Hours of slow cooking make this beef rendang keto curry rich, tender and velvety smooth. This Malaysian beef curry is the perfect mid-winter meal but I enjoy it all year long. I can’t get enough of this delicious flavour!
This keto-friendly alternative to takeout is incredibly easy to make too, with minimal hands-on time. Just turn on the slow cooker in the morning, and add your ingredients. Then, dinner is cooked when you walk in the door tonight. Serve with fluffy cauliflower rice for a complete family dinner. Your taste buds will thank you!
Is curry keto?
Curry can be keto as long as you avoid the curry paste and curry sauce that has added sugars. Most traditional curries can easily be adapted to become a low-carb curry or a keto curry.
If you make your own homemade curry paste, your curry dinner will be healthier, cheaper and more flavoursome.
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Most store-bought pre-made curry sauces have a high sugar content and are packed with wheat and other refined starches to thicken the sauce.
Many of my low carb curry recipes are chicken curry has all the traditional herbs and curry spices you would expect in a Malaysian curry recipe. You can enjoy it guilt-free!
It comes together in a very nice way as it is naturally thickened by the slow cooking process and the full-fat coconut cream in the homemade curry sauce. The gentle heat is mild enough for the entire family too.
What is beef rendang?
The authentic beef rendang curry is served across Indonesia and is often known as Malaysian beef curry in various parts of the world. It is generally a drier curry with much less sauce than you might be used to.
Many will argue as to which spices belong in a rendang curry. Others will also debate whether it should be a dry curry or a wet curry. In fact, they are both correct, there is dry rendang and a wet rendang recipe.
Many people will typically only picture chicken curry, but the beef makes for a flavourful dish—I highly recommend you try it!
There are also pork rendang, seafood, papaya, dried meat and even tripe rendang out there too. Once you get this delicious spice mix down, you can swap out proteins as you’d like.
How many carbs are there in a low carb beef curry?
When you make homemade authentic curry it has minimal carbs. This recipe has only 1.1g NET grams of carbs.
Be aware that the cauliflower rice and any leafy greens you decide to add are in addition to this.
And for anyone following a high protein diet, this Friday night curry has a whopping 30.4g protein per serving.
If you’re on the carnivore diet, ditch the cauliflower rice and have a double serving of the beef instead.
Coconut beef curry vs coconut chicken curry?
If you’re wondering which is best, both are delicious, it depends on which meat you prefer.
I love to make a creamy rich chicken coconut curry because it has a milder taste and is perfect for a mid-week family dinner. The combination of curry paste or curry powder with coconut cream, pumpkin and spinach, makes this a healthy balanced easy healthy dinner.
But if you want a more authentic taste, then beef keto curry is the winner. This quick recipe has an exotic flavour that you will fall in love with. It’s easy to throw together and has the classic taste of a spicy coconut sauce. So you can stop your fast food or takeout curry because this can be prepared in the morning and cook all day long in your slow cooker (or Instant Pot) and be ready for you when you come home.
What can I serve curry on instead of rice?
Once you discover how much white rice (or even brown rice) raises your blood sugars, you know rice is not suitable for anyone who has trouble with blood glucose control or for those who are on a low-carb diet or keto diet.
How to make cauliflower rice?
If you are going to make cauliflower rice there are two basic ways:
1: Sauteeing or frying the cauliflower rice in a big skillet over a medium temperature.
2: Cooking or steaming cauliflower rice in a saucepan for 5 to 7 minutes.
For both methods, you can use one or two tablespoons of your favourite cooking oil to prevent the cauliflower pearls from sticking to your pan. You might also like to use ghee (clarified butter) or some more coconut cream. Adding coconut cream and salt to your cauliflower rice really does make a huge difference to the end result and flavour.
Ingredients
With only a few simple ingredients, you can make your own Friday night takeout at home, for a fraction of the cost and without the carbs, sugars and starches. This 5 star recipe is loved by my entire family but also makes for a nice, elevated dish for date night too. It’s the perfect way to end the day!
- Beef – You can use any casserole beef such as gravy beef, blade steak, chuck steak, rump steak for example.
- Coconut cream – always buy the full fat coconut cream and not the coconut milk. The fat gives the curry sauce an amazing creamy texture and authentic coconut taste.
- Spices – While many curries include garam masala, this recipe calls for an aromatic curry paste made from a blend of spices that’s similar, but slightly different. By mixing all the different dried spices together with the coconut cream, you get a variety and complexity of flavours. It may seem daunting to have all these in your spice drawer but once you have them, you can make curry paste for a fraction of the price of that from the grocery store.
- Onion – if you want to make this keto curry even lower in carbs, or you cannot tolerate onions, you can omit the onion altogether. It really does taste beautiful with the sliced onion included in the curry recipe, but it will taste just fine if you choose to omit it.
All the measurements are in the recipe card below.
Instructions
Cooking casserole meat on low heat for hours renders the meat to be delicate, smooth and absolutely delicious. Buying cheap cuts of meat such as casserole steak is the easiest way to make healthy family dinners affordable and cheap.
I love using the slow cooker for keto recipes. Put it on in the morning, and it is ready for you when you get home. It is also a really great way to economise by buying the cheaper cuts of meat, making extra and saving the leftovers for lunch the next day or freezing for another night.
Instant Pot instructions
Want to know my secret? I often forget to prepare my meals in the morning and turn the slow cooker on but I have no other way to cook casserole meat to be a soft and tender stew. So I have discovered I can quickly and easily prepare my low carb curry in the instant pot. Here’s how I do it.
- Turn the SAUTE function on you Instant Pot. Saute (fry) your onion with oil until no longer raw.
- Add all the spices and stir for 1 minute to enhance the aromatics from the curry mixture.
- Add the cubed beef and fry until each piece of beef is browned on all sides.
- Throw the coconut cream into the casserole dish.
- Cover with the pressure cooker lid and cook for 20 minutes.
- When the timer has finished, manually release the steam.
If you would like the spinach in your low carb curry, then stir it into the curry as soon as you lift the lid. The heat from the cooked meat and coconut sauce will wilt and cook the spinach.
How to cut the beef
Cut the raw beef with a sharp knife into cubes. You don’t want them to be too small otherwise they will fall apart and look like pulled pork. I would suggest cutting into 1 inch/2.5cm cubes, or even larger.
How to Use Coconut Cream or Coconut Milk in a Curry
By using coconut cream, makes this recipe dairy free, Paleo, and Whole 30 friendly too. But which type of coconut liquid should you use?
Coconut cream makes for a more creamy sauce and a thick curry paste. If you want to use coconut milk you just need to place your can of coconut milk in the fridge for 1 hour or freezer for 20 minutes. The high-fat coconut cream will rise to the top and you can scoop the creamed coconut off the top and use this.
If you use regular coconut milk (or reduced-fat coconut milk) your spicy curry sauce will be thin and runny.
Top tip: Always make sure you buy a sugar-free or keto-friendly coconut milk. So look at the nutrition labels and buy a can or box with more than 20% fat and less than 4% carbohydrates. Check the ingredients to check there are no added sugars or thickeners.
What’s the Difference Between Curry Paste and Curry Powder?
Curry powder is convenient because it has a long shelf life and doesn’t need to be refrigerated once open but many say it lacks the depth of flavour. Store-bought curry powder is usually yellow whereas curry paste can be yellow, red or green.
Curry paste is made with water or oil. Whist curry paste can be a complex array of flavours, it is often made with the types of unhealthy fats and oils that we would usually avoid in a whole food diet. Processed seed oils such as canola, sunflower and soy are easily oxidised and inflammatory.
It’s for this reason that I tend to make my own blend of herbs and spices then blend with coconut cream or ghee. Ghee is clarified butter and is traditionally used in Indian curry recipes.
Red Curry Paste vs Green Curry Paste
There are subtle but important differences between green curry paste and red curry paste. As a general rule, red curry paste is spicier because it is made from red chillies whereas green curry paste is milder because it’s made from green chillies.
How to make keto curry paste
Measure all of your spices.
Measure the coconut cream into the slow cooker.
Mix all the spices into a small mixing bowl or directly into the slow cooker dish.
Mix your curry paste ingredients together to make a paste.
Now add the cubed raw beef to the curry paste inside the slow cooker, add the onion that has been cut into quarters, and mix until all the beef cubes have been coated in the curry paste.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on LOW HEAT or HIGH HEAT as per the recipe card below.
Just before it’s time to serve, stir through some leafy vegetables and cook for 1-2 minutes only.
Why this Recipe Works
This beef curry recipe is only 1.1G net carbs per serving, and when served on cauliflower rice, it makes for the perfect keto dinner, low-carb dinner, gluten-free dinner and family dinner.
It’s one of the most popular curry recipes because it doesn’t require any marinating time. You don’t need to stand over the oven stirring the beef on a medium heat and hoping it doesn’t boil dry.
The nutrition facts speak for themselves, it’s easy keto at its tastiest.
How to serve keto coconut curry
There are so many delicious keto side dishes but the best has to be cauliflower rice, often flavoured with coconut and spices. If you want to be super organised in the morning, shred/grate the cauliflower in the morning and leave it in the saucepan ready to go.
When you get home, pour some coconut cream into the cauliflower pan, and begin to cook on medium heat. Your vegetable rice will be ready in less than 10 minutes!
Just before serving your homemade curry, stir some of your favourite leafy greens such as chopped spinach, sliced silverbeet, Swiss chard or kale to add even more nutrition and colour. Add the greens 3-5 minutes before serving and cook for only 1-2 minutes. They will be wilted, but remain their vibrant green colour.
Sprinkle some desiccated coconut or a spoon of coconut cream to garnish individual serving dishes.
Slow cooker keto curry recipe (beef rendang)
Equipment
- slow cooker
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 800 g beef, stewing steak cubed cut into large pieces
- 200 ml coconut cream
- 1 red onion quartered and sliced
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground coriander/cilantro ground
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 4 cloves whole
- leafy greens chopped
Instructions
- Put the coconut cream and all the spices into the slow cooker. Mix to make your own delicious homemade curry paste.
- Add the chopped onion and diced beef. Stir until all the meat has been coated in the curry paste.
- Cook on LOW for 8 – 10 hours or HIGH for 4-6 hours, depending on your slow cooker settings and recommended times.
- Add your choice of leafy greens to the slow cooker 5 minutes before serving. Fold them through gently.
- Serve with fluffy cauliflower rice.
Notes
- The nutrition values will vary widely depending on which coconut cream you use.
- Cauliflower rice has not been included in the nutrition panel.
Nutrition
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I am not familiar with Chinese 5 Spice. Can you tell me what may be similar? Great looking recipe and I’d love to try it.
It contains fennel, star anise, cassia, ginger and cloves. You can buy it at Sainsburys.
Instead of using all the ground spices, you can use a tablespoon or two of curry powder, depending on how spicy you want it. That way, you need not buy so many individual ground spices.
Holy smokes I made this last night and it was UNBELIEVABLE. Thank you thank you. I added some homemade beef bone broth as my bit of beef was bigger and it worked really nicely. I also added some arrowroot (1 tbsp) to thicken it a bit at the end. AMAZING. Thank you SO much.
That has to be the best feedback I think I have got yet! Holy smokes! Love it. xxx
Just wondering what the ‘4 cloves’ is in the recipe (garlic ?)
Thanks
A clove is a spice. it is the flower bud of a tree. Click here to see.
4 cloves??? I can’t see any mention in the recipe??
I don’t have a slow cooker – if I did this in the oven what setting would I do it on and for how long?
I would cook it at 160C for 2 hours.
Hi would love to try this and love all your recipes but can you please tell me the carbs per 100g as I find this difficult to work out. Thank you
I generally work our carbs per serving size as I don’t weight the final product which you would need to calculate per 100g. I use MyFitnessPal, but make sure you choose the correct brand you are cooking with otherwise different brands vary so much.
Just wondering when do you add the leafy greens? 🙂
You add them 5 minutes before serving. Sorry it was in the description but not the instructions so I’ve amended that now 🙂
Could you substitute chicken in this recipe?
Absolutely, that would be a great idea.
Is the coconut cream meant to remain intact? I’ve just checked mine and it’s split. Is there anyway to pull it back?
Yes it should, but if it does split, make a paste of coconut flour and water then add that to thicken the sauce again.
How much is “1c coconut cream”? Is that one cup or one can? Is there a specific amount in ml? Thanks.
I just made this tonight with the cauliflower rice and it really was delicious! The best thing is it’s so simple. Threw it in my old crock pot this morning, did the rice this arvo, the meat was falling apart, lovely flavours and wow the cauliflower rice was amazing. I really think adding fresh coriander to the rice makes it so yummy. Thank you so much Libby, this will be a regular meal for us now. I really appreciate your site, sincerely,
Rachael
Thank you Rachael. I am so glad when I hear people love my recipes and find my site helpful. That is exactly why I started it, helping families make real food, real easy. Libby.
Do you have any other malay recipes. I’ve recently visited malaysia and tasted beef rendang and onion sambala. do you have any idea how they’re made?
Just add toasted, milled dessicated coconut – dry fry a tablespoon of it in a small pan till medium brown, then mill it and add it to the curry at the end.
To get more of the rendang flavour, add a couple of stalks of crushed lemongrass. Add grated ginger too, if you like. Good luck!
As for Malaysian recipes, google the names of dishes you like and you’ll find them. Adapt them to LCHF as needed.
To your Beef Rendang, do add a few hand-torn Kaffirlime leaves in the last 5 minutes of cooking – they add that zesty aroma to a curry. 🙂 Happy cooking.
Hi, I’ve always pre-cooked/warmed food if I’m going to slow cook, is this not the case with this dish?
Natalie asked “Is the coconut cream meant to remain intact? I’ve just checked mine and it’s split. Is there anyway to pull it back?” I didn’t understand what she meant by this and so sorry one last question is coconut cream the same as coconut milk? Thanks
Awesome questions Rachel. I used to brown any meat before putting it into the slow cooker and I have now made it super simple and throw the meat and onions etc in raw. It cooks brilliantly and there is not enough of a difference to warrant me getting up early to fry meat before breakfast. By doing it this way I can rely on the slow cooker regularly because of the convenience. I use it to make life easier and be able to make a nutritious dinner when I don’t get in the door until after 6 pm with hungry children after sports. Coconut cream is not the same as coconut milk. Coconut cream is 25% fat and comes out incredibly thick (you can even scoop the top off and whip for desserts). You can see the coconut cream that I keep regularly in my pantry in my Amazon store. And lastly, yes sometimes it does curdle but it has always just mixed back in, or add some more coconut cream at the end. Libby.
Hi, I jave been following a LCHF approach for a while now and came across your website while looking for new inspiration for meals. Your recipes look great. I just wanted to know does the nutrition information for this curry and your other curries include the cauliflower rice?
For this one the nutrition is just the curry. I am slowly going through all my old posts and updating my nutrition panels making it clearer as to what it includes.
If I don’t have whole cloves can I substitute with clove powder? If so, how much?
Yes but use only a quarter of a teaspoon. The fresh cloves really just infuse the clove flavour so dried cloves would be an instant punch of flavour.
I can’t see where the recipe asks for cloves??
Hey thanks, for some reason the last spice had dropped off. I’ve popped it back in.
This was the best curry sauce I have ever had, thank you! My husband said he would prefer it with chicken, but the beef was delicious also.
Brilliant Leah. And yes you can pretty much substitute most meats in this recipe. I love my slow cooker, and making such amazing tasty dishes with pretty much zero effort.
Hi
I fancy making this recipe. However i just do not like cooked onions, would i be able to taste them in this? Or can i not use them?
Thank you.
Yes you can taste them but feel free to omit them if you want a milder flavour and no onions.
You can add garlic and grated ginger instead, if you prefer.
Made this yesterday, was a total disaster! 🙁 I saved it buy adding 2 tbs of tomato paste. I don’t know about other people but the colour of mine was more a chocolate dark brown, not the nice lighter brown you have! 🙁 oh well. I’ll keep hunting for another recipe. 🙂 Thanks though, gave me the bravery to try the slow cooker again! 😀
Mine wasn’t a disaster but didn’t taste that great. Agree that the colour was a lot darker too. Looking to rescue this dish somehow. Will try the tomato paste suggestion
I would like to make this for tea tonight however I don’t have 8 hours for it to cook. Would it work in a big pot on the stove? Thanks
Absolutely, that would be great. I just love turning my slow cooker on and forgetting about it. I would suggest cooking for an hour on a low/med heat. Stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn’t stick on the bottom of the pan. You could even put it in a casserole dish and bake it in the oven on a low/medium heat for at least an hour. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat will be.
If I double the ingredients – double the cooking time?
No, but please check the instructions that come with your own brand of slow cooker. They vary considerably. You may have to cook it for a little longer but not double.
Is the coconut cream the only liquid? And is it 1 cup or 1 can?
Yes that’s the only liquid, you’ll be amazed at how much liquid and juices comes out from the meat as it cooks. It is so incredibly tender.
For a special aromatic flavour, dry fry a tablespoon of dessicated coconut in a small pan till medium brown. Let it cool, then mill it in a blender briefly. Add it to the curry at the end.
Also, throw in two crushed lemongrass stems, a couple of de-seeded dried red chillies, chopped garlic and grated ginger at the beginning for extra flavour. This would be closer to the Malaysian beef Rendang.
Please don’t sprinkle the white grated coconut or dessicated coconut on top – that’s not Malaysian style at all. What we do is brown 1-2 tablespoons of coconut in a dry pan, pound it with mortar and pestle or mill it, then add it to the curry in its last five minutes of cooking. It gives it a lovely toasted coconut aroma.
Thanks for helping to make it authentic! I want to make this for a Malaysian friend of mine, so this is great!
Aw, thank you 🙂
This curry was so super easy to make, going to adjust and add more flavoring ingredients next time around. Took me about 15 mins to prep, then just set the slow cooker and wait until dinner time 🙂 Also added extra leafy greens in mine.
Hi just wondering what leafy greens you used please.
I generally use chopped spinach or silverbeet (I think others may call it Swiss chard – whichever is in season and is cheaper at the time.
Can I substitute Coconut milk for Coconut Cream? I find coconut cream way too rich for my taste.
You can, but remember the coconut milk will be runny, and so will your sauce 🙁
Has anyone tried this in a pressure cooker?
Hi, I’m currently cooking this, and although it smells fantastic, it has gone extremely watery. I used the exact ingredients, including the coconut cream, not milk. When I first placed it all into the slow cooker, their were barely any juices or liquids, now its half full and extremely watery. Is their anyway of saving this? Perhaps a bit of cornflour? Thank you
What a shame. It sounds like all the ingredients you used were correct, as you correctly witnessed, there isn’t much of a curry sauce to begin with. That usually develops as it slowly cooks and the fat renders out. Was the cut of meat you used extremely fatty? Sometimes the meat itself can have a high water content, especially if it had been frozen previously. The meat is the only ingredient where there could have been hidden moisture. To thicken a watery curry sauce, I often add some desiccated/shredded coconut or a little coconut flour dissolved in a little of the curry sauce. Either one will help thicken the sauce and add a little extra coconut flavour too.
I made this yesterday and it was the best dish i ever made. My family devoured it. It turned out so great I am making it a second time today!
I made this with beef mince today. I added garlic and ginger as extras. This is a very nice flavourful recipe. I will definitely be using chicken or beef next time. Thanks Libby.
Yuck! This was a huge disappointment!
Wow, my apologies it wasn’t to your liking. I’m not quite sure what there isn’t to like about it – meat, curry spices, leafy greens and coconut cream. Simplicity at it’s best.
Goodness. i think you could have expressed your disappointment without being so rude.
Hi Libby, thanks for your great recipes and advice. I am just starting out on a keto diet and tried your malasian beef curry, however I didn’t have time to do it in the slow cooker. So I cooked it in the pressure cooker instead. I think the pressure cooker might weaken the flavour a bit, so I added some extra spices at the end, but otherwise it was great. I was a bit sceptical of how the cauliflower rice would taste, but it was much better than expected and went really well with the curry.
Fabulous! I have made this in the Instant Pot, and it turned out great, but with all curries, we will all be on different ends of the spicy scale. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cauliflower rice too, it’s a game changer!
How long in the pressure cooker Libby?
I would estimate 25 minutes.
This is a great recipe! I made it for the second time today in the Instant Pot but added a little lemongrass & kaffir lime leaves. Mmmm. I used 1/2 can of coconut cream and it did turn out a little watery but I just added coconut flour until it was the thickness I desired.
Flavour was bland. I had to add a lot of salt. As well, the texture was of the sauce was not very smooth, but grainy. I did cook the recipe at a high setting for 5 hours which make explain the texture, but it was very odd.
I also found the onion slices to be too large when cut quartered. They did not look appetizing and the bites were uneven because of it.
After some fidgeting, the flavour turned out good but I was still a bit disappointed nonetheless.
I added a chilli and about 7 tea spoons of brown sugar, bit of salt and pepper and for the texture – a coconut cream sachet
The colour was also a dark-ish brown rather than the bright orangey brown pictured. Recipe requires some tinkering.
Ok, it’s not the most attractive dish – darker brown than golden – but, once I added salt, it was absolutely delicious. I found the coconut cream curdled within half an hour of my turning the slow cooker on. Low 8 hours. But it was only an issue because of the excess liquid that had accumulated after several hours of cooking. So after adding a good amount of salt (cuts through the greasiness of meat fat and coconut cream), I turned the SC to High and left the lid off, so that the excess liquid could evaporate. Did the trick, the dish look so much better. Still not as pretty as a Thai dish, but absolutely delicious, and the meat was super tender. Would definitely make it again.
Hi. I made this today. Lovely fragrance and tender meat but found it bland. Shows how much we are used to having salt in our food so will add a bit next time.
Slow cooked meat on low for the full 8 hours. I recommend adding 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp salt as it definitely needed something extra & this is what I used. Absolutely delicious especially with the recommended coconut cauliflower rice. Saving this recipe to have again .
Hi!
My partner and I loved this recipe! I added some beef stock to add some depth to the flavour, and I cooked cauliflower rice using coconut cream which went well with the curry. Thanks for the recipe!
Ive cooked lots of curries this was bland no flavour at all and nothing like your photo very disappointed yuk
Did you add enough chili and spices as per recipe? I cannot understand how this has no flavour. Maybe check the expiry date of your seasonings? You may be thinking of strong Indian curries vs this particular Malaysian curry which this one is a more subtle chili heat, but still strong in flavour.
Thanks for the recipe but I agree with the top comments very bland and was brown, followed the recipe to a T and then put salt, beef stock powder and coconut flour to save it but still couldn’t eat it I’m sorry but just need to caution others because waiting 8 hrs to have a yum dinner for a family of 6 and then to not have it is disappointing ? McDonald’s it is.
I’m guessing I won’t bump into you then ?
Beef Rendang is one of my all-time favorite dishes – I met it on a cruise ship with a largely Indonesian crew, and I’ve ordered it every time it’s on the menu. I’ve put this on my menu plan for my next cooking stint (my husband and I share cooking duties), and am really looking forward to it, especially with the coconut cauliflower rice.
Awesome Susan, I know you’ll love this. It’s such an easy keto curry recipe to throw on in the morning and dinner is ready when you come home.
This tastes nothing like the dish I’ve come to love. However, it is very tasty (I did add some salt at the end), and something I definitely would make again. I chose to use dinosaur kale for the leafy greens, which i added about 30 minutes before the dish was done. Next time I would probably give it an hour of cooking time, to let it get a little more done. One other positive is that unlike many slow cooker recipes, this one did not permeate the whole house with cooking smells (we are long retired, so we’re home all day). I have found strong cooking smells to be a real turn-off.
This was really good! Yes, it needs some seasoning with some lemon juice and a cube of beef stock or some salt, but otherwise great flavor! Loved it!
I made this last night and it was spectacular. I haven’t stopped talking about it and about to send it to a friend. If there was a higher rating than 5* then this recipe would have it.
Thanks, Linda!