This Slow Cooker Roast Beef will become your favorite Sunday Roast – incredibly tender slow cooked beef in a rich and delicious gravy. 10/10 for flavor and almost zero effort! Serve with my incredible Goose Fat Roast Potatoes and Yorkshire Puddings.
Perfect for serving a crowd so why not make it this weekend for the whole family’s Sunday dinner? This slow cooked beef recipe is gluten free and slimming friendly.
Check out my Air Fryer Roast Beef recipe!
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Sometimes a recipe comes along that
- Is incredibly tasty and beloved by everyone
- Is SUPER EASY and almost cooks itself
Simply pop the meat and veggies in your slow cooker in the morning and you have the best dinner waiting for you by supper time. Take a look at the recipe video and step by step photos to see how it’s done.
Super easy and tastes amazing. My family commented on how amazing the gravy tasted, the best they’ve had apparently. Definitely going to keep this recipe on rotation! “
Table of contents
What makes this recipe such a winner?
- The PERFECT pot roast: If you are intimidated by roast beef because it is tricky to get just right then this is the beef recipe for you. Technically it is not a roast but a beef pot roast since it is cooked in a slow cooker.
- It is almost hands off, practically a ‘dump and go’ recipe. After some initial prep, the meat simply cooks slowly for several hours until it becomes perfectly tender and succulent.
- Finally a roast beef recipe that comes with gravy built in! The flavor-packed broth in which the roast cooks becomes the totally addicting thick gravy you will want to bathe in (or maybe that’s just me)
- You can also cook potatoes and other veggies at the same time – one less job to do!
Which is the best cut for slow cooked roast beef?
You can use any cut of beef joint that’s suitable for roasting or pot roasting, from boneless chuck roast (that’s the same as braising steak in the UK) to other budget friendly options such as brisket and topside. I usually order my beef joint from Amazon Fresh – such good quality!
Make sure your cut of beef will fit in your Slow Cooker – as you will see from the recipe video my joint was rather mahoosive! You can cut it in half if necessary.
Different beef cuts will yield different results. If you prefer a fall-off-the-fork tender beef roast then go for a brisket joint. If you want to slice your beef then a topside or top round will be a better option.
Remember that beef will shrink slightly as it cooks so buy medium-large joint, allowing for at least 200g (7oz) meat per person if you’re planning to feed the entire family this delicious meal.
Grocery List
If you have the GreenPan Slow Cooker you can brown the beef directly in it saving washing up and energy!
- Beef stock (beef broth) – I usually use Knorr Stockpots but you can use a stock cube or your favorite fresh or canned beef broth, preferably a low sodium one. Check this is gluten free if that is a concern
- Worcestershire sauce, Balsamic vinegar and soy sauce (use Tamari for GF version)
- Concentrated tomato paste
- Onion and garlic
- Bay leaves
- Carrots – these add depth of flavor to the gravy and you can serve them on the side, win-win!
- Potatoes – these are optional. I actually prefer crispy roast potatoes with my roast beef so I usually cook these separately in the oven or an Air Fryer.
- Cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken the gravy. You can also use Xanthan Gum.
HOW TO MAKE SLOW COOKER BEEF
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
STEP 1. Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper and season well with salt and pepper. Allow your beef joint to come to room temperature before cooking.
STEP 2. Spray a large skillet or shallow casserole dish with olive oil spray and sear the beef on all sides. This can take up to 10-15 minutes, but adds so much flavor. You want to trigger the Maillard reaction – in layman’s terms you want to brown the beef until nicely colored.
STEP 3. Set the beef aside and deglaze the bottom of the pan with white wine, red wine or beef stock, scraping any browned bits into the broth with the back of a wooden spoon. This is where a lot of the flavor comes from so don’t skip it!
STEP 4. Add the onions and carrots and stir until they get a bit of color and and almost all of the liquid is gone.
STEP 5. Add beef stock (broth), soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato purée, minced garlic, salt and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
STEP 6. Add the beef and then the vegetables, pushing them down into the liquid. Top with extra hot beef broth to come up halfway up the side of your joint.
STEP 7. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 5 – 8 hours on LOW or 3-6 hours on HIGH depending on the beef cut and your preferences. If your crock pot has a ceramic insert it will likely need to cook for longer – modern slow cookers which allow for searing heat quicker and therefore the total cooking times are shorter.
STEP 8. Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the slow cooker. Check the beef using a meat thermometer (see guidelines below) or by piercing with a knife – it should be tender.
ROAST BEEF INTERNAL TEMPERATURE
The best way to check your beef is cooked to your liking is to check the temperature with a digital thermometer. Insert the probe in the thickest part of the joint and check the temperature against these guidelines.
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Medium rare – 55°C (131°F)
Medium – 60°C ( 140°F)
Medium-well – 65°C (149°F)
Well done – 70°C+ (158°F)
Best ever beef gravy
A good gravy can make or break your roast beef dinner! It’s definitely one of the best things about this slow cooker beef roast recipe. All you have to do is strain all the braising liquid from the slow cooker into a saucepan discarding any solids (but hold on to carrots and potatoes if used).
Stir in some cornstarch slurry and bring the gravy to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a low heat and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes or until slightly reduced. Taste and season if needed.
Serving suggestions
Slice the beef against the grain and arrange on a platter with the carrots (and potatoes if you have added any). Drizzle with gravy and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve the roast with extra gravy and stuffing balls on the side.
If you are not cooking the potatoes in with the roast then these scalloped potatoes and creamy Brussels sprouts would be lovely served on the side.
TIPS FOR BEST-EVER SLOW COOKER BEEF
Brown the beef before cooking
This triggers the Maillard reaction which adds tons This triggers the Maillard reaction which adds tons of flavor to your pot roast. If you are really short of time you can ‘dump and go’ skipping this step but for the best flavor in this tender roast beef, sear the meat first.
Deglaze the pan
Pour a generous splash of wine or broth into the hot pan after you have set the beef aside. Use the back of the spoon to scrape any browned bits into the stock. These are called the “fond” and can create the base for a pan sauce.
Do the prep work the night before
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker, allow to cool and place in fridge overnight (in the slow cooker or a suitable container). The next day turn your cooker on and forget about it for at least 8-9 hours. The roast will take a bit longer if cooked straight from the fridge.
LEFTOVERS AND STORAGE
Keep any leftover meat for up to 4 days in the fridge and use in sandwiches, pasta bakes (try my Stroganoff pasta bake or this yummy Philly Cheesesteak Soup). If you have any leftover gravy you can freeze it – pour cooled gravy into an ice cube tray and freeze until solid. Pop the cubes out into a freezer bag and use within 3 months.
If you loved my Slow Cooker Roast Beef, you may like these popular beef recipes:
- Best (and easiest) ever Slow Cooker Prime Rib
- If you prefer your beef on the rare side try my Topside Beef Roast
- Ultimate comfort food: Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Dumplings
- Tender, juicy and delicious Slow Cooker Roast Pork
- Slow Cooker Brisket (low carb / keto)
- No beans! Slow Cooker Chili (low carb / keto)
- Cold weather comfort food? Try this Slow Cooker Lamb Casserole
- Slow Cooker Leg of Lamb for tender, fall off the bone, lamb.
HAVE YOU MADE MY SLOW COOKER ROAST BEEF RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Slow Cooker Roast Beef
Equipment & Tools
Ingredients
- Olive oil cooking spray or 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.4 kg (3 pounds) beef joint such as brisket or topside
- Salt and pepper to season
- 60 ml (¼ cup) red or white wine (or stock) to deglaze pan
- 2 onions , roughly chopped
- 4 carrots , halved (add more if you like)
- 6 potatoes , peeled and halved (optional)
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp soy sauce (or Tamari for GF version)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 480 ml (2 cups) hot beef stock (low sodium beefbroth)
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) diluted in 1 tbsp cold water
- Salt and pepper to season
- 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley , chopped to garnish
Instructions
- Take the beef joint out of the fridge for 30 minutes to come to room temperature. Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper and season well with salt and pepper.
- Spray a large pan or casserole dish with olive oil spray and sear the beef on all sides until nicely coloured. This can take up to 10-15 minutes but adds so much flavour so don’t skip!
- Set the beef aside and deglaze the pan with white wine (or red wine or beef stock), scraping any browned bits into the stock with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Add the onions and carrots and stir until they get a bit of colour and and almost all of the liquid is gone.
- Add beef stock (broth), soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, minced garlic, salt and bay leaves to your slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Add the beef and then the vegetables, pushing them down into the liquid. Check the levels of the stock, it should come up halfway up the side of your joint. Top with extra hot beef stock if necessary.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook your beef joint for 5-8 hours on LOW or 3-6 hours on HIGH. A large topside joint requires around 5-6 hours on LOW setting or 3 on HIGH whereas a brisket can happily cook for up to 8 on LOW and 6 on HIGH. If you can, flip the beef joint over about halfway through the cooking.
- Check the beef using a digital thermometer (this is best for a Topside joint which requires less coooking time – Medium rare – 55°C (131°F) | Medium – 60°C ( 140°F) | Medium well – 65°C (149°F) | Well done – 70°C+ (158°F).
- Remove the joint from the crockpot and rest for half an hour, loosely covered with foil.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the slow cooker. Strain all the liquid into a saucepan discarding any solids.
- Stir in the cornflour slurry and bring the gravy to a simmer for 10-15 minutes or until reduced. Taste and season if needed.
- Slice the beef against the grain and arrange on a platter with the vegetables. Drizzle with some of the gravy and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
- Serve the roast allowing everyone to pour extra gravy on top – SO YUMMY!
Video
Notes
- Remove the meat from the fridge and pat the topside of beef dry as much as possible. Season really well with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Brown the beef before cooking. This triggers the Maillard reaction which adds tons of flavour to your pot roast. If you are really short of time you can ‘dump and go’ skipping this step but for the best flavour sear the meat first.
- Deglaze the pan – pour wine or stock into the hot pan after you have set the beef aside. Use the back of the spoon to scrape any browned bits into the stock.
- If your beef is a little tough, even after cooking for 8 hours, slice then add back in the pot for another hour.
- If you haven’t time to prep the meat in the morning, do the prep work the night before. Add all the ingredients in your slow cooker and allow to cool then store in the fridge overnight (in the slow cooker if fridge space allows, otherwise in a suitable container). The next day turn your cooker on and forget about it for at least 8-9 hours. The roast might take longer to cook if cooked straight from the fridge.
Morgan says
I followed this recipe to the letter, I used topside, I made it for a birthday meal, I was left a bit red faced as everyone spent several minutes trying to chew the beef. It was dry and unpleasant. The veg and gravy were excellent but not the meat.
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Morgan I am very sorry to hear that. I wonder whether the topside was perhaps too lean for the slow cooker. Tell your guests it was me not you!
Debbie says
I have always been proud of my beef roasts that I have made in the crock pot, always so tender, but let me tell you, this roast actually melted in our mouths!!! So good!
I used beef broth instead of wine, but I think it was the balsamic vinegar that broke it down & made it so tender.
Lesson learned today. Thank you!
Rakel says
Made this yesterday for Fathers day and it was a big hit, I could have drank the gravy and there is quite a bit left over but it won´t go to waste, I´ll make a beef curry for our tea tonight 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Heather says
I made this today using beef topside and used it for a pie filling, cooked very low and slow and pulled apart the beef before the last hour of cooking so the meat became really tender! It was absolutely beautiful and full of flavour. My almost husband doesn’t want his steak pie any other way in future! Thanks for posting!
Micky says
Absolutely fantastic! Takes just like the brisket my Jewish nana used to make. Very rich. I used the cheapest beef joint you can get from asda, browned it in a pan and just dumped the ingredients into my slow cooker because I ran out of time before work but it still came out fantastically well! Absolutely gorgeous. Will be using this recipe forever.
Lucy Parissi says
That’s wonderful, you made my day!
Matt says
Hi. I’m going to give this a go today. Looks great. It looks from your pictures that you slice the meat prior to putting in slow cooker. Is that right, or do you put the joint in whole? Thanks a lot!
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Matt you put the joint in whole (unless it’s too large then you can slice in half to fit it in)
Suzanne says
Going to try this at the weekend. Please can you confirm the measurements for everything? Thanks.
Suzanne says
Sorry just seen them! Ignore this 🙂
Alan L Harkins says
Wonderful recipe! Great tasting roast and vegies.
Just wish the gravy were more beef tasting but was good all the same.
Lauren Armstrong says
Looking to try this yummy recipe, I’ve never made a roast beef before.. We dont have a slow cooker. We have a gas oven, could it work in this? 🙂
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Lauren – it would but I haven’t tested it so can’t provide the timing or temperature I am afraid. I will try to test this soon x
Lauren Armstrong says
Thank you, Planning on doing a pre xmas dinner for out friends and dont wanna play with turkey 😀 haha
Pat says
This recipe worked perfectly, thanks so much!
Christopher Jerwood says
As there is only two us, a three pound piece of beef is too much. How do I modify the recipe for say half the size of beef?
Lucy Parissi says
You don’t need to make any changes to the cooking time I don’t think. Use as many vegetables as you need for 4 people but keep the liquid levels the same x
Abel says
Hi how about, I write from Mexico, I want to make this recipe but I have a doubt, what kind of beef do you recommend to make it look delicious like the one seen in your video?
Lucy Parissi says
Hi there, not sure what you have available. In the uk it’s Topside of beef but you could use rolled brisket. Generally aim for a cut that likes slow cooking. Hope this helps!
Susan says
Can I use a chuck roast instead?
Lucy Parissi says
I am not 100% familiar with chuck roast as it is not widely available in the Uk. So my answer would be try it and see. Since it’s a slow cooker recipe it should work
Shona MacFarlane says
Can i pleeeeeease ask – is this a modified recipe?? I am to remember one where the garlic was sliced on top rather than included in the actual stock. It’s the best brisket we ever had, and I would LOVE to try it again…
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Shona – no it hasn’t been modified. Feel free to change it around if you like!
Morag says
Made this last night. Although was absolutely delicious wouldn’t have been able to eat the meat without the gravy. Meat was so dry. Followed your instructions to the letter. What could I have done wrong? Lots of leftovers. Goi f to make your stroganoff with it today
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Morag – what type of meat did you use? It sounds like maybe it was slightly overcooked or perhaps the cut was not suitable. The meat should be so tender it falls apart!
SUE RIDOUT says
Best ever …. delicious even though I did not have the balsamic vinegar or bay leaves
Liz says
Best roast and gravy I’ve ever made that you,
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Liz so glad to hear! 🙂
Tammy says
Super easy and tastes amazing. I skipped the bay leaves as I didn’t have any. My whole family commented on how amazing the gravy tasted, the best they’ve had apparently. Definitely going to keep this recipe on rotation.
Lucy Parissi says
Thanking you and your family Tammy for making my day with your lovely comment 🙂
ROONEY MARK says
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS. ROASTED BETTER.
Dominic says
Really well explained and delicious
Hazel Armstrong says
Lovely easy way to cook a roast – the carrots particularly were amazing! Have so many left overs though (even after making the suggested Beef Stroganoff pasta bake), should have bought a smaller bit of meat cause we’ll be having roast beef sandwiches for the rest of the week.
Leigh toller says
Waiting for the finished result 💤😀