About This Recipe

Before Covid 19 became our daily reality, I loved making this stew, I would put it in the slow cooker all day while going to the beach, or walking at St.Mary’s By the Sea, or out shopping with my daughters. In fact my daughter Kiki gave me this recipe years ago and even though I have tried other recipes, this is the one that tastes the most delicious, costs the least to make and feeds the most people.

Can Beef Stew Be Low Fodmap?

Beef stew is still a great choice while commuting from the kitchen to the sofa or to your home office to work online. However, for all of us IBS folk, it should also be low fodmap. And it CAN be low fodmap.

Making Beef Stew Low Fodmap

To make beef stew low in fodmaps, I substitute sliced green stems of spring onions rather then use the white bulb part of the onions. I also use chopped fresh chives to make the onion flavor more intense.

Must Garlic be Eliminated?

No! I still use garlic, but in a special way. To infuse the oil with the flavor of garlic, I sauté the thinly sliced garlic in the hot oil. When the oil is infused with the garlic flavor, then I quickly remove it and throw it away. Do not eat it because garlic is high in fodmaps.

Must I Eliminate Vegetables from the Stew?

No! Just choose fodmap friendly vegetables such as carrots, and potatoes rather than fibrous ones such as artichokes or green beans. Sometimes I add fodmap friendly parsnips and I always use beef, chicken or vegetable broth not made with garlic or onion. If I can’t find that, I often use Fody Food soup base for my broth.

Choose Leaner but still Tender Beef

Beef is listed as low fodmap in the Monash FODMAP App. However, there are two other considerations that make beef a sensitive food decision for IBS folks. The high fat content can be a trigger and it’s fibrous nature can be a trigger. Before the pandemic, I always chose beef stew meat from my local butcher. His meat is leaner, but cooks up meltingly tender in a slow cooker. Sadly, he has closed his doors, so now I intend to go to Whole Foods and ask them what cut of beef has the qualities I want.

I love this recipe because it is so forgiving. A novice cook can make it without worrying if it will turn out well. I have also made dumplings sometimes and cooked them on top of the stew and they were a lovely addition, but if you aren’t that brave, serve it with fresh GF rolls and butter or a crusty GF Italian loaf. This low fodmap stew will still be a hit with your family or guests.

Ingredients:

2 lbs stewing beef (I like chuck roast cut up) (if beef is a trigger, use chicken or veal or whatever is safe for you.)

4 carrots, scraped clean and cut up

2 fresh cloves of garlic, sliced, sautéed in olive oil to flavor it; then removed before browning the beef chunks

5 medium potatoes, peeled, washed and cut up in chunks

1 bunch of green onions or scallions, using only the light green stems

1/2 – 1 cup of chives diced up or 1 or 2 tsp of dried chives

1 carton or can of beef consomme soup ( use broth made without garlic or onion) or use Fody Food base in water equal to the amount in a carton or can

1 and 1/2 cans of Water

Pinch of thyme or 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

2 Tbsp. canola oil or mild olive oil

1/2 cup of flour (use gluten free if you can’t tolerate wheat)

Seasonings like Fody Food lemon pepper, dried herbs, paprika, sea salt and pepper

Directions:

Place the flour and seasonings in a large plastic bag. Add the beef chunks to the bag, close it and shake the bag until all the beef chunks are nicely coated. Remove them from the bag one at a time and shake off the excess flour. Place floured beef into a shallow bowl and keep near the stove.

Low Fodmap Beef Stew - ibskitchn.com — Low Fodmap Beef Stew – ibskitchn.com

Peel the carrots and dice up or slice into diagonal slices. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Keep the carrots and potatoes in a bowl of cold water until ready to add to the stew.

Dice up the light green stems of green onions or scallions. Not the white bulbs. (You can dice up onions, if you are not sensitive to the fodmaps in onion.) Set them aside.

Peel and slice the garlic and set it aside. In a large deep heavy frying pan, over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it shimmers and is hot. Sauté the sliced garlic in the oil to infuse it with garlic flavor. Then remove the sliced garlic.

Brown the beef chunks a few at a time until brown on all sides. As you finish browning them, remove them and place in the slow cooker.

When all the beef is browned and added to the slow cooker, Add the contents of the can of consomme and add 1 and 1/2 cans of water using the consomme can as a measure.

Add the thyme. Bring to a boil, stir well and then add this liquid mixture to the beef in the slow cooker.

Set the timer for 4 hours on LOW. Check to see if the beef is almost at the tender stage.

If so, add the cut up carrots and potatoes. Set the timer for 2 more hours. Test the beef and vegetables to make sure all is tender. If not, keep cooking until the stew meat is tender, but still moist.want it to be. Don’t overcook your vegetables.

If at the end of the cooking time, you find that the stew is not thick enough, you can put one or two tablespoons of flour in 1/2 cup of warm broth. Stir it with a fork until all lumps are smoothed out. Then add it to the stew, stirring with a wooden spoon until stew thickens. If it thickens too much just add more consomme or broth until the thickness is the way you like it. If not serving right away, keep the stew on WARM in the slow cooker until ready to serve.

I love to serve this stew with crusty Italian bread or with dumplings made either from a biscuit dough or from a noodle dough. Using canned biscuits is OK when you are pressed for time.

Save leftovers in a covered container. This stew reheats well. When you reheat it over low heat, if it seems too thick, just thin with broth until it is the right consistency.