Slow Cooker Beef Cheeks

These slow cooker beef cheeks are gently and slowly braised in red wine, shallots and mushrooms for a delicious meal.

Great to feed a family, entertaining friends and for those busy nights when you need to get ahead by putting dinner in the slow cooker in the morning.

Just imagine what the house will smell like when you come home starving!

Such a tasty, tender and comforting meal for the colder months.

Enjoy!

slow cooker beef cheeks in a casserole dish.

Jump to:

❤️ Why you will love this recipe
🥘 Ingredients
🍽 Equipment
🔪 Instructions
⏲️ Slow Cooking Time
🥗 Side Dishes
🥙 Substitutions
📖 Variations
🍣 Storage
🍱 Prepare in Advance
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

🤔FAQs

What cut of meat are beef cheeks?

Beef cheeks, sometimes referred to as ox cheeks are the facial cheeks of the animal.

Traditionally, they were a budget cut of meat, but have recently become more popular as chefs use them more in restaurants.

They are now more of an expensive cut than they used to be. This may be because supermarkets, where many people buy their meat, do not stock it as a cut and it is only available from certain butchers or online.

Are beef cheeks tough?

The cheeks are a muscle that is really well used in chewing, which makes this cut extremely tough.

However, as with most tough cuts, long slow braised beef cheeks are tender and full of the flavours that you don't get with a quick roasted piece of topside.

It's well worth seeking them out!

Although in this recipe I've opted to keep the braised ox cheeks whole, so that they can be sliced, they also make great stews when the meat is cut into chunks.

Beef cheeks in red wine make a great family meal as the wine is cooked for a long time and the alcohol removed. Of course, you can replace the volume of red wine with extra beef stock if you prefer.

❤️ Why you will love this recipe

Simple recipe and preparation.
Ideal for busy days when you need dinner to be ready.
Delicious and tender meat.
Family friendly, winter warmer and entertaining idea.
Vary the vegetables to suit your own tastes.

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🥘 Ingredients

Beef cheeks - I buy mine online at Swaledale butchers in Yorkshire. Typically, one cheek will weigh 400-500 grams or a pound and feed 2 people. I've used 2 in this recipe.
Shallots - I prefer to use the long banana shallots as they are slightly easier to peel than the smaller round ones. They are also mild and sweet.
Mushrooms - small button mushrooms for ease as they just need a quick wipe with kitchen towel.
Stock - beef stock. Homemade or from a cube. My preference is to use Bovril as it gives a rich meaty taste.
Worcester sauce - this adds a slight spicy piquancy to the gravy and always goes so well in beef dishes.
Salt - cooking or kosher salt.
Pepper - freshly ground black pepper.
Wine - red wine that you would normally drink. I used a Côtes du Rhône.
Garlic - garlic cloves as opposed to garlic salt or granules as it is a totally different taste,.
Oil - vegetable, sunflower or olive oil for searing the meat.
Butter - for frying the vegetables. The mushrooms act as little sponges and soak up plenty of buttery flavours.
Thyme - fresh thyme stalks if possible. Dried thyme can be quite woody.
Bay leaves - dried bay leaves are best as they can be overpwoering in a dish when they are fresh, especially when cooked for a long time.

The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.

🍽 Equipment

3.5 litre /5.3 pint capacity slow cooker
chopping board
sharp knife
large skillet or frying pan
kitchen string

🔪 Instructions

Set the slow cooker to high to preheat.

Peel the garlic and shallots.

Cut the garlic into slices and quarter the shallots lengthways.

Tie the thyme sprigs together with a piece of string so that they are easy to retrieve from the gravy before serving.

💭 Top Tip

If you don't have fresh thyme you can normally buy a bouquet garni in supermarkets or online. This is a mixture of dried herbs already tied together or in a small muslin pouch. Typically, these contain bay leaves, thyme and parsley, but may include other herbs.

Take the meat out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you start to cook, so that it comes to room temperature.

Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper and season with the salt and pepper.

There's a lot to be said about the timing for salting steak before it is cooked.

If it is salted an hour before cooking the moisture is drawn out by the salt, but is then reabsorbed, so the meat stays moist while it is cooking.
If the meat is salted 15 minutes before cooking, for example, because you are preparing something at the same time, then the moisture escapes from the meat and it will be dry when cooked.
To avoid doubt, generously salt the meat just before it goes in the pan, under the grill, (broiler), or on the grill.

Put the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat.

Sear the meat on all sides for about a minute each side.

If you ever wondered if searing beef makes it more tender, the answer is much deeper. It's not about locking juices in or making it tender as the cooking process will take care of that. The main purpose of searing protein, such as beef, over a high heat with only a little oil, is to produce the Maillard effect. This is the chemical reaction that occurs between the proteins, or amino acids in meat and fish and the natural sugars. This is what gives the meat, colour, flavour and makes it irresistable!

Set the meat aside and add the butter over a medium heat.

Add the shallots and mushrooms to the pan.

Cook for 2 minutes, the add the garlic for 1 minute.

Cooking the garlic without liquid for more than a minute can make it burn.

shallots and mushrooms in a slow cooker.

Put the vegetables in the bottom of the slow cooker and put the meat on top.

Tuck the bay leaves and thyme around the meat.

Add the red wine to the pan and scrape up any bits on the bottom, then add the stock and Worcester sauce.

Bring to a boil and pour over the meat.

⏲️ Slow Cooking Time

Cook on high for 8 hours until tender.

meat, herbs and stock added to the slow cooker.

At this point use a spoon to remove any fat that has come to the surface and check the consistency of the gravy.

If you prefer a thicker sauce combine 2 tablespoons of cornflour, (cornstarch), with 2 tablespoons of water and stir into the gravy.

Leave for 30 minutes.

slow cooked braised ox cheeks before before thickener added.

The seslow cooker beef cheeks in red wine are ready to serve.

I prefer to cut the meat into thick slices and serve simply with mashed potato.

🥗 Side Dishes

Try some of these side dishes with the braised beef cheeks in red wine.

🥙 Substitutions

Shallots - use onions sliced lengthways.
Button mushrooms - use small mushrooms cut into quarters.
Worcester sauce - use balsamic vinegar or mushroom ketchup.
Fresh thyme - substitute with a teaspoon of dried thyme or mixed herbs.

📖 Variations

Vegetables - use chopped carrots, potatoes, swede, parsnips or celeriac.

🍣 Storage

Refrigerator - cool, cover and keep for up to 3 days.
Freezer - pack into containers and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
To reheat - una saucepan on the hob over a medium heat or in a covered dish in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

Prepare the vegetables and sear the meat the night before then put all of the ingredients into the slow cooker.
Slow cooker beef cheeks also taste even better served the next day, as the flavours have a chance to develop further.

close up of braised ox cheek in red wine.

More beef recipes

📋 Recipe

Slow Cooker Beef Cheeks

Amanda

Theseslow cooker beef cheeks in red wine with button mushrooms and shallots turn a budget meal into something special.

4.96 from 22 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 8 20

Total Time 8 40

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Servings

Calories 459 kcal

Equipment

3.5 litre /5.3 pint capacity slow cooker
Chopping board
Sharp knife
large skillet or frying pan
kitchen string

Ingredients

1 kg beef cheeks
6 shallots
200 g mushrooms button
200 ml beef stock
2 tablespoon Worcester Sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
100 ml red wine
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves

Instructions

Set the slow cooker to high to preheat.
Peel the garlic and shallots. Cut the garlic into slices and quarter the shallots lengthways.
Tie the thyme sprigs together with a piece of string.
Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper and season with the salt and pepper.
Put the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat. Sear the meat on all sides for about a minute each side.
Set the meat aside and add the butter over a medium heat. Add the shallots and mushrooms to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, the add the garlic for 1 minute.
Put the vegetables in the bottom of the slow cooker and put the meat on top. Tuck the bay leaves and thyme around the meat.
Add the red wine to the pan and scrape up any bits on the bottom, then add the stock and Worcester sauce. Bring to a boil and pour over the meat.
Cook on high for 8 hours until tender.
If you prefer a thicker sauce combine 2 tablespoons of cornflour, (cornstarch), with 2 tablespoons of water and stir into the gravy.
Leave for 30 minutes

Nutrition Facts

Slow Cooker Beef Cheeks

Amount Per Serving

Calories 459 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Trans Fat 0.01g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 7g

Cholesterol 155mg52%

Sodium 654mg28%

Potassium 1347mg38%

Carbohydrates 12g4%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 5g6%

Protein 59g118%

Vitamin A 43IU1%

Vitamin C 6mg7%

Calcium 88mg9%

Iron 7mg39%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article

Keyword beef cheeks in red wine, braised beef cheeks, braised ox cheek, slow cooker beef cheeks

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Food Safety

Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
Wash hands after touching raw meat.
Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
Never leave cooking food unattended.
Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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