Beef stifado on cauliflower mash. 53 g protein and 13 g net carbs at 687 kcal per plate.
By Frixos Dimitriadis · Published November 7, 2026 · Updated November 7, 2026
2 servings · Prep 15 min · Cook 120 min · Total 135 min · Per serving: 687 kcal, 52.9 g protein, 19.2 g carbs, 45.8 g fat
Stifado is what Greek kitchens cook when it gets cold: beef or rabbit simmered for hours with onions, tomato, vinegar, cinnamon and bay, until the meat falls apart and the sauce turns glossy. It is usually served with potatoes, rice or a lot of bread for the sauce, and that is where a keto day ends. Serve it on a buttery cauliflower mash instead and you keep everything you love about it.
Each plate gives 687 kcal, 52.9 g of protein, 45.8 g of fat and 13.4 g of net carbs (19.2 g of total carbs minus 5.8 g of fibre). The recipe serves 2, and the numbers come from the DietSync app, where every ingredient is weighed in grams.
A classic stifado uses almost as much onion as meat, usually small baby onions left whole. They are delicious, but onions are not carb-free: in the DietSync food database, 100 g of onion has 7.6 g of net carbs. 400 g of onions in this pot would add about 15 g of net carbs to every plate.
This version keeps 100 g of onion for the whole pot. It cooks down into the sauce and gives the sweetness stifado needs, adding under 4 g of net carbs per plate. The cinnamon, bay and vinegar do the rest, so it still tastes like the real thing.
The 400 g of lean beef gives about 47 g of protein per plate, so this is a real high-protein meal. The fat comes mainly from the mash, because butter and cream are what make cauliflower taste rich, and from the olive oil used to brown the meat. Together, the butter and cream add about 193 kcal to each plate, which is why both ways to cut calories in the recipe card start with the mash. The carbs come from the cauliflower, the onion and the tomato.
In the DietSync app
This recipe uses lean beef with 5% fat, cut into cubes of about 3 cm. Lean beef keeps the calories in check but needs a gentle simmer to turn tender, so don't rush it. If you prefer a cut that melts more easily, beef shoulder or chuck works too: it becomes softer after two hours, but it has more fat, so the calories go up.
Brown the beef in batches over high heat first. Crowded in the pot, it releases its water and boils grey instead of browning, and that browning is where the flavour comes from. Then turn the heat right down, put the lid on and leave it for 1½–2 hours, stirring now and then. If the sauce gets too thick before the beef is tender, add a splash of hot water. When it is ready, a cube should break apart with a fork. Fish out the bay leaves before you serve; they have done their job. And don't skip the vinegar: its sharpness cooks off, but without it the sauce turns out sweet and flat.
Cauliflower holds a lot of water, so boil it for 12 minutes, drain it well and let it steam dry in the colander for a few minutes. Then mash it with the butter, cream and a pinch of salt, or blend it for a smoother mash. Dry cauliflower gives a thick, creamy mash that holds the sauce, not a puddle under it.
The mash is the side, so the plate only needs something green. A bowl of boiled horta (wild greens) with olive oil and lemon is the classic Greek match, and leafy greens add very few net carbs. A simple cabbage and carrot salad works too, as long as you keep the carrot to a handful. Leave out the bread: with a mash this creamy, you won't need anything else to soak up the sauce.
Stifado is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day, when the spices have had time to settle. Make it on Sunday and you have dinner ready for Monday and Tuesday. It keeps 3 days in the fridge and freezes well for up to 2 months. Make the mash fresh when you eat; it takes 15 minutes while the stifado reheats. For lunchboxes, pack the stifado and mash in separate boxes and reheat them together.
At 13.4 g of net carbs, one plate uses about half of a strict 25 g keto day. Keep breakfast and lunch low in carbs, with eggs, full-fat Greek yoghurt or a big salad with protein, like the meals in our 7-day keto meal plan.
More Greek classics made keto: keto moussaka with cauliflower topping, keto keftedes with tzatziki and shrimp saganaki.
The recipe is in the DietSync app, in the Keto Main Meals book. Log it in one tap and the app keeps count of your net carbs, protein and fat for the day.
Don't pile all the beef into the pot at once. In one layer it browns; crowded, it releases water and boils.
Keep the lid on and the heat low for the whole simmer. A hard boil makes lean beef tough; a gentle simmer makes it tender.
Drain the cauliflower well and let it steam dry for a few minutes before you add the butter and cream.
The classic usually isn't, because it is made with a lot of onions and served with potatoes, rice or bread. This version uses 100 g of onion for the whole pot and swaps the potatoes for cauliflower mash, so one plate has 13.4 g of net carbs.
Yes. Brown the beef, onion and garlic in a pan first, then put everything in the slow cooker with only half the water and cook on low for about 6 hours.
Vinegar is what makes stifado taste like stifado. It balances the sweetness of the onion and tomato, and most of its sharpness cooks off during the long simmer.
Yes, the stifado freezes well for up to 2 months. The cauliflower mash is best made fresh, because it turns watery after freezing.
