I’m currently sitting at my computer with a blanket and a cat on my lap, and wearing a hoodie and house slippers for the first time this year. Sounds like the perfect time to break out a stew recipe.
Pichelsteiner is a very typical stew, found in similar shapes and sizes all over the world. There are several stories to explain its invention, a common trait among stews. One folk tale details how a farmer’s wife fed the stew to a group of marauding soldiers, saving the day (and her family) with this new culinary invention. Another tale explains how a Bavarian chef prepared Pichelsteiner for party atop Büchelstein mountain (allegedly, the name of this dish morphed from there). Finally, the small Bavarian village of Regen, along the Czech border, claims ownership of this dish as well, which they have communally served at the anniversary of their church’s dedication in 1874.
Pichelsteiner shares another feature with other regional stews: it serves as the solution to those pesky leftovers that creep up in the fridge. As truly communal fare, the stew incorporates a spectrum of ingredients available to pre-industrial Germans: mushrooms, onion, carrots, leeks, cabbage, potatoes, and three types of meat. So if you don’t have all the ingredients, or if you have a couple extra that aren’t listed below, don’t fret – there’s a lot of wiggle room here.
Pichelsteiner (Gluten-free, Paleo, Primal, Whole30)
1 lb boneless stew beef, cut into 1” chunks
1 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1” chunks
1 lb boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1” chunks
3 tbsp all-purpose gluten-free flour or white rice flour
1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, more to taste
3 tbsp lard or ghee
1 onion, diced (about 1 cup diced)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 oz dried wild or porcini mushrooms
1 lb starchy potatoes (russet, yukon gold, or similar), peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
3 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 1 cup chopped)
1 leek, sliced (about 1 cup sliced)
1/2 head (~1 lb) green or savoy cabbage, cut into bite-sized chunks (about 3 cups chopped)
chopped parsley to garnish
1. Place the beef, pork, and lamb in a large mixing bowl; pat dry with paper towels, then toss with the flour, salt, and pepper until evenly coated. Warm the lard in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in batches to prevent overcrowding, turning often, until dark brown and crispy at the edges, about 8 minutes per batch. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and set aside, adding more lard to the pot if needed.
2. Once the meat is browned and out of the way, add the onions and reduce heat to medium; saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Return the meats to the pot and add the chicken broth and enough water to reach 3/4 of the way up the meat. Bring to a simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot, then cover and reduce heat to low; simmer until the meats are just tender, about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. As the meats simmer, place the mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with warm water; set aside to reconstitute, about 15 minutes, then chop into bite-sized pieces (reserve the water you soaked them in).
3. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and the water you soaked the mushrooms in (minus any sediment that has accumulated at the bottom); simmer, uncovered, for another 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Stir in the leek and cabbage, and simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender, about 10 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve garnished with parsley.
** Electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) instructions: Brown the floured meats in batches using the “Saute” function of the pressure-cooker, then remove the meats and saute the onions. Return the meats to the pot, plus the chicken broth, then pressure-cook under Manual high pressure for 30 minutes. Allow to depressurize naturally, then add the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, leek, and cabbage, and pressure-cook for another 8 minutes. Allow to depressurize naturally, season with salt and pepper to taste, then serve garnished with chopped parsley.
** For a richer experience, throw a couple marrow bones in the pot with the meat.
Note: In the year leading up to my new cookbook’s release, I will be regularly releasing these recipes to 1) maintain a continuing conversation with my readership and 2) give visitors to this site an opportunity to test and provide feedback before editing. For more information on this new approach, read my post here.
The Domestic Man 
This stew is just the right pick-me-up recipe for a cold autumn day, and the stories how ti was invented were really interesting!
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Thanks, glad you liked it!
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Could you do this in a slow cooker? What would be the alterations?
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Tom, I’m not totally familiar with slow cookers (I rarely use them), but if I was tackling this recipe, I’d cook it for about six hours on low, adding in the vegetables during the last hour (or two, depending on how tender you like them). Browning the meats ahead of time will improve their texture but not necessary if you’re looking for as much hands-off time as possible.
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I had friends over for dinner, and everyone loved it. I followed it exactly as you described, and the only problems I had involved the times for cooking. After 1 1/2 hours the meat was not as tender as I wanted. After 20 min. the potatoes and carrots were still hard, I ended up covering them, increasing the temp to Med., and cooking for another 30 min. Then put the cabbage and leeks in for another 20 minutes. Great combination of flavors, especially the earthiness of the mushrooms and water from the mushrooms.
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How can I make this using a crock pot?
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Hi Michael, I just responded to this question from another reader, so I’ll paste it here: I’m not totally familiar with slow cookers (I rarely use them), but if I was tackling this recipe, I’d cook it for about six hours on low, adding in the vegetables during the last hour (or two, depending on how tender you like them). Browning the meats ahead of time will improve their texture but not necessary if you’re looking for as much hands-off time as possible. Good luck!
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Three pounds of meat? For six servings, that’s a half pound of meat per person. I realize the fat from the meat will reduce when cooking, but that seems like a lot of meat for 6 people.
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Hi Jonathan, all of my recipes use 8oz of protein as a starting portion size; that is typically the size of a chicken breast or small steak. I often pare down the serving size to 6oz for stews, soups, and curries, since there are a lot of other ingredients to fill up on, but being a German (meat-intensive) stew, I’d say 8oz is just about right (the bowl you see in the picture above was one serving out of six). Hope that helps!
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Hi there . just wanted to point out that there are no mushrooms in the original recipe and a bay leaf placed on top of everything before stewing makes a big difference. We tend to use waxy potatoes over here in Germany as the starchy ones tend to get very mushy, which is ok if that is prefered.
Also very important: A Pichelsteiner is NOT meant to be stirred! You place all ingredients on top of the browned meat and just let it stew until the very end….
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This recipe so reminds me of my Grandmother’s “Schwammerl-Pichelsteiner”! {Schwammerl=mushrooms in Bavarian).
That’s the great thing about Pichelsteiner, you can put EVERYTHING in that’s in season and at hand…therefore mushrooms might not be an “original” ingredient, but they are just lovely in it!
BTW, there is NO original recipe, it’s regionally different, potatoes should always be in there though.
It is true that Pichelsteiner should not be stirred, however nobody really knows why…one theory is that farmer’s wives had simply no time to go and stir the Pichelsteiner, so she would cleverly layer the ingredients and let them simmer for hours.
Another theory states that no stirring will keep the potatoes and carrots whole and not turn them into mush.
Judging Russ’ pictures I would say he’s done everything right! The Pichelsteiner is just how it would look like if I had made it (and I am a born and raised Bavarian, not far from Regen that claims the original Pichelsteiner.) (;
Yes, and do add that bay leaf…it makes the Pichelsteiner even more aromatic.
I have to go and start cooking!
Best,
Eva
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