Slow-cooker round steak is the kind of meal that makes a lot of sense for busy cooks. Once it’s in the cooker it does its thing without much effort and you can get on with your day while dinner takes care of itself. Better yet round steak is a relatively low-cost cut, so it’s a budget-saver as well as a time-saver. Round steak can be tough, but the long, gentle slow cooking process fixes that. Those tough bonds between the muscle fibers break down over time and leave the finished steak tender and toothsome.
Round steak recipes for the Crock-Pot are popular in cold weather months, but putting away your slow cooker in the summertime is a missed bet. Not only do slow cookers use minimal electricity (you’ll appreciate that when the AC drives up your power bill), they don’t warm up your kitchen the way stovetop or oven cooking does.
Ingredients for Slow-Cooker Round Steak
- Flour: A seasoned flour coating helps the round steak brown, during the initial searing step, and then later helps thicken the sauce as the meat cooks in the slow cooker.
- Salt and pepper: Salt and pepper season the beef. As the meat simmers in the slow cooker, they’ll also help infuse the sauce with flavor.
- Round steak: Round steak is this dish’s main ingredient and flavor source. It’s a lean cut with minimal fat or gristle and no bone. It’s ideal for dishes that call for the beef to be cut into bite-sized pieces, like this one.
- Canola oil: This neutral-flavored cooking oil will handle the high heat of searing the beef and sauteing the onions without breaking down.
- Onion: Onions add a savory, aromatic and pungent note to any dish, and they’re a classic complement for most meats. They also enhance the taste of other flavoring ingredients.
- Cream of mushroom soup: Canned mushroom soup is a popular ingredient in many slow cooker recipes because it’s essentially an instant sauce. It’s already thickened and seasoned, its mushrooms complement the taste of the beef, and the juices cooking from the round steak combine with the soup to meld their flavors together.
- Oregano and thyme: The dried herbs provide bright, savory flavor notes to complement the steak’s beefiness and the sauce’s creamy richness.
Directions
Step 1: Sear the Beef
Choose a large, resealable plastic bag that’s big enough to hold all of the cubed round steak. Combine the flour, salt and pepper, then add the round steak, a few pieces at a time, and shake them so they’re well coated. Heat a large skillet, and add 4 teaspoons of the oil.
Sear the meat in small batches until well browned on both sides and transfer the pieces to a 5-quart slow cooker.
Step 2: Add the Sauce and Flavoring Ingredients
Add the remaining oil to the skillet and saute the onion until it’s lightly browned, and transfer it to the slow cooker. Stir the oregano and thyme into the mushroom soup, and pour it over the beef and onions. Cook on Low for 7 to 8 hours, or until the beef is fork-tender and shreds evenly.
Slow-Cooker Round Steak Variations
- Change up the meat: Try something other than beef! The same recipe will work equally well with one of the tougher pork cuts, like leg steaks or shoulder; or with comparable cuts of lamb, venison, goat or other red meats.
- Try an alternative sauce: If mushrooms aren’t your thing, or if someone in your household has an allergy, it’s easy to substitute a different “cream of” soup (cream of celery would work beautifully, for example). Alternatively, you could use store-bought or homemade gravy, or even shift gears entirely and use a tomato-based sauce.
- Upgrade to a full one-pot meal: Having the meat and gravy ready to go is a great start, but why not take care of the whole meal at once? Sturdy root vegetables like carrots, parsnips or rutabaga can go into the pot after the beef, and potatoes can be added midway through the cooking time.
Can I make slow-cooker round steak ahead of time?
You bet! This recipe actually improves overnight, as the ingredients’ flavors develop further and get acquainted. Remove the steak and sauce from the slow cooker as soon as it’s finished cooking, and separate it into shallow containers. Put them straight into the fridge for rapid cooling. Quick cooling is essential for food safety, but if you do that part correctly you can prepare it up to 3 or 4 days in advance.
Can I freeze a slow-cooker round steak?
Yes, absolutely. Refrigerate any leftovers immediately after the meal, so they’ll cool quickly, then package them into airtight freezer containers or sealable bags. Leftovers will keep their quality for 3 to 4 months, as a rule, but the more airtight the packaging the longer they’ll last (vacuum-sealed bags are best). Thawing portions overnight in your fridge is the safest method, but you can also reheat directly from frozen if that’s more convenient for you.
Slow Cooker Round Steak Tips
Can I use other cuts of beef?
Round steak is a great choice because of its leanness and relatively low cost, but several other cuts of beef make fine alternatives. Avoid the pricey grilling-friendly cuts. Your best bets are other chewy, slow-cooking cuts like brisket, flank steak, or just about anything from the chuck. If you’re on good terms with a butcher or farmer, less-common cuts like shank or neck are also appropriate.
My store sells different kinds of round steak, does it matter which one I buy?
Top round, bottom round and eye of round come from different parts of the hip area, around the steer’s hind leg. While there are differences between them, they aren’t meaningful in this recipe so buy whichever one is a better deal at the time.
Can I start with frozen beef?
One way to shorten the prep time of this recipe is to cut up your round steak into bite-sized pieces ahead of time, and then whip them out when you’re ready to cook. Just make sure you thaw your meat first. The USDA cautions against cooking meats or poultry from frozen in a slow-cooker because your foods will spend too long in the food safety “danger zone” as they thaw and heat.
