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Meat, European

Kalops with potatoes and beets

Kalops is a Swedish beef stew simmered with allspice and bay leaf, served with potatoes and beets. It takes 2 hours 40 minutes for 4 people, costs €3.80 per serving, and is easy to make. The key to success is a long, very gentle simmer that turns the chuck beef tender enough to fall apart with a spoon.

Tonight I'm making you kalops, a Swedish beef stew flavored with allspice and bay leaf, served with potatoes and beets.

Kalops with potatoes and beets
Total time
2 h 40
Difficulty
Easy
Cost per person
€3.80
Calories per person
570 kcalcalculated by Kiloach, your weight coach
Season
Winter, Fall

Kalops has a flavor unlike any other beef stew. Allspice berries bring a warm, faintly sweet note, somewhere between clove and cinnamon but rounder. The sauce, lightly thickened by flour and the pan juices, coats chunks of chuck beef that fall apart on their own after two hours of quiet simmering.

This is a Sunday dinner or a winter weeknight dish, the kind you make when you have time to let the pot simmer slowly on the stove. The cooked beets served alongside, with their mild acidity, cut through the richness of the sauce and bring color to a meal that usually looks fairly brown. It's a dish that warms the house with almost no hands-on effort once the meat is in the pot.

The ingredients

4 people

Butcher

  • Chuck beef 900 g

Fruits and vegetables

  • Onions 2
  • Carrots 2
  • Potatoes 800 g
  • Cooked beets 4
  • Parsley 4 sprigs

Pantry

  • Allspice berriesoften in the pantry 8
  • Bay leavesoften in the pantry 3
  • Flouroften in the pantry 1 tbsp
  • Beef bouillon cubeoften in the pantry 1
  • Saltoften in the pantry 1 pinch
  • Pepperoften in the pantry 1 pinch

Dairy

  • Butter 30 g

Allergens Gluten

The step by step recipe

  1. Cut the chuck beef into large cubes and lightly coat them in flour.

    Pat the cubes dry before flouring them, the meat browns better that way.

  2. Brown the cubes in butter in two batches, then add the sliced onions and carrot rounds. 12 min

    Sear over high heat to get color without cooking the meat in its own juices.

  3. Add the allspice, bay leaves, bouillon dissolved in two glasses of water, salt, and pepper.

    Lightly crush the allspice berries to release their flavor.

  4. Cover and let it simmer very gently until the meat is tender. 2 h

    A long, low simmer is the key, the meat should fall apart with a spoon.

  5. Cook the potatoes in salted water and warm up the beets, sliced into rounds. 20 min

    Keep the potatoes whole and peeled, they soak up the sauce better that way.

  6. Remove the bay leaves and allspice, sprinkle with parsley, and serve with the potatoes and beets.

    The beets are served on the side, their acidity balances the richness of the stew.

Our tips to get it right

  • Pick a chuck roast with good marbling rather than a very lean cut, the fat melts during cooking and makes the sauce richer.
  • Don't salt too early, the bouillon cube already adds salt, so taste the sauce near the end before adjusting.
  • If the sauce looks thin at the end of cooking, remove the lid for the last fifteen minutes so it reduces slightly.

The variations

  • Swap the chuck for beef cheek, it turns just as tender and is usually easy to find at the butcher.
  • For a vegetarian version, replace the beef with whole button mushrooms and brown lentils, and use vegetable broth instead.
  • To save time, use pre-cut stew beef and cut the simmering time to 1 hour 30 minutes by chopping the cubes smaller.

What to serve it with

  • Rye bread for soaking up the sauce
  • A dill cucumber salad
  • A light lager or cranberry juice

Storage

Kalops keeps for 3 days in the fridge in a sealed container, and it actually tastes better reheated the next day. It freezes well for up to 3 months, though the potatoes don't freeze well on their own. Reheat gently in a pot with a splash of water if the sauce has thickened too much.

Questions about this dish

Can I substitute allspice with something else?

If you can't find allspice berries, mix a pinch of cinnamon, ground clove, and pepper in small amounts. The flavor will be close but less distinctive, since allspice is really the signature note of kalops.

Can kalops be made ahead of time?

Yes, it's actually recommended, the sauce improves after resting overnight in the fridge. Reheat gently over low heat the next day before serving with freshly cooked potatoes.

Why do you flour the meat before browning it?

The flour helps the chuck beef chunks brown and lightly thickens the sauce as it cooks. Dry the meat well before flouring it so it browns instead of sticking to the pot.

Can I use raw beets instead of cooked ones?

Raw beets need a long cook in water or the oven before serving, around 45 minutes. Pre-cooked beets save time and work just as well in this dish.

How long does it take to make a kalops with potatoes and beets?

Count 2 h 40 in total, prep and cooking included. The recipe is rated “easy”.

How many calories are in a kalops with potatoes and beets?

About 570 kcal per serving, for a recipe meant for 4 people. Calories are calculated by Kiloach, your weight coach, the app that partners with Mon Chou.

How much does a kalops with potatoes and beets cost?

About €3.80 per serving, or €15.20 for 4 people, based on average supermarket prices.

What allergens does this recipe contain?

This recipe contains gluten. Always check the labels of the products you buy.

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