December 7 2021 recipe by Jill Wallentin![Jill Wallentin]()
, and by Giorgos Chloros![Giorgos Chloros]()
, photo by Lenka Selinger![Lenka Selinger]()
, nutritional review by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE![Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE]()
in Recipes, Dinner, Main course, Meal
, and by Giorgos Chloros
, photo by Lenka Selinger
, nutritional review by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE
in Recipes, Dinner, Main course, Meal Stifado (Greek meat and onion stew)
You will love this aromatic melt-in-your-mouth beef stew with a hint of sweetness coming from the tender onions and tomatoes. This traditional Greek dish is great for batch cooking. We have included both slow cooker and oven methods so you can choose which one you prefer.
USMetric
servingservings
Ingredients
Marinade
- 4 tbsp 4 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 6 6 garlic clove, peeled and crushedgarlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 6 6 cloves
- 2 tsp 2 tsp allspice berries
- 1 1 cinnamon stickcinnamon sticks
- 1 tbsp 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 1 fresh rosemary sprig (optional)
Stew
- 2 lbs 900 g chuck roast, cut into inch (2.5 cm) sized cubes
- 1 tbsp 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb 450 g pearl onionpearl onions or small yellow onion, peeledsmall yellow onions, peeled
- 4 tbsp 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup 180 ml water or red wine
- 2 (8 oz.) 2 (230 g) tomato, choppedtomatoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 3 3 bay leafbay leaves
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp 2 tbsp fresh oregano as garnish (optional)
This recipe has been added to the shopping list.
www.dietdoctor.com
Making low carb simple
Instructions
Slow-cooker method
- Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a big bowl (or in a Ziploc bag). Add the meat. Cover and set aside for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight to let the flavors develop even more.
- In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and the onions. Fry for about 6 minutes or until they start to turn golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Remove the beef from the marinade, but keep the marinade. Add the meat to the same pan you fried the onion in. Depending on how many servings you are preparing, you might need to fry the meat in batches. Season generously with black pepper.
- When the meat is seared on all sides, transfer the meat to the slow cooker. Add the marinade juices, vinegar, and water to the frying pan and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the flavors. Pour the liquid into the slow cooker.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, and bay leaves to the slow cooker and stir. Set the slow cooker to 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high. Add the onions when there is about 1 hour left. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve in bowls. Garnish with fresh oregano for added color.
Oven method
- After marinating in step 1 above, preheat oven to 260°F (130°C).
- Instead of the frying pan, use a dutch oven when frying the onion and meat.
- When you are done sautéing the last batch of meat, deglaze your dutch oven with vinegar and water, then add the marinade juices.
- Add all the ingredients except the onions to the dutch oven and cover with the lid. Cook in the oven for one and a half hours.
- Add the onions, stir, and cook for another hour and a half or until the meat is fall-apart tender. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
Tips
In Greece, rabbit is traditionally used stifado. But you could even use chicken thighs if you don't eat red meat.
You could serve this hearty stew in a bowl as is, or team it with a low carb bread. Or why not with cauliflower rice to soak up all that aromatic sauce?
Make a big batch and freeze the leftovers! Reheat on busy weeknights to make sure you stay on plan.
For extra flavor, top it with some feta cheese, Greek yogurt, or sour cream.
For the pearl onions to hold up, peel them and trim the root not too high.
