The midweek casserole that forgives every distraction
Some nights you want dinner to look after itself. This is that casserole — cubed blade steak, carrots, potatoes and stock, stirred together in one dish and slid into a low oven. There's no browning, no standing at the stove, and nothing that needs timing to the minute. Two hours later the beef is spoon-tender, the potatoes have drunk up the gravy, and the kitchen smells like someone's been cooking all afternoon. Nobody needs to know it was the oven doing the work.
Ingredients
- 430g Your Farmer grass-fed blade steak, cut into 3cm pieces
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 brown onion, cut into wedges
- 2 carrots, thickly sliced
- 400g potatoes, cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 500ml beef stock
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs (or 2 sprigs fresh thyme)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Salt and pepper to season
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 160C. Toss the blade pieces with the flour, a good pinch of salt and plenty of pepper, straight in a lidded casserole dish.
430g blade steak2 tbsp plain flourAdd the onion, carrot, potato and herbs. Whisk the tomato paste into the stock and pour it over, then give everything one good stir.
1 onion2 carrots400g potatoes500ml beef stockLid on and into the oven for 2 hours. Stir once around the halfway mark if you happen to be passing — it forgives you if you're not.
Check the beef gives way to a spoon. Stir in the peas, return the dish for 10 minutes, then taste and season.
1 cup frozen peasServe straight from the dish at the table, into deep bowls, with bread if the gravy needs chasing.
Appears in
Pack B & Pack D shares — Blade (~430g)
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The No-Browning Casserole, and Why It Works
Browning adds flavour — nobody's arguing. But it's not what makes a casserole work. What makes a casserole work is a cut with plenty of connective tissue and a long spell of low, steady heat, and blade delivers both. The seam through the middle of each Your Farmer® blade steak melts down over two hours at 160C and thickens the gravy from the inside, while the flour you tossed the beef in does the rest. That's why this recipe can skip the frying pan entirely and still come out rich. When you're cubing the steaks, don't trim that seam out — it looks like the tough bit, but it's actually where the body of the sauce comes from. The blade pack is about 430g and turns up in Pack B and Pack D beef shares — our blade steak profile covers the cut in full if you're new to it.
Swaps and Variations
Treat the vegetables as a guide, not a shopping list. Swede, parsnip and pumpkin all belong in this dish — use what's in the crisper drawer, cut roughly the same size so it cooks evenly. A splash of red wine in with the stock deepens it for grown-up nights, and on a weekend you can drop savoury dumplings on top for the last 25 minutes with the lid off. It also crosses species beautifully: lamb forequarter chops, bones in, make a terrific version — just lift the bones out before serving.
Storage and Leftovers
Like most braises, it's better the next day. Keep it airtight in the fridge for 3 to 4 days and reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave. It freezes for up to 3 months, though the potatoes come back a little softer — no one in our house has ever objected. Best leftover trick: roughly crush everything together, pile it into a small baking dish, top with grated cheese and grill until bubbling.
Blade, carrots and potatoes are the kind of dinner our grass-fed beef and lamb meat boxes were put together for — one dish, one oven, everybody fed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make this in the slow cooker instead of the oven?
Why didn't my beef go tender in 2 hours?
Can I use a different cut of beef?
My casserole dish doesn't have a lid. What do I do?
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