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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.
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!
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?
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!
Fancy some other easy Slow Cooker recipes ?
- Super Simple Slow Cooker Chicken Curry – This is one of the most loved recipes on this site, over 175 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reviews!
- Slow Cooker ‘Roast’ Gammon Ham – Such an easy and yummy Sunday roast joint.
- Slow Cooker ‘Roast’ Beef Joint – Another super simple and delicious roast joint, complete with gravy.
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.
Slow Cooker Beef Curry
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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published on February 9, 2021 and updated later to make improvements.
Hi Sarah, thanks for the lovely recipe. Could I just check one thing if you don’t mind? When you say 200g of paste, do you mean almost the full jar of Pataks paste (which is 283g)? The curry was very nice but had a strong taste of paste so I’m not sure I measured correctly. I slapped 200g on the weighing scales which was almost the full jar. Are you measuring the amount of paste the same way? I have a different slow cooker to you so just want to check if it’s my pot or my measuring before I make it next time. Many thanks
When using curry paste check the serving size as they vary between brands, so add whichever you brand suggests.
200g curry paste ! It’s almost a jar?
Just tried this for the first time – it was delish!! I didn’t have any curry paste so used medium curry powder plus a little water (to rinse out the tomato tin), and it was fine. Will definitely make this again and will experiment with different curry pastes to vary the flavour.
How much water do you add to this recipe ? Surely you don’t just have a ton of tomatoes as the only liquid ?
Made the beef curry this afternoon along with your flatbread. Used tikka masala paste. Tasted lovely will definitely be making this again.
I’ve just done my 3rd slow cooker full of this delight! I initially followed the stated measurements but it’s so nice & so easy I now double them & batch cook for freezing meals for 2. I always have rice & bread in the house so it’s even easier for a lovely “free” meal in the week. What’s not to like?
My family just couldn’t stop praising me for this curry. Served with Basmati rice. I did accidentally put 2 tbsn of grand Marsala instead of 2 tspns though oops. Just didn’t add anymore at the end with the spinach and chutney. Thank you. P.s. I don’t eat curries I’m more a chilli girl. I just cooked it because they love curries.
The recipe says beef stock cube, is that by itself or added with water?
Best beef curry I’ve ever cooked better than a takeaway
Made this and the meat was tender – 6 hrs on low. It fed 6 adults and some had seconds. I used korma as couldn’t find the jalfrezi and I forgot the spinach but still yummy with rice and pappadoms. Very simple and quick to prepare so will make again.