Cooking Tips for Making Low-Fat Stew

During the chilly weeks of autumn and the long, cold months of winter, you likely enjoy beef or chicken stew. A hardy stew, with its rich sauce and chunks of meat, warm your bones, but the high fat and sodium content makes stew less then figure-friendly or heart-healthy. Adapt these cooking tips to your recipes to reduce the fat and salt without sacrificing taste.

Replace the Roux
Thick sauces for stews come from making a roux, the mix of equal parts fat and flour. This adds a lot of fat to the meal as often the fat is part butter and part meat drippings, and wheat flour is high in starch.

Instead, use a slurry as the thickening agent.

Brown the meat in one or two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Remove the meat and set aside. Add the veggies and potatoes to the pot and cook just until the veggies are tender.

Dissolve two tablespoons of cornstarch into half a cup of low-fat, low-sodium broth (beef or chicken) to make a slurry. A slurry has less fat and starch than a roux, and is lower in calories.

Add the meat back into the pot along with one tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add enough broth to completely cover the veggies, potatoes and meat. As the liquid starts to bubble, slowly add in the slurry. When the stew reaches a boil, turn back the heat to simmer. Add approximately 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to beef stew, if desired.

Let the stew simmer for at least one hour. The liquid reduces and thickens as the stew simmers.

Make It Lean
Stews are usually made using economical cuts of meat, but those cuts are higher in fat and add calories to the stew. Leaner cuts, though, aren't as budget friendly. Cooking the meat in a slow cooker makes the meat tender and reduces the fat content.

Cut the beef or chicken into large portions, trimming away as much fat as possible, but keeping the meaty portions intact. Season the meat with a mix of dried herbs and sear in a skillet. To sear, heat a pan over high heat and add one to two tablespoons of oil. Place the meat in the pan and quickly brown the outside only, three to five minutes on each side.

Roughly chop one onion, two carrots and two celery stalks and place them in the slow cooker. Place the portions of beef or chicken on top of the veggies. Add just enough broth (beef, chicken or vegetable) to cover the meat halfway. Turn the slow cooker on low and let the meat cook for two hours. Move the meat to a dish and discard the broth and veggies.

Start the vegetables and potatoes in a little oil. Cut the meat into stew size pieces and add to the pot. Add the broth and slurry, simmer, and serve.

Skimp on the Salt
Instead of adding salt as a seasoning, use dried herbs. Make a seasoning mix using two teaspoons of crushed dried rosemary, two teaspoons each of crumbled thyme, parsley and basil, and one teaspoon of oregano.

Use the seasoning mix to season the meat before cooking, on the veggies as they cook in the oil, and add one or two teaspoons to the stew when you turn back the heat to simmer. When you remove the stew from the heat to serve, stir in 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sea salt.

One Last Tip
Use okra to add flavor and texture to your stew, but also as a thickener. The sticky substance in okra reacts with the liquids in your stew and increases the richness and thickness of the sauce.

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: Heart Healthy Recipes

Further Reading:
Eating Local: Fall Vegetables in the Produce Aisle
Foods for a Productive Breakfast Meeting
Seven Essential Herbs for the Garden