Creamy Beef Stew with Kale and Tomato, Paleo, Gluten-Free

Creamy Beef Stew with Kale and Tomato. A satisfying slow cooker crockpot recipe full of beef, kale, red peppers, and carrots and seasoned with paprika, tomato, nutmeg, and thyme.

We're a HUGE fan of beef stew. We make it often as part of our Sunday meal-prep ritual. This past week, however, we decided to switch things up by adding coconut cream, rutabaga, kale, and red pepper to our stew. The result was a satisfying, filling and comforting lighter beef stew made in the slow cooker. It has a creamy tomato flavor with a kick.

This recipe is naturally Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and Paleo. It also has an simple Whole30 option.

Why this recipe works

• its a great meal prepping meal.
  • If you make it on Sunday, you’ll have Paleo beef stew for lunch or dinner for several days in the upcoming week. We also love this Hungarian beef stew recipe.
• its got great flavor.
  • It is FULL of melt-in your mouth beef seasoned with paprika and rosemary, cooked carrots and rutabagas, flavorful kale and red pepper, and a tomato-cream sauce spiced with thyme and nutmeg.
  • The heat from the paprika and diced red pepper here is wonderful. It isn’t too hot because it is softened by the coconut cream and the result is great deliciousness.
• it cooks itself!
  • as soon as you have all the ingredients in your crockpot, it cooks itself for hours

Ingredients needed:

• beef
• garlic
• onion
• paprika
• salt
• pepper
• tomato paste
• dried rosemary
• coconut flour
• coconut cream
• chicken stock
• strained tomatoes
• maple syrup ( omit for Whole30)
• carrots
• rutabaga
• kale
• red pepper
• nutmeg
• dried thyme

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Additions/Substitutions

• Instead of onion: you can make this recipe with shallots. You can also use 2 tsp of onion powder instead of onion as well.
• Instead of coconut cream: you can use coconut milk. You can also use a dairy-free creamer ( we have used nutpods creamer before and it worked great).
• Omit the maple syrup here to keep this dish Whole30 compliant.
• Instead of baby carrots: you can use regular carrots and cut them into 1.5-2 inch pieces. We like using 6 carrots because we like a lot of carrots in our stew.
• Instead of rutabaga: you can use parsnips or potatoes ( sweet or regular). We can’t always find rutabaga at the store so instead, we use parsnip.

Step by step stew instructions:

Step 1

Step 1: Sear the meat.

Cook the onion, garlic, and tomato paste in a pan. Then add the stew meat, paprika, salt, pepper and rosemary and sear for a few minutes.

Step 3:

Step 3: Add the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 9 hours.

Step 2

Step 2: Add the meat to the slow cooker then add some coconut flour to the meat and mix.

How to serve it:

• on its own! It tastes great as is.
• with other roasted veggies. We like to add roasted sweet potatoes or eggplant to a bowl and then add this stew on top of them.
• on top of pasta! It gives the whole meal a stroganoff-esque vibe. You can use regular pasta, quinoa pasta, gluten-free pasta.
• with a side of garlic bread or toast.

Storage:

• In the refrigerator: in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
• In the freezer: in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.

FAQs

Use bone broth instead of chicken broth. This adds a protein punch to the dish.

We like kale, as you can tell. But other options are green beans, swiss chard or collard greens.

Add it to the slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients. It is a heartier green that can withstand the cooking. If you are worried just keep it on top of the slow cooker.

Here there is onion, garlic, rosemary, paprika, nutmeg and thyme seasoning the soup. But if you are looking for even more flavor add more or less maple syrup. You can also try some coconut aminos or chili powder for another flavor boost.

Coconut flour, arrowroot powder or tapioca flour.