Beef curry in dish with spoon with rice and naan bread

Slow cooker beef curry

By Lulu Grimes
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(44 ratings)
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Prep: 20 mins Cook: 4 hrs, 30 mins - 8 hrs, 30 mins

Easy

Serves 4 - 5

This slow-cooked beef curry is easy to make and perfect for feeding the family – add chunks of potato for an extra hearty dish. Serve with rice and naan bread

Nutrition and extra info

  • Freezable
  • Gluten-free

Nutrition: per serving (5)

  • kcal425
  • fat30g
  • saturates17g
  • carbs6g
  • sugars3g
  • fibre2g
  • protein32g
  • salt0.18g
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Ingredients

  • 750g beef for braising (braising steak, chuck, flank etc) cut into chunks
    Beef

    Beef

    bee-f

    The classic choice of meat for a British Sunday roast. Beef is full of flavour, as…

  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
    Onion

    Onion

    un-yun

    Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…

  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 5cm piece ginger, grated
    Ginger

    Ginger

    jin-jer

    Mainly grown in Jamaica, Africa, India, China and Australia, ginger is the root of the plant. It…

  • 4 cardamom pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • ½ – 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 400ml coconut milk (see tip)
    Coconut milk in a glass, with half a coconut

    Coconut milk

    ko-ko-nut mill-k

    Coconut milk is not the slightly opaque liquid that flows from a freshly opened coconut –…

  • small bunch coriander, chopped

Method

  1. Heat your slow cooker if you need to. Fry the beef in batches in 2 tbsp oil until it is browned all over and tip into the slow cooker. Put the remaining oil in the frying pan and fry the onion over a low heat until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute.

  2. Add all the spices and fry for 1 minute or until the spices start to smell fragrant. Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer, then tip everything into the slow cooker.

  3. Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Stir in the coriander and serve. 

  • Recipe Tip

    Swap the base

    You can make this recipe tomato based if you like – add 400ml passata or a whizzed-up tin of tomatoes instead of the coconut milk.

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Comments, questions and tips

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winegum
6th Jul, 2020
5.05
Absolutely delicious. Adjust the heat by varying the amount of chilli powder.
fhawkins
9th May, 2020
I fried my beef coated in plain flour which thickened the sauce. I also added 1 tsp paprike, 1 tsp of fenugreek and black onions seeds and mustard seeds. I used passata instead of coconut milk. Delicious with home made flat bread.
tracy10e
9th Mar, 2020
I made this and although yes quite bland I added Worcestershire sauce and omg! what a difference that made!! I also added my cooked rice into the mixture before serving, less of a 'watery' consistency. Next time I will use a hot chilli powder instead of mild.
mkouimtzi
20th Feb, 2020
1.05
Bland and watery. I followed the recipe exactly. Tried to thicken with corn flour, but there was still too much liquid, like a soup. It needed more spices, seasoning, stock cubes, etc. All four of us thought this was a disappointment.
Kellylouisetanner
9th Feb, 2020
5.05
Made this yesterday for dinner, using some beef (rib eye) I had in the freezer which I defrosted. Only used 500g as that's all I had and there was only 2 of us (and baby who eats a small amount) and had it on high from 11.30am - 4pm. I've got to say, I am impressed, it was really lovely. I am a big fan of cooking and have cooked many different beef currys before and this was really yummy. The beef literally fell apart!! I added in some baby corn and green beans chopped up at the same time as everything else at the beginning. Half hour before serving I added some cornflour to thicken it up. I also added a few handfuls of peas at the same time as the cornflour (to add veggies in for our little one) and pulsed some curry up for her in a mini blender and she demolished the lot!! :) Served it with sticky rice and a side of natural yoghurt with fresh mint and popadoms. I have added this to my favourite recipes on this app and will be making this again.
bacon-n-egg
5th Jun, 2019
5.05
Love this and the children did too, loads of taste and not too much heat (you can add heat if you want). I cooked mine in fan oven 120 fan for 3 plus hours the sauce thickened up loads so not watery and added spinach for the last 30 mins. Only issue is the around 750g is a small amount for 4 people so second time I doubled it up and had some left overs. You need at least 1kg of beef to 4 people. Using 800g is ok for 3 people not 4 unless you are a borrower. I used a chunk of chuck beef prev to this I used braising steak. You can use any slow cook beef def not a fatty cut though. I didnt have fresh ginger so used powdered and same in cinnamon. I used the pods before putting in too. Good simple recipe would be better made day before and reheated.
Jonnathan Evans's picture
Jonnathan Evans
10th Feb, 2019
Tested fantastic I will be doing this again
98vicmou
3rd Feb, 2019
3.05
Tasted spicy but nothing more. Lacking beefy flavour. Wouldn’t bother with again
DoddingtonDiva
17th Jun, 2019
I added a beef stock cube and was v tasty
bacon-n-egg
5th Jun, 2019
5.05
depends on the quality of the beef you used. I had beef direct off farm and matured for at least 2 weeks. Mine had loads of beef and spice. Delicious.

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OriginalSweet
15th Oct, 2019
5.05
I made this recently and adjusted the spice a little more here and there and it was really tasty! Added some spinach at the end as well. Delicious! Would it work as well with chicken I wonder?
KrisG
1st May, 2019
What is done with the cinnamon stick and cardomom pods? Do you crush them, grind them, add them whole, add in with 'all spices' the frying section, pop them into slow cooker once everything's in there? What please?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
5th Jun, 2019
You can do as suggested below or if you prefer, keep the cardamon whole and take the pods out as well we the cinnamon as you serve. You do fry all the spices, including the cinnamon and cardamom for 1 minute in step 2.
bacon-n-egg
5th Jun, 2019
5.05
I gently crush the pods to allow flavour to penetrate and in stick and take out at end
JackQ
22nd Jul, 2020
5.05
This recipe is fab - instant hit in our house. 2 things though: 1. As it was cooking it smelled VERY strongly of cinnamon, so I removed the cinnamon stick halfway through the cooking time and it was definitely the right call. I think cinnamon would overwhelm otherwise. 2. It definitely doesn't serve up to 5 - makes 4 quite modestly sized portions. Its a delicious curry though and the texture of the meat is beautiful. Will definitely make again!
tracy10e
9th Mar, 2020
Add Worcestershire sauce. Makes all the difference.
bacon-n-egg
5th Jun, 2019
5.05
You need to double up the amount to feed the family the portion of 750g beef is too small for 4 people. I used 1400g of beef which left 2 portions for another day (or freeze). I didnt brown the beef just the onions. Also you can add heat with chillies and green veg like spinach or brocolli. No reason why you couldnt add roasted peppers as this is a base curry open to all ideas really.
annejc3004
8th Nov, 2018
4.05
Really good recipe, I used tinned tomatoes instead of coconut milk which is lovely and healthy too, it does need seasoning though (salt primarily).
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