Of my many tips to save time and sanity in the kitchen (found here), one all-time favorite is the slow cooker.

At least one or two days per week, you can feel like your dinner is “cooking itself” when you use a slow cooker. And these days, it’s not just chilis and stews.

You can make many different recipes in a slow cooker, and you can convert almost all of them to Keto Zone meals.

So, what’s for dinner tonight?

Try our wonderful Slow Cooker Keto Zone Beef and Broccoli – you won’t be disappointed!

Slow Cooker Keto Zone Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds of Flank Steaks, venison, bison, or elk (local/grass fed if possible)
• 1 cup organic beef broth
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce or liquid aminos
• 1/3 cup erythritol
• 1 Tbsp organic coconut oil
• 1-2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour + 2 Tbsp cold water
• 4 Tbsp MCT oil or melted coconut oil

Instructions:

Grease the inside of the slow cooker with coconut oil.

Add first 7  ingredients (steaks through chili flakes)  to slow cooker, and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

About 30 minutes before serving, place broccoli in microwave and microwave for 5 minutes, or saute on the stovetop for 10 minutes (add 1 Tbsp coconut oil to saute).

Meanwhile, mix coconut flour and cold water together and stir well. Add broccoli and flour mixture to slow cooker and allow to heat on low for the last 30 minutes.

Drizzle MCT oil or melted coconut oil over the dish. Serves 6.

Serve with Cauliflower Rice for extra detoxifying nutrient power!  You can find Keto Zone Cauliflower Rice here.

Nutrition info: 395 calories, 30 gm fat, 3 gm net carbs (5 gm carbs, 2 gm fiber), 27 gm protein

How We Converted This Recipe into a Keto Zone Dinner

Of course, this recipe did not start out as a Keto Zone dinner. We followed these 5 Steps to convert it to a Keto Zone Dinner:

Step 1: Identify any grains in the dish. Typically, this includes bread, noodles, rice, breadcrumbs, and more. The grains in question? The original recipe included cornstarch as a thickener and rice.

Step 2: Replace the grains with Keto Zone vegetables. Or, if it works in the meal, simply omit them and add more healthy fats or vegetables. In this case, we substituted “cauliflower rice’ for the traditional rice. It would also be fine to use zucchini noodles. We also used coconut flour to thicken rather than cornstarch.

Step 3: Identify any sugars or sweeteners. These are often found in sauces or condiments used. Sweeteners in the original recipe? Honey or maple.

Step 4: Replace sweeteners with a Keto-friendly option. We used erythritol in place of the honey, using the same amount as was listed.

Step 5: If the meal is low in fat, add a healthy fat such as coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, avocados or others. This typically rounds out an otherwise lean meal and will keep you in the Keto Zone. This meal was low in fat with more of a balance towards protein. To make it Keto Zone, we added a drizzle of coconut oil or MCT oil. This brought the percentage of calories from fat to 68%. Of course, over an entire day, you’re aiming for 75% or more. You can use “fat bombs” and other high-fat snacks to up your fat intake.

Find all the details about converting recipes here.

Beyond the Numbers: Health-Promoting Nutrients

With Keto Zone meals, it’s not just about reducing carbs and increasing fats. It’s also about flooding your body with health-promoting nutrients within the guidelines of Keto.

In this Keto Zone Beef and Broccoli recipe? The nutrition all-stars are the broccoli, cauliflower, coconut oil, and garlic. Here’s why:

• Coconut Oil and MCT Oil. Coconut oil is a concentrated source of medium triglycerides, a special type of saturated fats that can promote health and energy. Instead of using high omega-6 oils, choose, omega-3 (fish), omega-9s (olive & avocados) or medium chain triglycerides. Then, add even more concentrated MCTs with MCT oil.
• Keto Zone Vegetables: Two of the best Keto Zone vegetable options are broccoli and cauliflower. These sulfur-containing veggies provide a 1-2-3 detoxifying power punch of nutrients for the body. They are high in antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, anti-cancer, and more (1). To read why they should be a part of your diet, check out these 8 Proven Benefits.
• Garlic is an amazing vegetable. It is incredibly heart healthy and promotes healthy cholesterol levels. What’s more, it’s highly anti-inflammatory and a strong antioxidant, which means less damage to blood vessel cells (where plaques get lodged and do damage), less oxidative stress, and more healing (2). Additionally, garlic is anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, and overall health-benefitting.

Bottom Line

Keto Zone eating is versatile, delicious and can include a huge variety of all sorts of different foods and recipes. You are not doomed to eating a boring diet. Follow our 5 Step recipe plan, and use recipes like this Keto Zone Beef and Broccoli to keep it Keto Zone, amazingly nutritious, and delicious!