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Fancy making a nice slow cooker beef casserole? Don’t want to put too much effort in? I’ve got you covered! This slow cooker beef casserole takes just 5 minutes to get ready and you can even cook dumplings in the pot. You can make this for under £5, serving 3-4 hungry people. Obviously, this depends on the appetite and the quality of the ingredients that you buy. If your budget is small then you do what you can. Anyway, here we go. My slow cooker beef casserole – the super lazy version! Scroll near the end of this post if you want to see my printable slow cooker beef casserole recipe card.
Ingredients for slow cooker beef casserole
3 medium onions
5 medium carrots
2 stalks of celery
450g casserole beef (you can use a cheaper cut as it will cook for hours)
500ml beef stock – I used a stock cube this time as I had no homemade stock.
30g plain flour
Garlic cloves (I used 3)
Salt & pepper
3 Tablespoons of fresh thyme or 2 tablespoons of dried thyme
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
Splash of brown sauce
That is it! Now you can add more vegetables as you like. Also, you can add a splash of wine, a bay leaf and balsamic vinegar if you want to make it extra special. I didn’t and it was lovely still!
Extra for slow cooker beef casserole – dumplings
100g plain flour
50g suet
Enough water until you get a wet, slightly sticky dough – I usually find a couple of tablespoons are enough
Method for slow cooker beef casserole
Throw everything in the slow cooker. Apart from the flour.
This is it once it is all mixed together and the cooking begins. I always start off on high for 1 hour. Then I turn down to low for 5-6 hours. You can cook this on high in 4 hours. You can also leave it 8 hours on low. It will not ruin it.
One hour before the end stir through the flour.
As you can see once the flour is added it thickens and goes all lovely and glossy.
Also, add the dumplings now if you’re making them. I make around 8-10 dumplings from the ingredients I have mentioned above. This is ideal if you’re feeding a few people. In our home, there is usually 3 of us eating and we have seconds – yum! Add more veg to feed more people without spending much more money. See below for a look at the finished slow cooker beef casserole with dumplings.
How to make my slow cooker beef casserole:
slow cooker beef casserole
Ingredients
Casserole ingredients
- 3 medium onions
- 5 medium carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- 450 g casserole beef
- 500 ml beef stock
- 30 g plain flour
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt & pepper
- 2 tbsps fresh thyme or 1 tbsp of dried thyme
- Splash worcestershire sauce
- Splash brown sauce
Dumplings
- 100 g plain flour
- 50 g suet
- water to make a slightly sticky dough
Instructions
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Add all of the casserole ingredients into the slow cooker, apart from the flour.
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Mix together.
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Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 5-6 hours. I always start with 1 hour on high. If you need to leave it longer you can easily cook for 8-10 hours, or overnight.
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One hour before serving stir through the flour (diluted in a little water)
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If you're having dumplings then add them for the final hour. I always make them smaller than when I'm cooking them in the slow cooker so that one hour is enough time.
Recipe Notes
Add lots more vegetables if you want to bulk this out. They will release a little juice, which will help create more stock too.
Products I use when making my slow cooker beef casserole:
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This looks amazing – you can’t beat a ‘throw it all in’ slow cooker recipe. It’s my favourite method! x
Mine too! I love a nice easy dinner. Thanks for the comment x
That looks delicious, it’s making me hungry 😀 I don’t have a slow cooker though so will have to use the oven. I remember my mum using one when I was a kid.
If you’re interested in a slow cooker then keep your eyes peeled. Often the supermarkets have a bargain one for £10 around this time of the year!