Healthier Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is homemade beef stew healthy to eat? ›

The essential ingredients for stew -- meat, vegetables and broth -- are healthy stuff. The problem is that traditional recipes call for massive portions of fatty meats paired with super-salty canned broths. Don't be turned off by recipes that use wine; a large portion of the alcohol and calories cook away.

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

The secret to good stew is adding umami-rich ingredients and allowing the stew to simmer long enough to create super tender beef chunks. The umami-rich ingredients in this recipe are the mushrooms, beef, and beef broth. These savory flavors are balanced by the tangy tomatoes and the rich red wine.

Carrots and other root vegetables, onions, chard, spinach, and lettuce are ideal for stewing while potatoes, leeks, cabbage, and porcini mushrooms are optimal for braising.

Beef gets an underserved bad rap when it comes to health, especially heart health. However, research shows that a heart-healthy diet and lifestyle that includes lean beef (like in this hearty beef and vegetable stew!) can reduce risk factors for heart disease, including elevated cholesterol and blood pressure.

Cornstarch, potato starch, and chickpea flour are a couple of pantry-friendly ways to thicken soups, stews, and sauces in the slow cooker.

The most important key to making stew meat tender is being sure to cook it for a long time. If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours.

If it tastes off-balance, add some finishing flavors to bring it to the next level. Try adding soy sauce or Worcestershire for extra savory (or umami) flavor, a touch of honey or brown sugar for sweetness, lemon zest or vinegar for brightness or chili powder or smoked paprika for spice and depth.

A bit of tomato paste amps up the flavor of beef stew, giving it a richness and a punch of umami that makes the stew truly memorable.

When should celery be added to stew? ›

Once the meat is tender - but not falling apart, add the potatoes, celery, carrots and butternut squash. Pour over another 2 cups of beef broth and enough water to cover the vegetables. Raise heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for about 30 minutes - until the vegetables are tender.

(side note) Some of the flavor of the stew liquid is from those vegetables, especially the celery and carrots. You'll probably want to cook some with the meat, even if you discard (or puree) them.

Vegetables: small chopped carrots, celery, and onion or shallot practically melt into the sauce. Mushrooms: button mushrooms are a nod to the quartered mushrooms many classic beef stew recipes call for, but are thinly sliced instead of being left in bigger pieces. Garlic: minced garlic brings lots of cozy flavor.

Add the wine and tomato paste to the onions and other aromatics in a pan before slow cooking. Plus, this helps to really deglaze any fond that's left. This ingredient is one that your mum and nan would probably use in their stews. It adds a bit of tang, sweetness and savoury spices that give an extra punch of flavour.

Suspicious stew can be obtained by "milking" a brown mooshroom with a bowl after using a small flower on it. When a small flower is used on a brown mooshroom, the brown mooshrom produces a suspicious stew related to that small flower the next time it is milked with a bowl. Red mooshrooms do not produce suspicious stew.

It's also a way to retain the maximum nutritional value of the food you cook. Stewing is suitable for the least tender cuts of meat that become tender and juicy with the slow, moist heat method – simmered, not boiled. This makes stewing popular in low-cost cooking.

Beef stew, homemade, gravy base with potatoes, with carrots or dark green vegetables (1 cup) contains 16.7g total carbs, 13.9g net carbs, 16.3g fat, 12.9g protein, and 265 calories.

Lean Beef Stew

Beef stew can be made belly-friendly in a number of ways. First, choose beef that is extra-lean and trimmed of fat. Next, reach for a beef broth made without onions or garlic to avoid possibly triggering gas and diarrhea.

Promotes Heart Health: Stew contains a combination of heart-healthy ingredients, including tomatoes, onions, and peppers. These ingredients are rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of heart disease.