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 This Slow Cooker Beef Curry is mixed up in just 5 minutes. A tasty ‘fakeaway’ it also happens to be light and healthy.

Slow Cooker Beef Curry recipe with spinach

Oh hi new favourite Friday night dish! This fakeaway is the perfect throw in a slow cooker in the morning and come home to delicious smells by dinner time.

This Slow Cooker Beef Curry doesn’t use any cream or coconut milk so it’s also is lighter and lower in fat than your usual takeaway.

You have LOVED my Slow Cooker Chicken Curry recipe as it’s so simple to prepare, I decided it was about time to update my beef curry version to make it as easy as possible.

This recipe also freezes well, and you can adjust the spice level to suit all of the family.

You’ll love this Slow Cooker Beef Curry because:

✅ It’s packed with vegetables and a tasty sauce.
✅ Hardly any preparation, no need to brown the beef.
✅ Freezes brilliantly, cook once, eat twice!

Easy slow cooker beef curry recipe with spinach and tomatoes

FAQs about the Slow Cooker Beef Curry recipe:

What is the best cut of beef for the Slow Cooker Beef Curry?

I use ‘Braising Steak’, which is the name supermarkets and butchers use for a few different cuts of beef that need slow cooking.

These include chuck, skirt, leg and flank.

It’s also sometimes labelled as Stewing Steak. Any of these cuts that need to be cooked slowly are fine for this recipe.

Do I really not need to brown the beef before cooking in the slow cooker?

If you want to get scientific, the reason we brown meat before slow cooking, is because it causes a Maillard reaction. The process of frying, heating it very hot until it browns, changes the flavour compounds in the meat, basically adding a depth of flavour.

Does it add something to most slow cooked dishes? Yes. Is it vital in this dish, which is packed with other flavour? No.

If you want to brown the meat, it will add another level of delicious flavour BUT I feel that sometimes we need a super quick preparation dinner and it’s worth sacrificing maybe 10% of extra flavour?

Raw ingredients ready to be cooked with meat tomatoes and spices

I don’t have any curry paste, can I use curry powder?

Yes, depending on your curry powder and your taste, you’ll need to use 3 – 4 tbsp of curry powder instead of the paste.

I would say, I think the paste does work better than powder in this recipe though as unlike in a Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, beef does need a really robust flavour to complement it.

What can you serve with Beef Curry?

You can serve all of the usual curry accompaniments with this Beef Curry.

Rice, poppadums, yoghurt with some mint mixed through and a salad of tomatoes and cucumber works really well.

My easy flatbreads would be soooo amazing dunked in!

Slow Cooker Beef Curry Recipe

Fancy some other easy Slow Cooker recipes ?

Hope you enjoy this recipe. I’d love to know how you got on and what you thought of it if you make this recipe. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below!

Also, if you fancy showing me a photo by tagging me on Instagram (@tamingtwins) I LOVE to see your creations and try and share as many of them as I can.

This post was originally published on March 28, 2018 and updated on February 9, 2021.
Beef curry in a slow cooker.
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4.94 from 527 votes

Slow Cooker Beef Curry

By Sarah Rossi
This Slow Cooker Beef Curry is mixed up in just 5 minutes, no preparation required. A tasty 'fakeaway' it also happens to be light and healthy.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 6 People

Ingredients 

For the Slow Cook:

  • 1 kg (4.25 cups) Braising steak
  • 200 g (0.75 cups) Curry spice paste
  • 2 Onions, Peeled and chopped
  • 4 Cloves Garlic, Peeled and chopped
  • 1 Inch piece Fresh ginger, Peeled and chopped finely
  • 2 tbsp Ground cumin
  • 400 g (2.5 cups) Tin of tomatoes
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1 tsp Sea salt
  • 1 Beef stock cube, undiluted, crumbled

To Serve:

  • 100 g (3.0 cups) Spinach leaves
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 4 tbsp Mango chutney

Instructions 

  • Put all of the slow cooking ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on HIGH or 6 hours on LOW.
  • Add the spinach leaves, remaining Garam masala and mango chutney before serving.

Notes

Note 1 - Beef Braising Steak
'Braising Steak' is the name supermarkets and butchers use for a few different cuts of beef that need slow cooking. These include chuck, skirt, leg and flank. It's also sometimes labelled as Stewing Steak. Any of these cuts that need to be cooked slowly are fine for this recipe.
Note 2 - Curry Paste
Any curry paste you like to your taste will work here. I like Patak's Jalfrezi or Madras.
Note 3 - Onions, garlic and ginger
I use pre prepared frozen, chopped here. An onion weighs about 150g so I replace the onions with 300g (2.5 cups) of pre chopped. Garlic is about 5g per clove so I use 20g (4 teaspoons). 1inch of Ginger equals about 5g (1 tablespoon).
Note 4 - Spinach
If using fresh spinach, I just stir in and the heat of the curry will wilt it. If you want to use frozen, defrost it first in a pan or microwave and then drain it and add it to the curry. A lot of water comes out of cooking spinach. You can also cook and drain the fresh spinach if you're very particular about your curry not being watery at all.

Nutrition

Calories: 353kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 40gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 684mgPotassium: 920mgFiber: 4gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 9184IUVitamin C: 20mgCalcium: 155mgIron: 7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Family Food
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Sarah Rossi founder of TamingTwins.com and author of 'What's for Dinner?' books.

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155 Comments

  1. I like your recipes that are non-fussy and easy to throw together, (l’m an old Batchelor with not much patience)!
    I use a lot of commercial, pre-packed sauces when I cook so this recipe is a winner in my books! Thanks

    Reply

  4. 5 stars
    I have both of your books and there really is no recipe that’s too difficult, not tasty or doesn’t get met with happiness when I dish them up . Thank you , Sarah 😊

    Reply

  5. 5 stars
    Fantastic recipe. Made it with Rohan josh paste and added chickpeas. Went down a treat with my friends.

    Highly recommend and so easy. Ideal

    Reply

  7. 5 stars
    Fantastic meal! We put this on in the morning and had the most wonderful meal to come home to after a day of walking! Well done and loved this! It will stay on our rotation!

    Reply

  9. Fantastic recipe. Had some stewing beef and was uninspired by the usual recipes until I came across your recipe for Beef Curry. In all the years of eating curry, I’ve never had beef…and I’m converted! I even put together some flatbreads from your recipes and it was a great hit with all the family! So simple, definitely a keeper!

    Reply