Dutch Oven Beef Cheeks Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs of beef cheeks
  • White Oak Pastures & Apsey Farms both carry beef cheeks (code: RIBEYERACH)
• 1-2 tablespoons of tallow or ghee
• 1 small organic onion
• 4 gloves of garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• Redmond salt to taste (or himalayan sea salt)
• 2 cups of filtered water or beef stock
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

Tools:

• Dutch oven (we love this one)
• You can use a crockpot for this, but they can leach toxins into food. Dutch ovens also retain heat better and you can both sear and cook your beef cheeks in it.

Instructions:

1. Turn your burner onto medium high heat, and add your tallow or ghee
2. Once the dutch oven is hot, add your beef cheeks and sear for about 2 minutes on both sides (until a golden crust forms on the meat). Remove the beef cheeks from the dutch oven.
3. Turn the burner down to medium low heat, add in some more tallow if necessary, and start sautéing your onions. When they start to become translucent, add in your garlic and sauté until fragrant.
4. Turn your burner to low heat (on the smallest burner you have), add the beef cheeks back in, and cover with water or stock. Add the ACV & bay leaf.
5. Cover the dutch oven and simmer on the stovetop for 6-8 hours, until the meat is fall apart tender. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the beef cheeks and how hot your stovetop is. If the meat is not falling apart, it isn’t done cooking. You’ll quickly get a feel for how long you need to cook your beef cheeks.
6. Shred the meat & and enjoy!
7. Make sure to save the braising liquid (aka the meat stock), as its full of gut healing nutrients. You can save it in the fridge and drink it or use it for recipes! Or, after removing the meat and veggies, use a few tablespoons of organic flour or organic corn starch to thicken the braising liquid into a delicious gravy / sauce.

Notes:

• The collagen / gelatin in beef cheeks is AMAZING! They are one of my favorite cuts because of that. When cooked low and slow, the connective tissue breaks down and they become fall-apart-tender and delicious. If the cheeks still feel tough, they aren’t done yet. They should be fork tender.
• You can also use the oven for this recipe. Use a temperature anywhere between 275 and 350 fahrenheit. Obviously, the hotter it cooks, the more quickly it cooks. Personally, I prefer the true “low and slow” method, so the connective tissue can break down and become fall-apart-tender.
• If you’re doing a strict carnivore diet, feel free to leave out all ingredients except the beef, salt, and water. I did this for over a year and it tastes amazing!
• If you’re using the stovetop, making sure you’re getting a true simmer and not a raging boil. Our gas stovetop was too hot to simmer, so we have to use a heat diffuser on the burner.
• Feel free to add in any other herbs you’d like (peppercorns, celery, carrots, etc) or even potatoes!
• You can also use red wine instead of water/stock (or a mixture of the two). We don’t love the flavor of red wine, so we prefer to use water or stock!
• To save the braising liquid, remove all veggies/meat and pour into glass jars through a fine mesh strainer. Some people use a cheese cloth too, but I don’t find that to be necessary.
• This recipe can be used with grass-fed beef or conventional beef. Eat the best quality you can afford! We get our grass-fed beef cheeks from White Oak Pastures and love them! (use the coupon code “RIBEYERACH” for a discount).
• Kettle & Fire has great quality grass-fed beef stock if you don’t have the time to make your own. (use the coupon code “RIBEYERACH” for a discount).
• This recipe can be enjoyed by anyone, and it fits in great with these diets: the carnivore diet, keto diet, lion diet, paleo diet, animal-based diet, low carb diet, Weston A. Price diet, etc.

You’re going to love this simple and easy beef cheeks recipe. Tag us on instagram @realfoodprojectco if you try it!