Paleo + Whole30 Beef Stew (Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven)
Paleo + Whole30 Beef Stew – slow cooker or dutch oven top cooking instructions. The MOST delicious beef stew you will ever have! With a secret ingredient that makes this stew amazing. Gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free, clean eating, real food.
I have gotten SO many emails and Instagram comments from readers who are doing Whole30 for January and are loving all of my Whole30 recipes!
One of my favorite Whole30 recipes to make in the winter is this paleo and whole30 beef stew. It is the definition of comforting! Savory, filling, delicious and most importantly healthy.
Cooking Paleo + Whole30 Beef Stew
I’ve included directions on how to cook this beef stew in your oven using a dutch oven or in a slow cooker.
For the dutch oven and slow cooker I like browning the meat and sautéing the onions first, it gives it maximum flavor.
The stew tastes just as amazing cooked in either vessel, so choose what works best for you.
How To Thicken Paleo + Whole30 Beef Stew
This beef stew has no flour to thicken it to keep it paleo and whole30 compliant. It does have a very essential secret ingredient. Dried shiitake mushrooms! They add tons of savory and umami flavor to the beef stew. I find it also helps to thicken the stew a tad so it is the same consistency that you’re used to.
I grind the dried shiitake mushrooms in my high speed blender until they are a powder. I then stir the powdered shiitake mushrooms into the stew when I add the tomato paste. You will be amazed how much richness this beef stew has in it.
If peas are allowed in your diet, I love to add them in at the end. Frozen is just fine, they thaw within seconds in the warm stew. They give a great pop of freshness.
But if you’re on Whole30 or avoiding legumes, this stew is still delicious without them!
Freezing Paleo + Whole30 Beef Stew
This paleo + whole30 beef stew recipe makes a great big pot. Enough for 8 servings. I like to make it for dinner, and then we’ll have it for lunch for the next few days.
Or, I’ll freeze half of it to use in the future. This beef stew freezes beautifully! It will keep in the freezer for at least a year.
Paleo + Whole30 Beef Stew (Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat that is cut into 1" chunks, patted completely dry with a paper towel
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 medium carrots, cut into 3/4" chunks
- 6 medium celery stalks, cut into 3/4" chunks
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, grated or finely minced
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1 ounce package of dried shiitake mushrooms, blended to a powder in your blender or spice grinder
- 8 cups chicken or beef stock
- 2 large gold potatoes, cut into 3/4" chunks (I leave the skin on)
- 2 teaspoon thyme leaves, dried or fresh
- 2 bay leaves
- 1.5 cups frozen peas
Instructions
Soup Prep
- Heat a dutch oven (or heavy bottomed soup pot) over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. On a dinner plate, lay out enough of the beef stew meat that will fill the bottom of your dutch oven in an even layer without the beef touching. Sprinkle the top of the beef with salt, then transfer to the dutch oven salted side down to brown. Cook about 5 minutes (or until browned), sprinkle the top of the beef again with salt, then flip to brown the other side. Transfer the browned beef to a plate. Repeat this process until all the beef is browned. It takes me 3 batches to brown all the beef.
- After the meat is browned, add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the dutch oven, along with 1/4 cup of the stock. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. As the stock boils, scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the dutch oven (this all has tons of flavor!). Continue to cook the vegetables until softened and browning, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and blended powder from the dried shiitake mushrooms, stir to combine.
- Add the stock, potatoes, thyme and bay leaves.
Dutch Oven Cooking Instructions
- Cover the dutch oven with its lid, and cook in a 300º for at least 6 hours.
Slow Cooker Cooking Instructions
- Transfer the beef stew to your slow cooker, and cook over high heat for at least 6 hours.
Serving
- 5 minutes before serving, turn off the heat. Remove the bay leaves, and add frozen peas. Taste for salt and pepper and add more if needed. Serve warm.
- Leftovers will keep in an airtight container refrigerated for 1 week, or frozen for up to 1 year. This stew freezes beautifully!
Notes
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54 Comments on “Paleo + Whole30 Beef Stew (Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven)”
Delicious, and the veggies were Not melted, which happens very often with slow cooker recipes.
I also love it because the veggies get nice and tender but they don’t disappear into the broth Frida. So glad to hear it turned out delicious.
Hello! I was wondering if the minimum time in the oven should be 6 hours. If I’m on a “time crunch” could I get away with cooking it in the dutch oven for less time? Also, I gave dried umami powder from trader joes, about how much would you recommend I use to equate 1oz of solid mushrooms?
This is my second time making this stew with your recipe and it was such a hit the first time, I’m excited for the second round! Just want to be mindful of the cook time :)
Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Ideally the stew should cook for 6 hours Corissa. I think the minimum I would cook it is 4 hours. Keep in mind by reducing the time the meat will not be as tender.
I have not used Trader Joe’s umami powder, but I would start with a quarter teaspoon, taste and adjust from there.
I sure hope the stew is a success the second time around!
Hi, when do you put the peas? Also if cooking in stovetop- how long??
I haven’t recipe tested it on the stove top but I think it would work just fine Magdalena. I would brown the meat, add the liquid and cook covered on low for 1.5 to 2 hours till the meat is fork tender. Then add your veggies and cook until tender for another 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in the peas in the last 5 minutes.
I sure hope you like it!
This recipe is amazing and so much simpler than my old favorite! Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes that you create and share. Your blog is one of the top blogs I go to when in search of something tasty and new to add to our rotation.
Thank you so much for your very nice email Elizabeth. You just made my day! I am so happy you like my blog. I love creating and sharing recipes and it makes it all worthwhile when they are well received! I am so glad my beef stew recipe has turned out well for you. That is fantastic that it is part of your regular recipe rotation!
SO delicious! I couldn’t find the dried mushrooms at my grocery store so I ended up getting fresh shiitake mushrooms and blending them smooth with the tomato paste and half a cup of the stock and then cooking it down for a few minutes with the veggies before adding it all to my slow cooker. It ended up having amazing flavor and not too watery at the end. Thank you for this recipe! I’m only 5 days into my first whole30 and this is totally the comfort food I needed.
I am so happy you liked my stew Amanda! Thank you so much for sharing your substitution for dried mushrooms. I have had a few commenters that couldn’t find dried mushrooms so your tips are fantastic to know. Congratulations on starting Whole30. I wish you so much success on your journey!
I skipped the mushrooms (I didnt have any)
But its still so yummy!
I just dumped it all into my instapot and used the stew setting (35mins)
I am so glad you liked my beef stew Holly! I am happy it was still tasty without the mushrooms. The instant pot makes it so easy, just add the ingredients and it cooks up in no time.
Hi!
In the Dutch oven version of this recipe, do you put it in the oven for 6 hrs at 300 or keep on stove for 6 hours?
Thanks,
Roxanne
PS: I live in Danville too and enjoyed finding your site – Looking forward to trying some of your recipes as part of my clean January :)
Thanks so much for the question Roxanne. To make the stew in the dutch oven you cook it in a 300′ oven for 6 hours. So nice that you are also from Danville! What a small world. I hope your clean eating January goes beautifully! I am so glad you found my site.
Hi I just made this tonight and when I pulled it out of the oven(cooked in dutch oven), most of the liquid/broth was gone. Why would this be?
Oh I’m so sorry to hear that Melissa! Was your oven at 300ºF? Maybe your oven runs too hot. Was the lid on? That prevents the liquid from evaporating. You can always add in more broth if needed after cooking. I also have a new instant pot method of this soup that is foolproof!
Love this stew! I made it in my instapot and it turned out perfect. Def will be in my staple recipes. the shiitake mushroom powder added amazing flavor.
The only change I made was adding some red wine. I’m not Paleo or Whole30..just grain free.
Checking out your other recipes.
thank you!
I’m so happy to hear you liked it Sharon! Isn’t the shiitake mushroom powder amazing. Adds so much flavor and helps thicken the stew. My favorite! Adding wine sounds delicious!
Can you leave out the tomato paste? My daughter is allergic to that too. We’re paleo minus tomatoes for her ? will it affect the recipe much?
Yes! You can leave it out! I add it for some acid to balance out the fat and umami. You might need to add in 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar instead?
Let me know how it turns out!
I plan on making this for dinner when our friends come into town. I’m new to the instant pot and planned on using it to make this recipe. I have a button on my instant pot for meat/stew and I can definitely do the pressure cooker setting. My question is when I do the pressure cooker setting, you said 40 minutes with no venting. Once the 40 minutes is done I switch to venting for 15 minutes is still keep the machine on. Then I do natural release which means to turn the machine off and let it release naturally. I guess I’m just making sure I’m getting that part of the instructions correct. I’m looking forward to making this.
Yes! Once the 40 minutes is up, your instant pot will switch to “keep warm”, and it will naturally release pressure. After about 15 minutes I do a “quick release” where I move the venting valve to allow the steam to release. I like to wait 15 minutes because it is so hot and there is so much liquid it is more likely to splutter out and make a mess. But after 15 minutes there’s not much mess at all. It will keep it warm indefinitely, until your turn the machine OFF. You and your friends are going to love this stew! It’s so delicious!
Are there specific instant pot instructions listed somewhere for this recipe? I’m only seeing references.
Have made this many times in my slow cooker and I love it, but need to try instant pot!
To make in the instant pot, put all ingredients in raw, then cook on HIGH pressure for 40 minutes. So easy!
Now that it’s done and we’ve eaten it I have one more thing to say – We loved this recipe and will definitely make it again! :)
Yea! I’m so glad to hear it Heather! Thanks for letting me know! And for making my recipe!
I’m making this for the first time right now and I have a little time-saving tip to share… After you turn the mushrooms into powder in your blender, add the rest of the quart of stock (after using a little of it to deglaze your pan) and the tomato paste to the blender and blend them all together with the mushroom powder. Makes it easier to evenly distribute it all. :)
Also, as one other commenter posted, I’m only using one quart of stock for now. I’ll check in a couple of hours to see if I need to add more, but 1 quart seems plenty
That is SUCH a good tip! I love that! Thanks for sharing Heather! I’m going to try it next time I make this stew. And good feedback on the amount of stock. I think I’m going to adjust the recipe to say 4 cups, or more to desired consistency. So glad to hear you’re making and loving my recipe! Means the world!
This is delicious! The powdered mushrooms are a fantastic thickener, adding richness. I used half shiitake and half porcini because that’s what I had. And I used half beef and half venison that a friend had given us. Also, 8 cups liquid is way too much IMO. That would make soup. I used 4 cups +/-, enough to cover everything in the slow cooker. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear you like it! Using both those mushrooms sounds so delicious. Yum! Now I want to try this with venison too. Good tip on the amount of cooking liquid! Maybe I should adjust the recipe to say 4 cups, or more for a thinner consistency. Great feedback! Appreciate it!
I couldn’t find dried mushrooms so I plan to use Arrowroot powder to help thicken it and then add fresh mushrooms in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking. I also will substitute Sweet Potatoes and plan to use rainbow carrots because I love those colors! Can’t wait to test this out tomorrow night on a big group from my husbands work!
I hope you loved it! You can definitely leave out the dried mushrooms if you can’t find them (Costco has them for sure! And they’re almost always in the international food aisle at grocery stores. I get mine on Amazon). Using arrowroot powder is a great idea! And sweet potatoes will be yummy too. Big hugs!
Made this in my InstantPot and it was great! Cooked the meat on the sauté function than did the meat/stew button (which I think is 35 minutes – probably could have done manual for a little less time). Takes close to an hour for it to cook because of the pressure building with all the liquid but it was well worth it!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I have this beef stew on the menu for Sunday, and was going to try it in the instant pot to see how it works. I’m going to copy your cooking instructions!
Thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked my recipe. You made my day!
Would it be okay to mix half chicken broth and half beef broth since beef broth has so much sodium? Or would this ruin the flavor?
Would work great! The beef gives off a ton of flavor as it’s braising, and will flavor either broth really well.
Hope you love it! It’s one of our favorites!
Is there a substitute for the dried shiritaki mushrooms if I can’t find them in local grocery stores?
There at big grocery stores, usually in the asian food section! You can buy them online too, I buy them in bulk because I use them a lot. I buy these ones: https://amzn.to/2Odww3P
I made this last night for a group of friends….it was a huge hit! I cooked it a little longer in my crock pots (About 8 hrs) because there was so much I had to use 2! I used sweet potatoes because I am eating paleo and used half beef stew meat and half sirloin because the dude at the grocery store recommended it. I did not put as much salt in either…probably 1/2 tsp. It was so delicious…I liked the tip about browning the meat and bugger chunks of veggies. Thanks for the recipe! I’m also realizing I forgot to put in the peas! Haha oops!
I’m so glad you liked it Gretchen! Love that you added sweet potatoes. Always looking for new ways to switch up the recipes and get inspiration. Thanks for letting me know you liked my recipe, you made my day!
Made this stew last night and it was incredible! I can tell this recipe will become a go-to for me. The use of ground shiitake mushrooms is brilliant and worked so well in this stew. Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad you liked it Katie! Yea! One of our favorites for the fall/winter. Aren’t those ground shiitake mushrooms great? Adds so much depth of flavor. Thanks for letting me know you liked my recipe, this made my day!