Beef in the slow cooker
From stews to curries, chilli to goulash, beef is arguably the most versatile meat for slow cooking, and a great choice to keep in the freezer ready to transform into these delicious meals. Here are the very best beef cuts to keep on hand to slow cook:
- Chuck steak
- Round steak
- Blade steak
- Topside
- Silverside
- Skirt steak
- Shin (gravy) beef
- Sausages
Beef slow cooker recipes
- Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Slow Cooked Beef in Red Wine
- Slow Cooker Rendang Daging
- Texan Chilli Beef
- Slow Cooked Beef Goulash
- Slow Cooker Corned Beef with Mustard Sauce
Lamb in the slow cooker
A perfect addition to the slow cooker, lamb cuts turn meltingly tender and flavoursome when left to slowly bubble away. When choosing a slow cooker lamb recipe, pick up the following cuts for best results:
- Boneless shoulder
- Boneless forequarter
- Shanks
- Neck chops
- Leg roasts
- Sausages
Lamb slow cooker recipes
- Easy Lamb Chop Casserole
- Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine
- Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks
- Slow Cooker Apple Pork Chops
- Slow Cooked Leg of Lamb
- Jumbuck Stew
Pork in the slow cooker
Pork makes a fabulous addition to a slow cooked meal, adding sweetness and depth to a range of dishes. It's a particularly great addition to bean and sausage dishes. When choosing pork cuts to slow cook opt for the following:
- Diced pork shoulder
- Forequarter chops
- Pork neck
- Bone in roasts
- Ribs
- Ham hock
- Sausages
Pork slow cooker recipes
- Slow Cooker Gingered Pork Roast
- Pork, Quince and Chickpea Curry
- Barbeque Pork
- Slow Cooker Pea and Ham Soup
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Spiced Pork Chops with Sweet Potato
Chicken in the slow cooker
Although not as popular in slow cooked dishes as red meat, chicken is a perfect addition to many classics, especially curries and stews. When choosing chicken cuts to slow cook opt for bone in to boost flavour and keep the meat moist. Here are some of the best cuts:
- Thigh pieces
- Drumsticks
- Marylands
- Whole chicken
Chicken slow cooker recipes
- Slow Cooker Barbeque Chicken
- Chicken One Pot Wonder
- Slow Cooked Moroccan Chicken with Apricot Rice
- Cheats Chicken Cacciatore
- Tomato and Coconut Chicken Curry
- Chicken Hot Pot
Veal in the slow cooker
One of the best, and most under-rated, meats for the pot is veal. Perhaps the most-popular veal recipe of all is slow-cooked osso bucco. Meaning 'bone with a hole in it', osso bucco is a classic veal dish from northern Italy. When choosing a veal cut to slow cook opt for:
- Osso bucco (sliced veal shin)
- Shanks
Veal slow cooker recipes
- Osso Bucco
- Veal and Tomato Delight
- Osso Bucco
What are the benefits of slow cooking?
Some of the best things in life take time, and slow cooked dishes are certainly one of them. However, this doesn't mean they are hard work. In fact, these dishes take much of the hassle out of any 'what's-for-dinner' dilemma. Some of the other benefits of slow cooking include:
High nutritional content
As slow cooked meals are slowly cooked over a low temperature, the ingredients tend to retain their nutritional content.
Time saver
The beauty of slow cooked meals is that they're left to slowly bubble away for hours. This way you can choose when you want to make dinner, whether it's first thing in the morning or the night before, and can get on with the rest of your day while dinner takes care of itself.
Easy clean-up
Slow cooked meals are one pot cooking at its best. After you've cleaned up from your prep there's very little cleaning up to do later on when you finally sit down to eat.
Cook in bulk
Slow cooked meals are great to make in large quantities, meaning you can double a recipe to freeze for another meal or make enough for lunch the next day.
How to slow cook
Even if you don't have an electric slow cooker, you can still enjoy slow cooked dishes. In fact, there are many ways to slow cook food, from simmering it in a cast iron pot, to baking it in a casserole in the oven. If you do choose an electric slow cooker remember these three golden rules to ensure your success:
- Do not overfill the pot, as very little steam escapes, which can result in too much liquid.
- Don't add too much liquid. Unlike stovetop or oven cooking, there is hardly any steam or evaporation of the liquid, so you can easily end up with too much liquid in the dish.
- Keep the lid on. Slow cooking times are very dependent on building a consistent heat and letting the machine do the work. If you remove the lid during cooking, it will upset the timing of the recipe – so keep it safely closed.
Get more recipes for your slow cooker in our Slow Cooker recipes collection.
FAQs
There are many different cuts that can be used for crockpot roast from bottom round, to rump roast, to shoulder roast to chuck roast, but for the best crockpot pot roast, use the boneless chuck roast.
What is the best cut of meat for a crockpot roast? ›
There are many different cuts that can be used for crockpot roast from bottom round, to rump roast, to shoulder roast to chuck roast, but for the best crockpot pot roast, use the boneless chuck roast.
What meats are best low and slow? ›
What kind of meat cuts are best for low and slow cooking? Low and slow cooking is perfect for various cuts, including ribs (beef or pig), brisket, shoulders (pork or lamb), and pork belly, as any meat enthusiast knows well.
What meat gets more tender the longer you cook it? ›
This is certainly true when it comes to notoriously tough cuts of meat like beef brisket and pork shoulder. Cooking these cuts of meat slowly, either by braising, stewing or grill roasting, is the best way to get these tasty cuts of meat meltingly tender.
What is the healthiest meat to slow cook? ›
common lean roasts found in the grocery store
- chuck tender roast. A lean roast that requires slow cooking to tenderize.
- shoulder roast. An inexpensive chuck cut with good flavor and good for roasting or slow cooking.
- rump roast. A boneless and lean cut ideal for slow cooking.
- eye of round roast.
Cheap cuts of meat for slow cooker
- Brisket: Often used in America, beef brisket is slowly becoming more popular over here. ...
- Skirt: Long, flat and known for its flavour, beef skirt steak can be tough, but tender. ...
- Shin: Ideal for soups and stews, beef shin is a flavourful cut of meat.
Avoid overcrowding: For the best results, fill a slow cooker between one-half and two-thirds full. Go ahead and cook big roasts and whole chickens; just make sure you use a large crock and that the lid fits snugly on top. Trim fat: For silky sauces and gravies, take a minute or two and cut the excess fat from the meat.
What meat cuts requires long and slow cooking? ›
Chuck (neck), shin (shank, osso bucco or gravy beef), brisket (ribs and short ribs), flank, knuckle, cheek, ox tail, silverside and topside are ideal for long, slow cooking. Secondary cuts like chuck and brisket have layered fat in the meat, which gives a soft and rich result after cooking.
What is a good substitute for chuck beef? ›
Chuck Roast Substitutes:Sometimes, chuck roast is labeled as blade roast, 7-bone roast or arm roast. If you can't find any of options, try another uniformly-shaped, lean cut of beef like tri-tip roast, top round roast or bottom round roast (sometimes called rump roast).
How do restaurants get their meat so tender? ›
Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate). If you find the meat has a spongy texture aside from being very tender, then very likely the restaurant put baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) in the marinade. The sodium in baking soda chemically reacts with the meat and make the meat very tender and soft.
If you consistently notice tough beef, Carli says your slow cooker may not be working hard enough. “Try cooking for longer, or at a higher temp,” she advises.
Can you slow cook meat too long? ›
Stick to the cook time indicated on your recipe
While slow cooker recipes are designed to cook for extended periods of time, they can still become overcooked if left on the wrong setting for too long. In general, it's best to stick to the indicated cook time on the recipe you're following.
What is the best cut of beef for slow cooked stew? ›
Go for the chuck
The most common beef used for stew is chuck steak, also known as gravy beef or braising steak. Beef chuck comes from the forequarter of the animal consisting of parts of the neck, shoulder blade and upper arm.
What is a good substitute for chuck steak? ›
The closest you could find is fattier cuts of the round like rump roast maybe but those don't have nearly as much connective tissue and fat as chuck so they won't slow cook nearly as well. Most of the cuts similar to chuck are more expensive short rib, beef cheek, brisket, etc.
What tough cuts of meat are best suited to long slow moist methods of cookery? ›
Less tender cuts of meat require moist heat cooking methods to help break down the tough connective tissues, add moisture to the meat and cook the meat slowly over a long time. Since more tender cuts of meat do not require moisture and long, slow cooking, they are usually cooked with a dry heat method.
