Posted on December 04, 2018 by Jenny Cromack

As the nights get colder and darker there’s no better food to come home to than a classic like beef stew and dumplings.  Plus, it’s a great low calorie meal packed full of protein, vegetables and flavour that leaves you feeling full for hours.

 

 

Ingredients…

2-3 potatoes

1-2 swede

2-3 carrots

1 Parsnip

700g of beef – Pro tip: stewing steak tends to cook great, but is higher in fat and so higher in calories.  If you want a leaner option I’ve found that using lean diced beef works just as well.

Salt and Pepper (Plus any other optional seasonings you fancy)

2 Beef Stock Cubes

1-2 dashes of Red Wine (Optional – but it really adds to the rich flavour)

 

Ingredients for the dumplings…

250g self-raising flour

140g thinly chopped butter (you could also use a low calorie alternative)

Parsley, thyme and Sage (all optional but delicious!)

 

Method

1) Peel and chop your potatoes, swede, carrots and parsnip

2) Put plenty of water to boil either on the hob or in the kettle

3) Whilst the water boils pan fry your beef until no longer raw (lightly browned is also okay)

4) Add your boiled water to the beef stock cubes and mix well

5) Put your chopped vegetables, meat and stock into a deep casserole dish

6) Add the red wine as well as the salt and pepper

7) Stick in the oven on a low heat for 2 hours (Gas mark 3 tends to work great), or pop in your slow cooker.

….

8) Add your chopped butter to your flour and rub with your hands to form a fine ‘breadcrumb’ style mix.

9) Add your parsley, thyme and sage to the mix.

10) Add a small amount of water to the mix. I like to start with 3 tablespoons and add more as needed.  You’re aiming to make 6-8 doughy balls.

11) With about 20 minutes cooking time left, pop your dumplings into the casserole dish with the rest of the stew.

12) Cook for those last 20 minutes then serve up.

And there you go beef stew and dumplings; a simple, low cost, high protein meal that you can last you for days.  Nom Nom Nom!

Take a look at some more of our favourite slow cooker recipes here!

Image taken from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/stew-soup-vegetables-269314/