One of my favorite easy and health slow cooker recipes is “Butter Beef.” The name may sound odd, but it’s actually quite delicious. In fact, it’s one of my husband’s favorite dishes! (And he can be pretty picky!) I worked on this one quite a bit to make it lower in calories than more traditional versions, and added a few extra touches. It comes out to less than 600 calories per serving (without rice or pasta) and this recipe serves two people!
You’ll note that this recipe has onion seasoning in it. When I first made this recipe years ago, my husband was in a phase where he couldn’t stand to eat any onions. But he still loved this dish! It has a little onion flavor without the texture of onions. Now he’s more open-minded about onions and will eat them if they’re really well sauteed (like in an egg loaf dish that I’ll be sharing soon.) So nowadays, I imagine that he wouldn’t mind some onions thrown into this dish too. But that’s really up to you!
In fact, there are a few things in this recipe that you can change up based on your personal preferences, like the seasonings. That’s the beauty of slower cooker dishes. They leave a lot of room for experimentation based on personal taste.
Just a note: this recipe calls for cubed stew meat. You can use whatever variety you want, or cut your own raw beef into cubes! Last time I made this, I used Wagyu cubed stew meat and it was divine.
Ingredients
- About 1.5 pounds of raw cubed beef stew meat
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 envelope dry onion soup mix – I prefer Lipton Recipe Secrets: Onion flavor, but any kind will do
- 1 cup of red wine
- 1 large beef bouillon cube + 1 cup water OR 1 cup of beef broth
- 2 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic*
- 1/8 cup flour** (you can use more for a thicker sauce)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Monterrey steak seasoning
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt***
- Dash of Worcestershire
- Optional: Chopped onions or your favorite chopped veggies
Notes about the ingredients:
* You can use jarred minced garlic to make this really easy (look for the roasted jarred garlic if you can find it, because that flavor profile works best with this meal.) But you can also mince your own garlic if you want to use fresher ingredients!
** I just use 1/8 cup flour in order to keep this recipe lower in calories. However, this also means that you will have a more watery soup that soaks beautifully when served over rice. If you want a thicker soup, you’ll need to adjust and add in more flour or another thickening agent.
*** My husband loves extra salty dishes, so when I used 1/2 teaspoon of salt, he added more salt. However, the onion seasoning and the Monterrey steak seasoning both have salt in them, so if you like less salty dishes, then you might prefer even less salt.
Instructions
Put the beef in your slow cooker. (If you want to be fancy, you can try lightly browning the beef first and then deglazing the pan with some red wine. But since this is an easy and fast slow cooker recipe, I skip those steps.)
Cover the beef with the onion seasoning, steak seasoning, salt & pepper.
Cut the butter up into little chunks and drop it over the meat.
Throw all the minced garlic that you want on top. Feel free to add more garlic or chop up some onions or veggies to add to this dish!
In a separate bowl, mix the red wine, beef broth, cumin, and flour. Mix well until the flour is dissolved.
Pour over the beef.
Cook on low for about five to six hours.
This dish can be served over rice or noodles, but I recommend rice so it can soak up some of the sauce! I prefer brown rice, but any kind will do.
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Butter Beef: A Delicious & Easy Slow Cooker Recipe
- Total Time: 6:15
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
This is an easy-to-make, “fast” slow cooker recipe. It’s healthy and low in calories, and absolutely delicious.
Ingredients
About 1.5 pounds of raw cubed beef stew meat
2 tablespoons butter
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup of red wine
1 large beef bouillon cube + 1 cup water OR 1 cup of beef broth
2 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (If you use jarred, see if you can find the roasted variety)
1/8 cup flour (you can use more for a thicker sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons Monterrey steak seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Dash of Worcestershire
Optional: Chopped onions or your favorite chopped veggies
Optional: Rice for serving with your meal (it soaks up the sauce great)
Instructions
Put the beef in your slow cooker.
Cover the beef with the onion seasoning, steak seasoning, salt & pepper.
Cut the butter up into little chunks and drop it over the meat.
Throw all the minced garlic that you want on top. Feel free to add more garlic or chop up some onions or veggies to add to this dish!
In a separate bowl, mix the red wine, beef broth, cumin, and flour. Mix well until the flour is dissolved. Pour over the beef.
Cook on low for about five to six hours.
Notes
You can play around with this recipe however you want. Make it fancier by browning the meat a little first. Use fresh garlic and chopped onions. Add extra flour if you want it to be thicker. It’s all up to you and your creativity!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours