Slow Cooker Beef Curry (Printable)
Tender beef slowly cooked with coconut milk and spices for rich, comforting flavors.
# What You'll Need:
→ Beef
01 - 2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1.5-inch cubes
02 - 1 tbsp vegetable oil
→ Vegetables
03 - 1 large onion, finely chopped
04 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
05 - 1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
06 - 2 medium carrots, sliced
07 - 1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips
→ Spices & Seasonings
08 - 2 tbsp curry powder
09 - 1 tsp ground cumin
10 - 1 tsp ground coriander
11 - ½ tsp turmeric
12 - ½ tsp chili flakes, optional
13 - 1 tsp salt
14 - ½ tsp black pepper
→ Liquids
15 - 1 can (14 oz) full-fat coconut milk
16 - 1 cup beef broth
17 - 1 tbsp tomato paste
→ Finish
18 - 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, optional
19 - Cooked rice, for serving
# Directions:
01 - Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef cubes in batches until golden on all sides. Transfer browned beef to slow cooker.
02 - In the same skillet, sauté onion, garlic, and ginger for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant. Add curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir continuously for 1 minute to toast the spices.
03 - Transfer the sautéed onion and spice mixture to the slow cooker. Add sliced carrots, bell pepper strips, coconut milk, beef broth, and tomato paste. Stir thoroughly to combine.
04 - Cover and cook on low heat for 7 to 8 hours, or on high heat for 4 hours, until beef is tender and flavors are fully developed.
05 - Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve hot, garnished with fresh cilantro and accompanied by cooked rice.
# Cooking Tips:
01 -
- The beef becomes impossibly tender while the spices deepen into something almost sweet and mysterious.
- You brown the meat once, layer in everything else, and the slow cooker does the thinking for the next seven hours.
- It's naturally dairy-free and gluten-free without tasting like a restriction at all.
02 -
- Don't skip browning the beef; it's the only step that happens on the stovetop, but it creates all the flavor foundation the slow cooker builds on.
- Full-fat coconut milk is completely different from light—using light makes the sauce thin and less luxurious, which defeats half the purpose.
- Taste before you serve; slow cookers vary so much in temperature and intensity that seasoning at the end is always necessary.
03 -
- Toast whole spices in a dry pan for 30 seconds before grinding them yourself if you ever want to level up the flavor even more, though the recipe works beautifully with ground spices as written.
- Leftover curry tastes even better the next day as the flavors continue to meld; refrigerate it and reheat gently, or freeze it for up to two months and thaw overnight in the fridge.