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Home » Blog » Recipes » Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef Shanks & Cabbage Stew

Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef Shanks & Cabbage Stew

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I’m always looking for shortcuts to deliciousness, so even though my last slow cooker experiment was an abject failure, I was determined to undertake a new experiment this morning.

A plate with slow cooker grass fed beef shanks and cabbage stew.

I’d defrosted a couple of 2-inch center cut grass fed beef shanks, and was looking forward to chucking everything into the slow cooker so I’d have a tasty cabbage and beef shank stew ready to devour when I woke up in the evening. (Well, I was hoping it’d be tasty…)

Time to make Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef Shanks and Cabbage Stew!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • ½ pound organic baby carrots
  • 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 small cabbage (about 2 pounds), cored, and cut into 8 wedges
  • 8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 2 Turkish bay leaves
  • 2 center-cut grass fed beef shanks (about 2″ thick)
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 (15-ounce) can of organic diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 cup organic chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons coconut aminos

Equipment:

  • All of my recommended kitchen tools are listed here.

Method:

I dumped the baby carrots and chopped onions into the bottom of my slow cooker…

Chopped onions and baby carrots piled in a slow cooker.

…and layered the cabbage wedges on top.

Wedges of green cabbage layered on top of onions and carrots in a slow cooker.

I threw in the smashed garlic cloves and bay leaves, and seasoned the beef shanks with salt and pepper to taste (by the way, feel free to be pretty heavy-handed with the S&P).

Grass fed beef shanks seasoned and sitting on a cutting board.

Then, I plopped ‘em on top of the cabbage.

Grass fed beef shanks sitting on top of wedges of cabbage in a slow cooker.

The last step was to pour in the diced tomatoes and broth…

Diced tomatoes poured on top of grass fed beef shanks in a slow cooker.

…before putting on the lid. I set the slow cooker on low and let it do its thing for 9 hours while I hit the sack. (Ah, the nocturnal life of a night shift worker…)

A close up of the buttons on a slow cooker.

When I woke up, the house was suffused with a rich, beefy aroma. I couldn’t wait to peek at the stew. Lifting the lid off the slow cooker, I saw that the meat had pulled away from the bone and the marrow was perfectly cooked. Score!

A close up of the beef shanks of the slow cooker grass fed beef shanks and cabbage stew recipe.

I removed and plated the bones (and delicious marrow), shredded the meat, and tasted the stew for seasoning. The pot liquor was exploding with flavor, but it was a bit on the sweet side for my taste from all the onions and carrots, so I added a couple of tablespoons of coconut aminos and some more salt and pepper.

Someone pouring out a tablespoon of coconut aminos into a spoon.

In the meantime, I oven-roasted some cremini mushrooms tossed with Tabil seasoning and macadamia nut oil (400 F on convection roast for 25 minutes) and quickly whipped up some garlic cauliflower mashed “potatoes” (this time, substituting extra virgin olive oil for the grass-fed butter).

Roasted and chopped up cremini mushrooms.

Here’s my dinner plate:

A plate of slow cooker grass fed beef shanks and cabbage stew.

All in all, not too shabby for a simple dump-and-cover slow cooker meal. Because the meat was grass fed, it wasn’t quite as meltingly tender as your typical crappy (but admittedly yummy) grain ‘n corn-fed stuff. Nonetheless, it was TONS better than the grass fed “beef stew” that crawled out of my slow cooker a few days ago. Plus, bone marrow is just so damn tasty –- mouth-filling, fatty, and full of umami goodness. I’m really happy I joined our meat CSA; left to my own devices, I never would’ve thought to buy beef shanks. Now, I’m gonna order them as extra items when I get next month’s box o’ animal parts!


Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).


PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD

A plate of paleo grass fed beef shanks with cabbage stew.
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef Shanks & Cabbage Stew

I'm always looking for shortcuts to deliciousness. Here's a perfect example of just that! With some beef shanks, cabbage, and aromatics, you've got yourself a tasty meal to make at night and wake up to in the morning.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time9 hrs
Total Time9 hrs 15 mins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Dairy-free, gluten-free, paleo, Primal, Whole30
Servings: 6
Calories: 322kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ pound baby carrots
  • 2 medium onions roughly chopped
  • 1 small cabbage about 2 pounds, cored and cut into 8 wedges
  • 7 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
  • 2 Turkish bay leaves
  • 2 center-cut grass fed beef shanks about 2-inches thick
  • Diamond Crystal kosher salt 
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 15-ounce can of organic diced tomatoes drained
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons coconut aminos

Instructions 

  • Dump the baby carrots and onions into the bottom of your slow cooker and layer the cabbage wedges on top. Throw on top the smashed garlic cloves and bay leaves.
  • Season the beef shanks with salt and pepper. Feel free to be pretty heavy-handed! Then, plop them on top of the cabbage.
  • Pour the drained diced tomatoes and chicken broth into the slow cooker. Put the lid and program the slow cooker to low. Let everything cook for about 9 hours.
  • When it's done, the meat should have pulled away from the bone and the marrow is. perfectly cooked. Remove and plate the bones (and delicious marrow), shred the meat, and taste the stew for seasoning. Add some coconut aminos if you think the stew is too sweet. Enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Mention @nomnompaleo or tag #nomnompaleo!

Nutrition

Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 7g | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g
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Comments

  1. Theresa Nestor says

    October 31, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    5 stars
    I tried this recipe and it’s really good.
     

    Reply

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