Every once in a while, it is nice to embrace your inner laziness and just toss a few ingredients in a slow cooker and walk away while it does all the work. While there are numerous recipes that afford you this simple life, today's recipe, Butter Beef, is sure to become a family favorite! This six ingredient, almost zero prep, dinner takes a tougher cut of meat and fills it with buttery goodness as it slow cooks to break down into tender, mouth-watering bites of deliciousness. It's also a great excuse to open up a nice bottle of red wine and enjoy almost the entire bottle minus a glass for the recipe! Go ahead and crack that bottle open now and start sipping away as I walk you through this super simple recipe...Let's Get Cooking!
Keeping with the theme of making this recipe super simple, the only actual prep step is to take a chuck roast and break it down into bite-sized pieces. However, you can elevate your own personal laziness and start with a pack of stew meat rather than breaking down a roast. I will say that whatever leftover mystery "stew meat" the store offers is definitely a tough cut of meat and tends to dry out so I do highly suggest breaking down a roast, but hey in spirit of simple and lazy, I decided to use a pack of stew meat myself this time! Place the beef into your slow cooker while you keep enjoying that glass of wine.
Now that all that super difficult prep work is complete, simply add the beef stock, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and a packet of dry onion soup mix. Go ahead and give it a stir so that all the beef is coated and soaking in those liquids of flavor.
We obviously can't call this butter beef without any butter so take your slices of butter and spread them over the beef in the slow cooker. Turn the dial to low and let the beef slow cook for 4-6 hours. Be sure to give it a stir about halfway through after the butter melts to spread that tasty goodness to all the pieces of beef!
Check your beef after 4 hours. Depending on what size you broke down your roast or how big the stew meat was in the beginning, it should be getting close to being done. Normally I would say to leave it a bit more on the rare side, but with these tough cuts of meat the slower and lower temperature they cook the better. As long as you keep a bit of liquid in the slow cooker they beef should retain its moisture and not dry out. Feel free to add a bit more beef stock, red wine, or even just water as it cooks. I could bore you with internal temperature numbers, but since we broke down a whole muscle into bite-sized pieces those numbers don't apply across the board. Just give it a fork test for tenderness, try a bite, and make your own judgment call!
Voila! Told you this recipe was simple and perfect for a lazy meal! There are a few different ways to serve up this beefy goodness. You can keep it simple and enjoy it alongside a delicious portion of Ultimate Mashed Potatoes or even over a bed of buttered noodles. If you feel a bit adventurous, use a slotted spoon to remove the beef and set aside. Heat the remaining cooking liquid and add a bit of flour or cornstarch to create the perfect gravy for the butter beef. It's quite versatile and will pair with just about any side so you can keep the lazy train rolling and nuke a bag of microwave veggies if you like, eh! Not every meal has to be labor intensive, 5-Star service......Just Keep Cooking!
BUTTER BEEF
Holy moly… I just took a morsel to taste while I was separating the fat off and my mouth just exploded with flavor. I honestly didn’t expect this to taste much different than roasts I’ve made before… soooo wrong! This is delicious! And so easy to throw together in a mad rush to get out the door to work.