It looks like some chilly weather is on its way! I’m going to have to start hunting back through all of my recipes for the yummy winter warmers.  This recipe is a regular on the winter menu at our house.  The family love it and I love it even more because I can whip it up at lunch time in about 20 minutes, throw it all in the slow cooker and I don’t have to come back to it until dinner time.  Which means it’s also the perfect meal to make so that you don’t have panic about what to make when you only have a small window of kitchen time after hanging out at kids training all afternoon!

I originally found this recipe on Taste.com .. a regular hang out for me when I’m looking for inspiration .. over the years I have played around, added a few things here and there and this is what I have settled on.

Chilli Beef Recipe

What  you need …                                                          

1.5kg diced beef

splash of olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 capsicum, deseeded, chopped in 1cm pieces

chilli flakes or fresh chilli, finely chopped *your preference as to how much to add!

1 tbspn Worcestershire sauce

1 tbspn ground cumin

1tbspn smoked paprika

1/2 – 1 tbspn Mexican chilli powder *again, your personal preference as to what heat your family like

**normal chilli powder is fine

1 700ml jar tomato passata

1/2 cup beef stock

1/2 cup red wine

1 can red kidney beans *optional

What to do …

Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft.  Add capsicum, chilli, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, paprika and chilli powder.  Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add tomato passata, beef stock and red wine and bring to a boil.

Place diced beef in slow cooker ( you can brown it off first if you like, I’m lazy and it works fine ) and pour tomato mixture over.  Add kidney beans here too if you are adding.  Stir gently to combine all.  If you like a thicker sauce I sometimes thicken with about a tablespoon of arrowroot flour mixed with some more stock.

Cover and cook for 3 – 4 hours on high.  I usually leave it about 7 hours on low.  The meat turns out melt in your mouth tender and has absorbed all the chilli flavour.

Serve with a small serve of rice or tortillas.  And I love to add a dollop of sour cream.

Left overs the next day are even better!

Make sure you register here so that you don’t miss out on new recipes or workouts that I post.

Vic x