Do you want a hearty family friendly beef casserole? Then look no further. This is it.
When I am cooking for our family I tend to leave out most vegetables from the casserole and serve them on the side. This is just simply something I do to avoid negative food discussions at meal times. I simply steam them and add them to the side of the plate along with the rice or mashed potato.
You could use any cut of beef for this recipe.
Examples could be beef shins, chuck steak, blade steak or stewing steak.
To make this recipe stretch further I add a can of chick peas or black beans.
Any left overs can simply;
– be made into a pie using a flaky or short pastry (store bought or home made).
– place in an oven proof dish, topped mashed potato and cheese, and reheated in the oven until bubbly, golden and crunchy.
– Served on toasted ciabatta with sriracha
Family Beef Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 kg diced beef (stewing, blade, shin, or chuck are good cuts to choose)
- 1 tbsp butter (or oil)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 can tinned tomatoes (400 grams)
- 1 can chickpeas or black beans (400 grams)
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 cup water (or red wine)
- 1 tbsp marmite (or vegemite)
- 2 tbsp corn flour
Instructions
Stove Top and Oven Method
- Preheat the oven to 160° fanbake.
- Heat an oven safe pot on the stove top. I like to use my cast iron cook ware. Alternatively use a pot and transfer the ingredients into an oven safe dish to cook.
- Place the butter or oil in to the pot and sear the beef (You may need to sear the beef in two batches if your pot is small).
- Season the beef with salt and pepper as you sear it.
- While that is cooking, finely dice the onion and garlic. And add to the pan once the meat is brown all over. Use a flat bottomed wooden spoon to get all the flavour off the bottom of the pot.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas (or black beans) and add to the beef, along with the canned tomatoes.
- Slowly add the beef stock. Scrape the bottom of the pot to get all the flavours combined.
- Pour the cup of water into the tomato can and swish around to get the remaining tomatoes. Add the marmite to the water and stir. Add the cornflour and create a slurry. Pour into the pot and turn off the heat.
- Cover and place in the oven for 1 ½ hours. Take the lid off and give it a good stir. Place back in the oven and cook for a remaining 30 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Magic Pot Method
- Press the sautè function. Once heated place the butter in and sear the beef in two batches.
- Season the beef with salt and pepper as you sear it.
- While that is cooking, finely dice the onion and garlic. And add to the pan once the meat is brown all over. Use a flat bottomed wooden spoon to get all the flavour off the bottom of the pot.
- Turn off the saute function.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas (or black beans) and add to the beef, along with the canned tomatoes.
- Slowly add HALF the amount of beef stock. Scrape the bottom of the pot to get all the flavours combined.
- Pour HALF the cup of water into the tomato can and swish around to get the remaining tomatoes. Add the marmite to the water and add it to the pot.
- Place the lid in the locked position and pressure cook on high for 35 minutes or use the 'meat/stew' function on you magic pot.
- Allow the steam to naturally release and take the lid off. Mix the cornflour with the remaining water and add to the casserole. Fold gently through and press the saute function once more. Allow the sauce to thicken.
Serving suggestions
- Serve with mashed potato or rice.
- Serve with freshly steamed vegetables on the side.