Slow Cooker Beef Curry

Spicy and warming, this slow cooker beef curry bubbles away in the slow cooker, the beef softening and flavours gently developing over the hours.

Packed full of vegetables too, the butternut squash thickens the sauce naturally so there is no need to use a thickening agent like cornflour. After a Spring day with a nip in the air it is lovely to come home to a steaming bowl of this.

In fact any time of the year when you need a curry, this will be perfect!

This beef curry is also suitable for WeightWatchers Smartpoints on the Freestyle program, based on serving 4 people with the ingredients stated it works out at 6 Smartpoints per serving.

Ingredients needed

• onion
• broccoli
• mange tout
• baby corn
• butternut squash chunks 
• tin chopped tomatoes
• tin light coconut milk
• diced beef
• ground coriander
• ground cumin
• medium curry powder
• turmeric
• garam masala
• red chilli 
• spring onions

How to serve this curry

Topped with freshly sliced red chilli and spring onions, you can serve this beef curry either traditionally with basmati rice, or with cauliflower rice or courgette noodles/zoodles if you are looking for a lighter option.

Great sides are raita, onion bhajis and naan bread.

This dish is very forgiving so you can leave it cooking on low as long as you need to really. I like to save a portion or two and put it in a lunchbox to take to to work as well, I’m all about the easy lunches.

How to ensure the sauce is thick naturally

If you’re anything like me, you want to cook a dish and then not have to worry about thickening a runny sauce at the end.

I also prefer not to have to use thickening granules or cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken the sauce too, preferring a natural option.

When I make my slow cooker vegetable curry too I use vegetables (sweet potato usually) to ensure a thick sauce.

Now I’m following Weight Watchers, I tend to want to use a less starchy vegetable instead, and I found that frozen butternut squash chunks (zero SmartPoints) work just as well!

How to make this curry

If you are busy like me and relying on the slow cooker to get the food prep done earlier in the day before the family is starving hungry then you want something quick to prepare right?

I find that this slow cooker beef curry works just as well if you skip all that frying the onions and spices first to release the flavours.

All I do is brown off the meat and add it to the slow cooker dish with the other ingredients, then leave it to cook.

If you have extra time and want those flavours to really pop then you can fry the onions and add in the spices for the last minute before following the recipe method given below.

Do I need to brown the meat first

I brown off the meat because I find that if you don’t you get a lot of fat which is released during cooking and rises to the top of the sauce. This can make the sauce curdle which doesn’t look too appetising.

By browning off the meat in a saucepan it seals the edges of the meat and ensure that it keeps its shape too.

More slow cooker curry recipes to try

You might also like these other slow cooker curry recipes on my blog:

• slow cooker chicken saag curry
• slow cooker coconut fish curry
• slow cooker lamb curry
• slow cooker chicken pasanda
• slow cooker chickpea and paneer curry

Pin this slow cooker beef curry for later!

Recipe

Slow Cooker Beef Curry

A tasty beef curry full of delicious vegetables in a light coconut milk curry sauce, all made from scratch, which bubbles away in your slow cooker with delicious results.

4.84 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Slow Cooker

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 215kcal

Author: Lucy Allen | BakingQueen74

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 40 g broccoli
• 50 g mange tout
• 60 g baby corn
• 200 g butternut squash chunks I used frozen
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes 400 g
• 1 tin light coconut milk 400 g
• 400 g diced beef
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 0.5 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 red chilli sliced
• 3 spring onions

UK Measurements - US Measurements

Equipment

large oval slow cooker

Instructions 

• Dice the onion and place it in the slow cooker with the vegetables, chopped tomatoes and light coconut milk.
• Add the spices and mix gently.
• Fry the beef in a hot dry pan until brown all over.
• Transfer the beef and any juices into the pot and stir well.
• Cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours.
• Top with slices of red chilli and spring onions and serve, with rice or cauliflower rice.

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