb stew meat, carrots, potatoes, cornstarch finish, 6 servings. Bread or extra mash on the side not included. Not a real MFP recipe entry — create blocked.

In the pot

Stew

2–3 lb beef stew meat, ~1½-inch cubes
1–2 Tbsp oil for browning
1 yellow onion, diced
3–4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
½ cup red wine to deglaze, optional
4 cups beef broth (check GF label)
1–2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme (or a few fresh sprigs)
1 Tbsp coconut aminos (GF soy swap), optional
salt + pepper as you go
1 lb carrots, chunked
1½ lb potatoes, chunked
2 Tbsp cornstarch + cold water slurry

Serve with bread or mash. Broth and coconut aminos keep it GF when soy sauce would not. Skip wine if you want — broth alone deglazes fine.

Brown

Pat the meat dry. Salt and pepper. Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-high.
Brown in batches — don’t crowd. Get real color on two sides. Set browned meat aside.
Lower heat. Onion in the pot until soft, ~5 min. Garlic 30 seconds. Tomato paste 1 min until it darkens a little.
Deglaze with wine (optional) or a splash of broth. Scrape the browned bits.

Simmer

Meat back in. Add remaining broth, bay, thyme, optional coconut aminos. Liquid should almost cover.
Bring to a boil, then low simmer, covered, 1½–2 hours until the beef is tender.

Veg

Add carrots and potatoes for the last 45–60 min. Soft but not falling apart.
Taste. Salt and pepper again. Pull bay leaves.

Thicken

Stir cornstarch into a few tablespoons cold water. Stream into the simmering stew. Cook 2–3 min until it coats a spoon.
Bowl it. Bread or mash on the side if you want.

Slow cooker

Still brown the meat and cook onion/garlic/paste on the stove first — flavor lives there.
Transfer to Crock-Pot or Instant Pot Slow Cook. Broth, bay, thyme, optional aminos. Low 6–8 hours.
Carrots and potatoes in for the last 45–60 min (or with everything if you like them softer). Thicken on Sauté or in a pot with the slurry at the end.

Stovetop steps above are the cook-along. Slow cooker / Instant Pot Slow Cook is the set-and-walk alternate.

Leftovers

Fridge 4 days. Freezes well without the potatoes getting weird if you don’t mind softer reheats. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of broth.

One bowl is the log. Extra bread or mash is a second line.