So I decided to go a little bit out of the ordinary last night and make a beef stew that many of you might not have experienced before. The rich flavors of citrus and beef stock combine with the deep elements of cinnamon and fish sauce to create a delicious meal.
We start by searing our meat in a cast iron skillet, letting the wonderful fats caramelize and coax out the flavor. We then add all of our aromatics to cook for a moment before de-glazing with our citrus. After 5 hours in a crock pot, the fantastic smell should be billowing throughout your house!
I just bought a cast iron skillet, which was pre-seasoned. But I decided to re-season it myself with both olive oil on the first time and bacon grease on the second time. It’s been serving me really well, and the more I cook the better it gets.
I’ll get a picture tutorial up soon on how to season, clean, and keep your cast iron skillet. For only $23, I think this one was a great value though. I’ve been continuously cooking with it to build up the non-stick surface and it’s going very well.
You can use fresh herbs in this recipe, if you’d like to! Just keep in mind that if you do, you will need 3x MORE fresh herbs than dry herbs. So if you want to use fresh rosemary or fresh sage, then use 1 Tbsp. instead of 1 tsp. The same goes with using dried thyme instead of fresh time, just reduce the amount you use by 1/3. So instead of using 1 Tbsp. use 1 tsp.
If you don’t have a crock pot, you should get one! There’s so many things you can put into a crock pot and pretty much cook it to perfection hands-off. Go and enjoy a movie, go out, or go to work, and let your crock pot work its magic on developing rich and deep flavors. I use a Hamilton Beach 5 Quart Crock Pot which holds just enough to get me through the week on a 1 time cook.
You can serve with a heavy drizzle of olive oil, or a side salad with a fatty dressing on it to get the fat ratios up.
Yields 5 servings of Cinnamon and Orange Beef Stew
The Preparation
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1 medium onion
- 2 1/2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
- 32 ounces beef chuck roast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 cups beef broth
- 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 whole bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons erythritol
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
The Execution
1. The first thing we’re going to do is prep everything so we aren’t running around when the time comes. Remove your soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, onion, orange, beef broth, and spices from your refrigerator and cabinets.
2.Zest your orange and cut it in half, ready to be squeezed. I highly suggest you get a microplane if you don’t have one. I used to use a fine cheese grater to zest my citrus and you never get anywhere near as much zest if you’re using a cheese grater.
3. Prep the vegetables by dicing the onion and mincing the garlic (2 cloves worth.)
4. Prep your meat by cutting it up into 1-inch cubes as best you can. Remove any grit if needed. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.
5. In a cast iron skillet, heat up 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
6. Once the coconut oil reaches the smoke point, add your beef. Do this in small batches.
7. As your beef cooks and is browned, remove it and store it on a separate plate. Continue to cook all pieces until finished.
8. Once your last batch of beef is finished, add your onions and garlic, stirring continuously. After 2 minutes, add your orange juice to de-glaze the pan.
9. Stir this continuously and then add all the rest of your ingredients – EXCEPT for the thyme, rosemary, and sage.
10. Mix everything together and then transfer the ingredients in the cast iron, and the beef, to your crock pot.
11. Let this cook for 3 hours on high.
12. When it’s coming up to the 3-hour mark, chop up your thyme, and measure out your sage and rosemary.
13. Add your spices to the crock pot and continue to cook WITHOUT the lid for an additional 1-2 hours.
14. Let it reduce to the consistency you’d like and enjoy!
This makes a total of 5 servings of Cinnamon Orange Beef Stew. Each serving comes out to be 551 calories, 36.8g fats, 4.3g net carbs, and 49.4g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 2 tablespoon orange zest | 12 | 0 | 3 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 |
| 1 medium onion | 38 | 0.1 | 8.8 | 1.6 | 7.2 | 1.3 |
| 2 1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic | 11 | 0 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 0.5 |
| 32 ounce beef chuck roast | 2141 | 138.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 223.4 |
| 1 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper | 8 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
| 3 tablespoon coconut oil | 365 | 40.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 cup beef broth | 121 | 3.8 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 19.7 |
| 3 tablespoon fresh orange juice | 22 | 0.1 | 5.3 | 0.1 | 5.1 | 0.3 |
| 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar | 6 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon soy sauce | 3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| 1 teaspoon fish sauce | 2 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| 2 whole bay leaf | 6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.2 |
| 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon | 13 | 0.1 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.2 |
| 2 teaspoon erythritol | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon dried rosemary | 4 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| 1 teaspoon dried sage | 2 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 1 tablespoon fresh thyme | 2 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Totals | 2756 | 183.9 | 29.6 | 8.4 | 21.3 | 247.1 |
| Per Serving (/5) | 551 | 36.8 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 49.4 |
Cinnamon Orange Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 medium onion
- 2 ½ teaspoon fresh garlic minced
- 32 ounce beef chuck roast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 cup beef broth
- 3 tablespoon fresh orange juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 whole bay leaf
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon erythritol
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme finely chopped
Instructions
- Zest the orange using a microplane and cut it in half, ready to be squeezed later.
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Cut the meat into 1" cubes, removing any grit as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat up the coconut oil in a cast-iron skillet. Once the coconut oil has reached its smoking point, sear the beef in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan.
- Once the last batch of beef is seared, add the onions and garlic to the pan, stirring constantly. After 2 minutes, add the orange juice to deglaze the pan.
- Add the remaining ingredients (except the rosemary, sage, and thyme) to the pan, stirring constantly.
- Mix everything together well and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker along with the beef cubes. Cook on high for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, add the rosemary, sage, and thyme to the slow cooker. Continue to cook, uncovered, for 1–2 hours, or until thickened and reduced to desired consistency. Serve and enjoy!
I served this on rice for my non-keto family. While they weren’t too crazy about it, I loved it wildly (without rice, of course)! The meat was so tender. It was nice to have a different flavor profile for Crock-Pot beef stew. I have tons of leftovers, which I’m freezing to keep for next week.
I think this one is a hit or miss with people for sure. I loved it, but others didn’t have the same opinion as me. I think “different” sometimes scares people 😉
I was excited to try this one and it did not disappoint. I tried the single serving for the 30 day Keto plan, but am going to make it for my family and some to freeze for later. I might use a little less orange, but the flavors pair very well. This is another winner in my book. By the way, each recipe I’ve tried so far (this make number 7 or 8) has been wonderful. Thank you.
Woo! I love it when people comment and they like the recipe. I know some of my flavor combinations are kind of weird, and I am always curious as to if people enjoy. Thanks for all the loving feedback Monica!
Hello Craig, you’ve done a tremendous job here with this site, we appreciate the effort to share, i just have one question, about the Erythritol, as i dont think i can get my hands on it here, is it okay to discard it, i mean i see it in most your recipes,
thanks again
Ovid, in some recipes it is okay to discard, but you can certainly find different sweeteners (low GI) that can accommodate, instead. Thanks for the kind words!
Hi Craig thanks for this delicious recipe. I tried it last night and the flavours are great. I love the sweet and salty combo. I actually sprinkled a bit of blue cheese on it too and it worked! Just one question. What does cook on high translate to in the UK as there was no juice left after the 5 hours so i just ended up with really succulent meat chunks with a very thick reduction glaze sort of sauce (hardly any) Your pic has far more sauce. Still yum though 🙂
Chi Chi,
Thanks! On slow cookers, you usually only have two options – low and high. I’m not sure what that would translate to in the UK, but if you were making it on the stovetop, I’d suggest taking it to a simmer, covering it, and then turning it to low.
Hope that helps!
Hi Craig thanks for the answer. I put it in the oven with a lid on so that explains why it dried out 🙂 i dont yet have a slow cooker but its on the lit 🙂
Ahh okay – if you use the oven next time it shouldn’t need as long 🙂
Just had this. It was wonderful, Craig. Thanks for the recipe! I had it with a cold broccoli salad. Crisp steamed broccoli, drizzled with roasted sesame oil and salt. Then refrigerated until very cold. Think I’ll make a cauliflower mash for the yummy leftovers and lovely gravy it made.
Sounds delicious – thanks for sharing and giving awesome feedback!
Just made this for the 3rd time and it tastes even better the next day. I first saw it when I bought your food/diet plans. Whole family eats this but I usually do mash potato for them as well and cauilfower rice for me. I found I needed more carbs on the plan and couldn’t eat as much fat as you recommend but they still worked well for me with a few tweaks and I lost weight. (I probably wouldn’t have needed the extra veg if I did eat all the fat but I couldn’t for some reason. Just made sure I added a few lower carb veg. It looks like your new plan is more me without all the bullet proof coffee)
I’ve made a lot of your recipes now and think your palate suits us really well! Thank you!
Step 4 says to add veggies but I only see onions and garlic. Am I missing something?
No, it just means the onions and garlic 🙂
Hi, really annoyed that you gave the amoynt for fresh thyme (3x as much dry thyme) and didn’t mention this in the meal plan- now I’m gonna have a stew with 3x too much thyme. It’s also been 3 hours cooking and it just smells like soap. None of this is reakly your fault but annoyed none the less because the beef costed ne $10 on it’s own
In the 30 day meal plan I see it listed as, “3/4 tsp. Fresh Thyme” Does yours show it differently?
I’m really confused about the calories for this recipe! I am using the 30-day meal plan, which states a single serving (that uses ½ pound of beef) would be 649 calories. But by the calculations here, a ¼ serving of this recipe (that uses 2 pounds of beef) would only be 422 calories. Since I’m doing this diet with my husband, we made the recipe on this site, with 2lbs of beef, and are unsure how to calculate the calories. It appears that for the diet you divided this recipe into 5ths times 2? Then I tried adding the recipe as a whole to myfitnesspal and they calculated the calories totally differently! Aye aye aye…
Sorry for any confusion. Some of the recipes included on that plan have been altered from the ones on the website so they have different nutritional information. MyFitnessPal can be a bit tricky sometimes too because there’s so many options for each ingredient. I think if you search Ruled.me and the recipe title a lot of the older ones pop up in there.
Ok, but which calorie amount do I use? The one on the diet plan or the one here on the website? They aren’t the same.
Use the calorie amount for the version of the recipe that you cooked. If you used the one from the book then go with that one.
I’M sure it was just an oops, but you did mean “zest your whole orange” NOT “zest your whole lemon”? Since the recipe calls for an orange, but not a lemon. I have been in love with your recipes and trying out many of them lately. Not a dud yet 😉 I wonder what you would choose to serve alongside this stew? Cauli?
Yes, I did indeed mean orange – sorry about that! I guess I’m in the habit of writing lemon when I talk about zesting.
As far as a side dish, cauli sounds nice. Possibly some roasted vegetables? It’s a pretty liquid-y stew, so you could essentially serve just about anything on the side since this will not be able to standalone on a plate.
Can this be done in an instapot?
Yes! Not exactly sure of the timing but this would work great in an Instant Pot I think.
At what part of the cooking process do you put in the zest of the orange? Just wondering, because it looks like in the picture above it looks like it had been done right before serving.
You’d add it in in step 9. I just added some over the top for garnish.
This recipe is so good!! Thank you for sharing 😊 I made plans to freeze extras but my family are it all up. Just going to have make it again 😉
Really enjoyed these flavors. Too much liquid so I did add a bit of thickener ;( I made it for the whole family and they loved it, I just didn’t have the juices/gravy.
this recipe is great, but it doesn’t line up if you’re following the 30 day meal plan. there are ingredients here that are not in the meal plan recipe (apple cider vinegar and erythritol), and the measurements don’t add up. the meal plan is only 1/2 lb beef, which is fine, so this is basically x4 with 2lbs of beef. but even the spices and seasonings are off….I love this program but it would be great if you guys would update the meal plan and proof read it for errors in the recipes.
The program is altered slightly from the website recipes to contain the macros to what I wanted them to be. You’re welcome to follow this original recipe, but keep in mind that it will change the macros of the meal plan.