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This low-carb recipe for Instant Pot Keto Beef Stew is a nutritional powerhouse that’s so delicious, nobody will ever guess it’s healthy too! Best of all, it comes together in under 40 minutes and you only have to clean one dish.
UPDATE: This post was originally published in December 2017 and has been updated to reflect new information and helpful content.
This post is sponsored by Sprouts Farmers Market. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make it possible for Root + Revel to provide free content and healthy living inspiration.
I don't know about you, but getting dinner on the table is a feat in itself most days of the year.
I'm always looking for quick and easy dinner recipes!
Bonus points if that recipe is ultra cozy and comforting, warming and seasonal, healthy and anti-inflammatory.
And that's exactly what this gluten-free, Keto beef stew is. Take a look:
Is Beef Stew Really Healthy?
Generally speaking, beef stew is already a really healthy, nourishing dinner choice, Keto or not. It's full of seasonal veggies and when you make it with grass-fed beef and collagen-rich bone broth… fuhgeddaboudit!
Plus, this beef stew recipe is high in:
- protein
- Vitamin K (great for bone and blood health, critical for hormone balance)
- B6 (helps the body metabolize fats, improves brain health and mood, and helps you sleep better)
- B12 (energy and metabolism booster), and
- Zinc (super important for digestion, fertility, thyroid and clear skin)
It's a nutritional powerhouse that's so delicious, nobody will ever guess it's healthy, too!
That being said, traditional beef stew can be a bit carb-heavy and I know so many people are trying to limit their carbs these days. (I personally follow Intuitive Eating and don't believe in not eating carbs, but whatever floats your boat! Sometimes I naturally eat lower carbs because that's what my body wants that day, but most other times I don't.)
Or maybe you eat gluten-free or Paleo and generally just want to up your nutrition game. So, I thought I'd put a little twist on classic beef stew and make this one Ketogenic.
What is Keto?
For the uninitiated, the keto diet is a high-fat and low-carb plan that causes the body to enter a state of ketosis, where we produce ketones (which break down fat) in the liver to be used as energy.
On a normal diet, the body uses glucose (or carbs) as the main form of energy. By using ketones (or fat) instead, we are forcing our body into this metabolic state of starvation (but without starving ourselves) that can result in weight loss, balanced blood sugar (thanks to the lack of glucose spikes from avoiding carbs), increased energy, controlled appetite, and improved mental focus. (source)
So how do you make Keto beef stew?
How to Make Low-Carb Keto Beef Stew
To cut down on the carbs, the first thing you do for this recipe is nix the flour or cornstarch. These are refined carbs that are typically used to thicken stews, but I find them to be totally unnecessary.
Secondly, I'm making some low-carb veggie swaps for the starch-heavy root veggies often found in beef stew.
For this recipe, I'm using tons of anti-inflammatory garlic, onions, spices and mushrooms, and then some diced tomatoes, carrots and green beans.
The result? Just 11.7 grams of carbs per serving! Crazy, right?
Now, since I'm not personally Keto and I love me some good potatoes, I do like to throw a few in this beef stew. If you add them, the carb count only goes up to 20 grams per serving, so it's still a low-carb beef stew recipe, relatively speaking.
There are tons of other great low-carb veggies you could use here, too, like celeriac (celery root), radishes, broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, and cauliflower.
That's the beauty of stew recipes–they're really more just templates. Use whatever veggies you love/have on hand. This beef stew recipe is great for cleaning out the fridge, too!
You can find all of the ingredients you need for this recipe at Sprouts Farmers Market, which specializes in healthy, natural and organic food at affordable prices!
To find a Sprouts location, use this handy map and don’t miss Sprouts’ weekly ad with digital coupons.
If you prefer online shopping, check out ButcherBox for meat delivery right to your door! ButcherBox is a meat subscription box offering exclusively 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, heritage breed pork, and wild-caught seafood like salmon, halibut, scallops, lobster, and cod. They truly care about the humane treatment of animals, the sustainability of our planet, and improving livelihoods for farmers.
Go here to order your first ButcherBox!
Equipment: The Instant Pot
Do you have an Instant Pot yet? This may just be my favorite appliance of the last few years!
I love that you can brown meat right in the pot (yep, that means you only have to wash one dish for this entire recipe!) and thanks to the magic of pressure cooking, this stew cooks up in just 15 minutes. You can also check out Instant Pot's websites for special offers to buy direct, or order on Amazon.
The meat is even better than you could ever expect: pressure cooking makes it pull-apart-with-a-spoon tender!
Also, a quick note about the bone broth: instead of using true bone broth, I make my own right in the pot as the stew cooks by adding 2 marrow bones and 4 cups of water. But if you can't find marrow bones, you can always add 4 cups of beef bone broth instead. (Kettle & Fire is the BEST brand on the market for bone broth!)
If you don't yet have an Instant Pot, don't worry–I provided instructions for a slow cooker or crockpot in the recipe notes below. Just one more step of browning on the stovetop. Still super easy!
If you give this Keto Beef Stew recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag a picture @rootandrevel on Instagram so I can see and reshare!
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Bone Broth Recipe
- Easy Instant Pot Whole Chicken
- Instant Pot Garlic Roasted Mashed Potatoes (Dairy Free)
Hearty Low-Carb Keto Beef Stew (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons organic, grass-fed butter
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 pound organic, grass-fed beef cubed (I recommend chuck roast cut)
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 5 ounces mixed wild mushrooms
- 3 organic carrots sliced
- 1 cup organic green beans cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 can organic diced tomatoes no salt added
- 1 cup diced potatoes OPTIONAL
- 2 organic, grass-fed beef marrow bones (can substitute 4 cups organic, grass-fed beef bone broth if preferred)
- 4 cups filtered water (omit if using bone broth instead of marrow bones)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- red pepper flakes to taste (I used 1 Tbsp but my brand was not very spicy, so start with just 1/2-1 tsp to be safe)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Chives + Parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté and add the butter. Once hot, add the onion and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the beef cubes, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Pour the red wine over top and use a wooden spatula to scrape up any browned bits.
- Turn the Instant Pot off and add the remaining ingredients. Screw on the lid and set to High Pressure, Manual for 15 minutes. Release steam when finished cooking. Remove the marrow bones, if using, and the bay leaves.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
**Note: Nutrition panel does not include optional 2 cups of diced potatoes. However, if you add them, the carb count only goes up to 20 grams per serving, so it's still a low-carb beef stew recipe.
Beef has always been my favorite and recipes like this helps my taste it in different ways. Thanks
You’re so welcome!
This was amazing! Instead of potatoes I used rutabaga, and I left out the green beans. Also, I didn’t have bone broth, so I used Minor’s Beef Base instead. This is definitely part of our monthly rotation now. Yum!
That sounds delicious, Rhayah! I love that you modified the recipe to make it your own 🙂
Really excellent recipe. I didn’t bother with chilli flakes. I did add a head of cauliflower chopped into florets though. This disintegrates during cooking and leaves a lovely thick stew (I like thick stew!). Thank you so much for the recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Em! It’s one of my favorites, especially now that the weather is cooling down. 🙂
Perfect
Hi Nicole!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Beyond Meat’s footprint is similarly svelte.
Very interesting! It’d be curious to try this recipe with Beyond Meat products. If you do so, please share your experience! Thanks for reading!
Now that I’ve read the comments, and I see that the author has acknowledged that 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes may be too much depending on brand or freshness, WHY HASN’T THE RECIPE BEEN UPDATED TO NOTE THIS?
After having to throw out my batch I looked into this more and if you follow the link to the specific brand of red pepper flakes recommended and read the comments you will see that many people noted that these are very weak in terms of heat, so that’s why 1 tablespoon worked for the author.
I’d suggest using your own experience base to determine how much to add of your own brand that is familiar to you. Review a spicy recipe you’ve made that is near the limit of your heat tolerance and use that as a guide. I will say that as much as I love spicy food, I have no recipes that call for 1 tbsp of red pepper flakes, even at this total volume.
Thank you for your thoughts. The recipe has now been updated to note this!
Absolutely loved this recipe but the tablespoon of red pepper flakes was too spicy.
What is the protein and fat per serving?
There is a nutritional panel under the recipe. 19 grams of protein / 10 grams of fat. You can of course add more fat to your meal to make it more keto balanced (avocado, sour cream, ghee, etc.!)
How many cups is a serving?
I want to make this, but I am not sure what to do about the marrow bones. We have very, very large marrow bones from when we got 1/4 of a cow. 2 will definitely not fit in the instant pot. Do you have a weight estimate for your 2 bones?
I’d just wing it! You can add more marrow–it’s only going to make the broth richer and more nutritious! Do whatever works for you with the size of the bones you have. Hope you enjoy!
I questioned whether 1 T. of red pepper flakes was too much for this recipe and totally regret adding the total amount. Ridiculously spicy. It’s so spicy that we can’t eat it…not by a long shot. That’s after adding a bit of brown sugar, lemon, a can of coconut milk, and sour cream. Dumped the broth and trying to find a way to keep other ingredients. I think 1/2 T. would have been the limit.
Gosh, so sorry to hear that! I do like spicy food but didn’t think it was that spicy… some flakes are spicier than others, but I do apologize that it didn’t work for you!
Strange, I felt like it could use more than 1T. It was mildly spicy to us
It seems to really depend on the specific brand and freshness of the flakes!
I totally agree that a tablespoon of red pepper flakes is too much. I LOVE heat but this was WAY over the top. It may have to do with the freshness of the pepper flakes. I use them all the time so they are very fresh. A 1/2 tsp would be a good starting point. Be warned! Like Prema, we threw everything and the kitchen sink at it to cool it down and it barely lowered the heat.
Sorry to hear that Scott! Thanks for your feedback. Yes, perhaps it has to do with the freshness of the flakes.
Could you tell me what size instant pot you use/suggest? I am looking at buying one and I mainly make my own version of the “weightlifters stew”, however the instant pot being able to cook in 15 minutes is intriguing as this recipe of your.
Yes, the Instant Pot is amazing and saves so much time! I use the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt – there’s a link in the text above 🙂
get the 8 quart. you don’t have to fill it up to use it, you can always cook less. but if you have the bigger one, you have the option of cooking more at once. I have the 6 quart and make it work. there’s been a few times where I wished I had gotten the 8 quart
11.7 carbs per serving is not keto. That’s about half your daily allowance.
You can omit the potatoes to reduce the carbs – they’re optional 😉
She said potatoes put it at 20 carbs. But you can omit the not Keto carrots.
Net Carbs would be 8.3 so if you’re doing IF or OMAD and eating other things that are low carb then this could fit in nicely.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing when I saw potatoes
The potatoes are optional ingredients, so if you don’t want them, just omit.
Good recipe! Made this tonight with a few modifications. I added an extra 8 oz beef cubes. I used frozen petite whole green beans. I added cubed red potatoes with the skins on. I seasoned the beef with salt and pepper and added a bit more kosher salt in before I put the lid on. Now I am a less-salt-is-good person, but thought it still needed more salt after it was done. I added a little beef paste bouillon to about a 1/4 c hot water before serving.
The biggest pointer I want to add is, I love heat in a lot of different foods. I decided to only add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. I thought it was spicy…not killer, but if you do not like heat..Do Not Add 1 Tablespoon of Red Pepper flakes!
Thanks so much for sharing your modifications – I’m sure this will help others!
Using the IP for the first time. What is the benefit to using the manual setting? According to the manual, the timer is for delayed time. I’ll let you know how the stew turns out!
The manual setting allows you to manually set the cooking time – it’s like your personal choice of cooking time. 🙂
delayed time is for the slow cooker function. these directions are for pressure cooking. you’ll need to set the time much longer if you want to slow cook it.
I love all the very seasonal vegetables you include in this stew. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful, thank you Cindy!
My two favorite appliances! It looks so rich and delicious with all those vegetables. I have yet to do a stew in the Instant Pot so that’s got my vote.
Ha! Yes, you must try stew in the IP!
This beef stew looks absolutely wonderful and so savory! I love the mushrooms and might add a few more because I just can’t get enough of them!
Thanks, Amy! Oh yea – I’m a mushroom lover too!
You can never have enough stew recipes! This sounds hearty and delicious! I don’t have an insta-pot (the only person on the planet without one), but I’m sure my dutch oven will work.
Ha ha!! 😉 Of course a Dutch Oven will work – I love my Dutch Oven too!
I love my Instant Pot. This looks like the perfect recipe!
Thank you Brandi – me too!
Can’t wait to share this with my sister – she’s been making bone broth in her Instant Pot, so will totally love this recipe!
That’s awesome!
Love all the colorful veggies you used in this stew!
Thanks Chelsea!