AIP Stew
Stew, especially slow cooker stew, is an absolute winter comfort food staple in my house. Slow cooker stew is the first thing I think of every time that I hear somebody say that they can't cook. I can definitely understand that not every person can make a beef wellington that will satisfy the stringent standards of notorious hardass chef Gordon Ramsey...but making a amazing slow cooker stew is as easy as accidentally knocking over some food into a slow cooker. Acquire food, place in slow cooker, eat amazing food. Everybody can make stew and there are TONS of different kinds, styles and flavors that you can vary with to keep things from getting stale in the kitchen, pun intended.
Making stew in a slow cooker can be a labor intensive process or it can be completely hands off depending on how much time you have to invest in cooking. For example, you can take the meat component and brown it on the BBQ or in a heavy pan on high heat. This will help to get the fat on the meat rendering and adds a smoky depth of flavor. Or you can do like I did in this "hands off" slow cooker recipe and just chop everything up, meat and all, and chuck it on into the slow cooker. Go ahead and take more time if you have it, but this just goes to show that it does not take a lot of work and fussing in the kitchen to make delicious (and healthy) food.
* You can use any meat that you like for this recipe. Beef, lamb, venison (deer) or moose are great options. This recipe and these pictures are of a moose stew as I was lucky enough to be donated a giant slab of moose steak by a friend of mine. If you are concerned about health pretty much everyone agrees that wild caught game is the best you can hope to get - thank you Chris!
Prep time
15 minutes
Cooking time
3 hours
Recipe yield
8 servings
Ingredients needed
1 lb boneless meat (beef, venison or moose)
2 carrots
1 large red onion
1 large yellow onion
2 sweet potatoes
2 purple skin sweet potatoes
1 bunch of asparagus
1 parsnip
1/2 head of cauliflower
handful of fresh rosemary
handful of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon salt
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
1 teaspoon arrowroot starch
2 teaspoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
Step 1 - Set slow cooker to high
Step 2 - Wash, peel and chop all vegetables into bite sized pieces
Step 3 - Melt coconut oil into slow cooker
Step 5 - Add chopped garlic and herbs to slow cooker and stir with oil
Step 6 - Add arrowroot starch, stir and let cook for 10 minutes
Step 7 - Add chopped onions, stir and let cook for 10 minutes
Step 8 - Add salt and 1/2 cup of water to slow cooker
Step 9 - Add chopped meat and vegetables. Stir and let cook for six to eight hours
You could use more water, or more broth, if you want a deeper, more liquid filled stew but you will need to increase the amount of starch or AIP compliant flour that you use. This recipe has a minimal amount of liquid content added just to keep everything moist. Once all the raw vegetables cook down you will have a lot more water released into the bottom of the slow cooker. When these mix with the starch thickener, as well as the flavors from the herbs, garlic, onions and other vegetables, you will have a very flavorful sauce.
It looks like a lot of work on paper but I can peel and cut those vegetables in a minute or two if I need to. Toss everything into the slow cooker and then just walk away for a few hours. How long you cook yours for really depends on how powerful your slow cooker is. I ended up doing six hours on high but I easily could have done less even since the sweet potatoes broke apart so easily from being so well done. Or you could just add the orange sweet potatoes about half way through cooking if you prefer to keep them more al dente.
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About the author - Steve Goodale is a blogger and technical specialist from Ontario Canada, winner of the 2018 Industry Leadership Award, who reaches over three million readers per year with his popular pool and spa blog. Steve started the www.CookForMeBaby.com blog about healthy eating after being diagnosed with a rare and incurable autoimmune disease. You can read more on his story about life with MCTD here. For more healthy cooking inspiration check out his other delicious recipes.
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