This Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo recipe is one of my new favorites, I’ve already made it three times trying to perfect it!
If you’ve been following along, you know my husband and I just got back from a three-month road trip. We had the time of our lives. I thought for sure I’d be able to identify one place we loved the most but the truth is that we fell madly in love with several places for completely different reasons.
We only spent two days in Kentucky, our last stop before heading home, but we did spend enough time to go Bourbon tasting and eat some local food. I had Kentucky fried chicken (not Keto, I know!) because you have to do that when you’re in Kentucky. But one thing I’d never heard of was Burgoo – a stew with no rules except that there needs to be three types of meat. It’s the Gumbo of Kentucky, as our bartender put it. And gosh is it tasty! I don’t know if they’re all spicy, but mine certainly was and I loved it!
The traditional way to make Burgoo means using meats like rabbit and squirrel, but there aren’t any free-range squirrel farms around here in Rhode Island that I know of, and I’m not much of a backyard hunter (although my dog Napa wishes he was), so I made mine with chicken, beef and kielbasa because it’s the only other meat I had on hand at the time. It turned out to be a great third meat.
For the past few weekends, I’ve been in the kitchen working on this recipe forThis Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo recipe. One thing I noticed on week two when I tried it with just chicken and beef, was that it needed more dimension, and when I added the kielbasa back in, it completely changed the stew for the better.
Another subtle change was that in week one, I cubed up the beef and in week two I shredded it. I like it both ways, but my husband thought the shredded beef was too much to chew on because shredded beef tends to stick together. After tasting one last time, I’m tending to agree with him, so I’ve used cubed beef instead in this recipe. Feel free to cook your beef longer and shred it.
This is one of my favorite new stews and although it’s tomato based, one cup is plenty for most of us on a low carb diet. It should be very rich and hearty when it’s done.
Note: Burgoo takes a very long time to cook, so I’ve made this recipe into a two-for. Eat half of the pot roast (once it’s done cooking) on your first night. Use the second half for the Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo recipe.
Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo Recipe
Servings: 14 – 1 cup servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 24-32 hours| Total Time: up to 32 hours
Nutritional Facts: 3.7g Net Carbs| 263 Calories | 9g Fat | 4g Carbs | 27g Protein | 0g Fiber
Ingredients:
For the roast:
- 4 lbs pot roast —- 2lbs for dinner, and 2lbs for the burgoo
- 2 cups beef broth (chicken broth actually works well too – slightly lighter flavor)
- 1/4 tsp celery salt
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp basil
- 2 tsp dried dill weed
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp powdered buttermilk
- 1 tbsp and 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp and 2 tsp dried parsley
The rest of the burgoo ingredients:
- 1 lb large breast of chicken (boiled and shredded)
- 1 can of Rotel Original (diced tomatoes and chilis)
- 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 7 oz Polish Kielbasa
- 1 cup chicken bone broth or stock
- .5tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like it)
- 2 tsp hot sauce (like Franks) or more to your liking
- 1/2 medium onion (chopped)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Steps:
- Add your pot roast and beef broth to the crock pot and set to low.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and then rub down the pot roast with them.
- Cook on low for about 4-8 hours, or until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, boil one large breast of chicken until cooked through (about 40 minutes), and then shred it when it’s done. Set aside in the refrigerator until later.
- Once the pot roast is cooked through, at this point, you can decide if you’d like to eat up to 2lbs of the pot roast for dinner. The remaining 2lbs is more than enough to satisfy the stew.
- With the second half, cut into cubes for the stew, and return back into the crockpot.
- If there are any fat chunks rolling around, get rid of those (you don’t want them in your stew!)
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 12 to 24 hours.
- Flavor your Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo to taste with additional hot sauce, salt, and pepper to your own liking – personally, I love more hot sauce!
Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo Recipe: Two Meals in One!

This is one of my favorite new stews and although it’s tomato based, one cup is plenty for most of us on a low carb diet. It should be very rich and hearty when it’s done.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 24-32 hours
- Total Time: up to 32 hours
- Yield: 14 – 1 cup servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
Ingredients
For the roast:
- 4 lbs pot roast —- 2lbs for dinner, and 2lbs for the burgoo
- 2 cups beef broth (chicken broth actually works well too – slightly lighter flavor)
- 1/4 tsp celery salt
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp basil
- 2 tsp dried dill weed
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp powdered buttermilk
- 1 tbsp and 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp and 2 tsp dried parsley
The rest of the burgoo ingredients:
- 1 lb large breast of chicken (boiled and shredded)
- 1 can of Rotel Original (diced tomatoes and chilis)
- 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 7 oz Polish Kielbasa
- 1 cup chicken bone broth or stock
- .5tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like it)
- 2 tsp hot sauce (like Franks) or more to your liking
- 1/2 medium onion (chopped)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Add your pot roast and beef broth to the crock pot and set to low.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and then rub down the pot roast with them.
- Cook on low for about 4-8 hours, or until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, boil one large breast of chicken until cooked through (about 40 minutes), and then shred it when it’s done. Set aside in the refrigerator until later.
- Once the pot roast is cooked through, at this point, you can decide if you’d like to eat up to 2lbs of the pot roast for dinner. The remaining 2lbs is more than enough to satisfy the stew.
- With the second half, cut into cubes for the stew, and return back into the crockpot.
- If there are any fat chunks rolling around, get rid of those (you don’t want them in your stew!)
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 12 to 24 hours.
- Flavor your Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo to taste with additional hot sauce, salt, and pepper to your own liking – personally, I love more hot sauce!
Notes
Burgoo takes a very long time to cook, so I’ve made this recipe into a two-for. Eat half of the pot roast (once it’s done cooking) on your first night. Use the second half for the Low Carb Spicy Kentucky Burgoo recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 14 – 1 cup servings
- Calories: 263
- Fat: 9g
- Carbohydrates: 4g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 27g
Keywords: Spicy Kentucky Burgoo
1 comment
I am so excited to try this recipe! I am a homegrown Kentucky girl born and raised in Owensboro, KY, home of Moonlight BBQ, famous for Burgoo! And now live in Lawrenceburg, KY home of the Burgoo Festival! I have always been too intimidated to try and tackle homemade burgoo, but I am going to go for it! Thanks!