Beef & Vegetable Stew on Rice
By Mira Sefton
Calcium & vitamin D +
Canned salmon (with bones)Sardines (with bones)Fortified oat milkOmega-3 fats +
SalmonSardinesCanned tunaA soft, slow-cooked beef stew with peeled veg over white rice — no onion or garlic bulb, mild and easy on a sensitive gut.
Stew can be one of the kindest meals going — everything cooked soft and slow, nothing raw or sharp. The trouble is that most recipes start with a pile of onion and garlic, then build heat and acid on top. That's where a J-pouch or a fussy gut can struggle.
This version keeps all the comfort and rebuilds the flavour base without the bulb onion and garlic. You get depth from browned beef, a little garlic-infused oil, soft carrot, courgette and peeled potato, and a gentle broth. Served over plain white rice, it's filling without being heavy on insoluble fibre.
The long simmer does the work here. Cut the beef small and give it time, and you'll get tender meat and a stew that sits easy.
Ingredients
- 500 g beef chuck or gravy beef, trimmed and cut into 2 cm cubes
- 2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
- 1 tbsp plain flour (or cornflour for gluten-free)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 1 large potato, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
- 1 medium courgette, peeled and sliced
- 2 spring onions, green tops only, sliced
- 750 ml onion-free stock (or low-FODMAP stock)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 200 g white rice, to serve
Method
- Pat the beef dry and season lightly with salt. Toss the cubes in the flour until just coated.
- Heat the garlic-infused oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in batches, so it colours rather than steams. Set the browned beef aside.
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the carrot and the green spring onion tops. Stir for 2 minutes to soften slightly.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then return the beef to the pot.
- Pour in the stock and add the bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Cover and simmer low for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the beef starts to turn tender.
- Add the potato and cook for another 20 minutes.
- Add the courgette and cook for a final 10 minutes, until everything is soft and the sauce has thickened. Fish out the bay leaf.
- While the stew finishes, rinse the rice and cook it in plenty of water until tender, then drain.
- Taste the stew, adjust the salt and white pepper, and spoon it over the rice.
Gentler swaps
- Still too rich? Skim any fat off the top before serving, and use a little less garlic-infused oil.
- Potato sits heavy? Swap for peeled kumara, cut small and added at the same stage.
- Want it thinner? Add a splash more stock at the end; a brothier stew is often easier to manage.
- Gluten-free: use cornflour to coat the beef and check your stock is gluten-free.
- Lower fat: trim the beef well and chill the stew, then lift off the set fat before reheating.
For the family
Cook once — your gentle version, plus how to pep it up for everyone else.
Cook the whole pot gentle, exactly as above — soft beef, peeled veg, mild broth. This is the base everyone shares.
Serve yourself first, straight over rice. Then build up the family's bowls at the table: a spoon of fried onions or crispy shallots, a shake of garlic powder, a swirl of Worcestershire sauce, or a good pinch of chilli flakes for anyone who likes heat.
A dollop of horseradish or hot English mustard on the side also lifts a plain stew without changing the pot. Same meal, same rice — they just turn the dial up on their own bowls.
Scores are modelled estimates, not medical advice. Everyone's gut is different, and tolerance changes over time. Reintroduce foods one at a time, and follow your own medical team's advice.