A luscious mild curry with fall-apart beef and bell peppers. We let this easy beef curry cook slowly in the slow cooker. There's just a little up-front prep, then you can leave it to cook to perfection.
I'm using store-bought curry paste to keep this recipe as simple and easy as possible.
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Simple ingredients that come together quickly, then we can leave the slow cooker to do its work - all resulting in a rich beef curry.
I love a beef curry, but it's got to be cooked long and slow to make that beef flake and fall apart. The bonus to this, is that we can use casserole steak/beef (braising beef) - which is reasonable inexpensive.
I'm building up my collection of beef curries on the site. We've now got:
- A Lighter Beef Curry - always popular when you're trying to steer clear of the coconut milk and cream
- Massaman Beef Curry - using a homemade curry paste cooked with potatoes too
- Spicy Beef Rendang - with beef that's caramelized on the outside and tender in the middle
This particular curry has all that rich flavour, but is pretty mild, and made simple, using store-bought curry paste.
📋 What do we need?
- Curry paste - I use a shop-bought Tikka Masala curry paste for this recipe - which is usually quite mild. You could also use balti, jalfrezi or rogan josh pastes - which tend to be fairly mild too. If you're after something hotter, use madras or Thai red curry paste. **Be sure to use curry paste, NOT curry sauce. The paste is concentrated - used for the base of a sauce, whereas the sauce is usually a finished version of a curry sauce**.
- Beef - I use fairly inexpensive braising/casserole or stewing steak - often known as chuck steak, which comes from the forequarter. Usually, this consists of parts of the neck, shoulder blade, and upper arm. It’s a tough but very flavourful cut of meat. It has a lot of connective tissue, which needs long slow cooking to break down and become tender.
- Coconut milk - use full fat - which won't split during the cooking process.
- Tinned tomatoes - use finely diced tinned tomatoes, which will result in a thicker sauce (without big chunks of tomato). You can replace with passata if you prefer, but try to go with a thick passata (Mutti makes a good one), rather than anything too runny.
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳PRO TIP If you're serving to people with different spice palates, serve up the mild portions first, then stir in a teaspoon of chilli flakes and serve to the people who like it a little hotter.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Easy Pilau Rice
- Homemade Naan Bread or Chapati
- My favourite Indian side - Tomato and Onion Salad
🍲 What to try next?
Here are some more fantastic Slow Cooked Beef recipes (some cooked in the slow cooker, some in the oven):
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Slow Cooker Beef Coconut Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil or ghee
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1.5 kg (3 ⅓ pounds) braising beef
- 1 large onion - peeled and chopped
- 2 red bell peppers - deseeded and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 2 heaped tbsp curry paste*
- 1 beef stock cube - crumbled
- 400 g (14 oz) tin finely chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato puree (paste)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 400 ml (14 oz) tin full fat coconut milk
Optional:
- 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 6 tbsp cold water
To Serve:
- Handful of chopped coriander (cilantro)
- Pilau or Boiled rice
- Naan bread
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your slow cooker to high.
- Season the beef with the salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 ½ tbsp of the oil in a large pan over a high heat.
- Add the seasoned beef to the pan. Sear until lightly browned (about 6-8 minutes). You may need to do this in two batches.
- Once seared, add the beef to the slow cooker, using a slotted spoon.
- Add the remaining ½ tbsp of oil to the pan and turn the heat down to medium.
- Add in the onion and red pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the onions have softened.
- Add in the garlic, ginger, curry paste and crumbled stock cube. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar and coconut milk.
- Stir, bring to the boil, then pour into your slow cooker, stir once more, place your slow cooker lid on and cook for 5-6 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.
- If want to thicken the sauce a little, slowly pour in the cornstarch and water mixture whilst stirring - until the sauce is thick enough.
- Serve over rice, sprinkled with some coriander (cilantro). I like to serve mine with some tomato and onion salad too.
Video
✎ Notes
Check every hour or so to ensure the sauce isn't running dry. Top up with a splash of boiling water if it's starting to look dry. Can I make it ahead? Yes, this recipe can be made ahead, then cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat in a pan, over a medium heat, stirring occasionally (be careful not to break up the beef too much), until piping hot throughout. Can I freeze it? Yes, make the recipe, then cool, cover and freeze.
Defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat, as per the make-ahead instructions above. Ingredient swaps
- Swap the Tikka Masala curry paste for your favourite curry paste. Jalfrezi, Madras, Balti and Thai Red curry paste all work well.
- Add in extra vegetables. Mushrooms, courgette (zucchini) and baby new potatoes can all go in when you add everything to the slow cooker. Broccoli and green beans can be added in for the last 30-45 minutes of cooking, and baby spinach can be stirred in right at the end.
- Don't want to use coconut milk? replace the 400ml (14 floz) coconut milk with 160ml (⅔ cup) beef stock plus 120ml (½ cup) double (heavy) cream.
Nutrition
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Robyn says
Im cooking this right now for dinner, it taste so good.
Im doing mine on top of my stove in a pot. Cooking for an hour then adding potatoes and beans. My lot are going to love it.
Thanks for great recipe.
Paula Wilson says
Can't wait to try this beef curry In the slow cooker. I am going to use little bit less meat amd add some red lentils and veg.
Michelle Reid says
It lacked depth of flavour a bit....i think next time is use a hot curry paste. A And si.the beef wasn't bad fall part as us like perhaps undiced would be better. It was a but chewy. I'd still say a 8/10.
Simon Jeffery says
Cracking slow cooker option. Has become a family favourite.
Stuart says
My wife has an intolerance to tomatoes, can you suggest anything I can use in dishes, like curries, as a substitute
Sarah McLaren says
This is a really good curry and easy to make as well. Mine never turns out as dark as yours does though, not sure why.
Lauren Hruszka says
We really enjoyed this. I couldn't fry off the meat or veg beforehand due to being without an oven at the moment, so I just chucked it all into a pre-heated slow cooker and cooked on medium heat for 8 hours and it wash lush! Thank you!
Maria says
Delicious curry 😋 I added mushrooms and carrots. The whole family licked their plates clean! Will definitely add this to our dinner rotation list.
Kathy says
Absolutely gorgeous ! Slow cooked for around 6 hours, the beef just fell apart and the flavours are amazing ! All the recipes we have tried with KS never fails !
Christine says
Made this delicious curry over the weekend, it will definitely be on our regular recipe rotation. The kitchen smelt amazing whilst it was cooking😋
Karen addison says
Can you replace the coconut milk with something. ? For the beef curry slow cooked .
Nicky Corbishley says
Yes - replace the 400ml (14 floz) coconut milk with 160ml (⅔ cup) beef stock plus 120ml (½ cup) double (heavy) cream.