Eight hours in the slow cooker, ten minutes of your morning

This is the dinner the slow cooker was invented for. Blade steak goes in with flour, onion and stock before the school run — no browning, no fuss — and by six o'clock it's fall-apart beef in a gravy that made itself. That line of gristle through the middle of a blade steak? It melts away completely, and it's exactly what gives the gravy its body. Spoon it over mash, call the kids, done.

8 hrs 10 mins 4 servings Prep 10 minsCook 8 hrsMain CourseAustralian

Ingredients

  • 430g Your Farmer grass-fed blade steak
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 brown onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 375ml beef stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • Mashed potato and steamed greens, to serve

Instructions

Put the flour, a good pinch of salt and plenty of pepper straight into the slow cooker bowl, add the blade steaks and turn them until coated. No browning needed.

2 tbsp plain flour430g blade steak

Scatter the onion and garlic over the top.

1 onion2 cloves garlic

Whisk the stock, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce together in a jug, pour it over, and tuck in the bay leaf.

375ml beef stock1 tbsp tomato paste1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce1 bay leaf

Lid on. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4) until the beef falls apart when nudged with a fork.

Fish out the bay leaf, break the beef into big chunks with two forks, and stir it back through the gravy. Taste and season.

Serve piled over creamy mash with steamed greens on the side.

mashed potatosteamed greens

Appears in

Your Farmer CSA grass-fed beef share — vacuum-sealed steaks, roasts, mince and sausages, paddock-to-plate NSW & ACT delivery
CSA Grass Fed Beef Share
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Why Blade Was Built for the Slow Cooker

Blade comes off the shoulder — a muscle that works hard every day of an animal's life, which is why there's a seam of connective tissue running through the middle of every steak. Cook it fast and that seam stays chewy. Give it eight slow hours and it melts into gelatine, and that's the whole trick of this recipe: the gravy gets its glossy body from the cut itself, not from a packet. The flour you toss the steaks in does the thickening, the onion quietly sweetens into the sauce, and the beef ends up soft enough to serve with a spoon. Your Farmer® blade arrives as a ~430g pack in Pack B and Pack D beef shares, and if you want it on standing order you can order blade steak by the pack as well.

Swaps and Variations

Round steak or diced beef take to this exact treatment — same times, same result. A handful of sliced mushrooms thrown in at the start makes it beef-and-mushroom gravy; a teaspoon of Dijon whisked in at the end sharpens the whole pot; and if there's an open bottle on the bench, swap 125ml of the stock for red wine. If your slow cooker is earning its keep this winter, our round steak slow-cooker recipe runs on the same no-fuss logic.

Storage and Leftovers

Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, and the gravy sets to a jelly — that's the gelatine, and it's a good sign. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of water. It freezes well for up to 3 months in family or single portions — label the container, because it looks like every other braise in there. The leftover move: spoon it into a pie dish, top with a sheet of puff pastry, and bake at 200C until golden — a proper beef pie for about ten minutes of effort.

The easiest way to keep blade turning up in your freezer is a grass-fed beef CSA share — it lands in Pack B and Pack D deliveries, ready for exactly this.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really not need to brown the meat first?

Not for this one. The flour coating, Worcestershire and long cook build plenty of flavour, and skipping the pan is the whole point of a dump-and-go dinner. Brown it if you have five spare minutes — it adds a little depth — but it works beautifully without.

Can I cook it on HIGH instead?

Yes — 4 hours on HIGH gets you there. LOW for 8 gives a slightly silkier result because the connective tissue breaks down more gently, so use LOW when the day allows.

My gravy looks thin at the end. How do I fix it?

Slow cookers vary in how much they evaporate. Leave the lid off on HIGH for 15 to 20 minutes, or stir in a teaspoon of cornflour mixed with a splash of cold water and let it bubble for a few minutes.

Can I double it for a bigger family?

Easily. Two packs of blade fit in a standard 5 to 6 litre slow cooker — add half as much again of the stock mixture and keep the cooking time the same.

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