There are two dishes that us Brits do better than anyone else on the planet – fish and chips, and a roast dinner. Anyone that tries to argue otherwise – well, they’re wrong. This Slow Cooker Roast Beef can’t be beaten for convenience or taste!
If you do some research you’ll find many “one pot roast” recipes for the slow cooker that involve throwing everything (potatoes included) into the crockpot and leaving it to cook. Boiled potatoes in gravy? No thanks. It should be illegal to eat a roast without proper oven-baked roast potatoes! Also, they usually use a brisket cut of beef – which works better for pulled beef style recipes (like our Slow Cooker Spicy Beef Tacos), and doesn’t slice too well.
Bec and I have spent a long time refining this recipe. We’ve tried different cuts of beef, different gravy, different ways of serving the veg with it. When we had that “OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING” moment, we knew we’d nailed it!
What cut of meat should I use for Slow Cooker Roast Beef?
After much experimentation, we can confirm that the best cut to use for a Slow Cooker Sunday Roast Beef – is topside of beef. Topside is a lean cut that comes from the top of the cow’s rear-end. It works so well slow cooked as the long cooking times break down the meat, and it literally melts in your mouth as you eat it.
Topside also cuts really nicely. Rather than falling apart once cooked (brisket – I’m looking at you) it’s possible to cut beautiful slices (as you can see from our pictures!) – but it’s still really tender and flavoursome.
In terms of price you’ll find topside is at the cheaper end of the roasting joints that you can find in supermarkets, so it makes for an excellent thrifty Sunday roast. Brilliant if you have a lot of mouths to feed!
Note for our US and Canadian friends: Over on your side of the pond cows are butchered and named slightly differently. Look for a “top round”.
Top Tips for Slow Cooker Roast Beef
- Searing the meat well before you start cooking is probably the single most important thing you can do to ensure an amazing flavour. You’re not sealing the meat to “lock in moisture” as many believe! By searing the outside of the meat on a high heat you’re initiating the “Mailliard Reaction”, which adds to the beautiful meaty flavour.
- Whilst we add vegetables to the crockpot to add flavour to the gravy and meat, no roast beef is complete without a good selection of vegetables freshly cooked and served with the beef. Nobody wants carrots that taste exactly the same as everything else!
- No Roast Beef is complete without Yorkshire Puddings. If another Brit tells you otherwise, they’re a – wrong, or b – lying about being British 😉
What’s the best gravy for Roast Beef?
The most flavoursome gravy is made with the meat juices produced whilst cooking the meat. This recipe cooks the beef in red wine and beef stock, which is then reduced, seasoned and tweaked at the end – so literally nothing goes to waste. I can’t explain to you how good the red wine gravy in this recipe is!
It’s important that the gravy is the right thickness, too watery and it won’t have much taste, and too thick it won’t pour – so ensure you reduce it adequately after the meat is cooked. If you go too far either way you can either add some boiling water, or reduce further till you reach a consistency you’re happy with.
It’s really not necessary to use an expensive bottle of wine – don’t be fooled into thinking that using a more expensive bottle will make the gravy taste better. Any bottle of red you have in the cupboard will be absolutely fine.
What vegetables should I serve with Roast Beef?
You can serve whatever vegetables you like with roast beef – the list is pretty much endless. When we ate the beef you can see in the pictures (yes, we do eat everything we make!), we served it with roast potatoes, winter greens, and carrot and swede mash.
You could also serve roast beef with:
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cauliflower (or cauliflower cheese!)
Vegetables aside, don’t forget your Yorkshire Puddings!
Topside Beef in Red Wine Cooking Times
The cooking times stated in the recipe card are for a 1kg rolled topside joint, cooked from room temperature. Whilst this is a good starting point, the best way to determine if your beef is cooked to your liking is by checking the internal temperature of the meat using a meat thermometer.
The following temperatures are a good guide. Don’t worry if you go slightly over, and bear in mind the temperature of the beef will continue to rise as it rests.
Rare: 50C
Medium: 60C
Well done: 70C
Slow Cooker Roast Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) topside or top round beef
- 500 ml (2.1 cups) beef stock
- 187.5 ml (0.8 cups) red wine ¼ bottle
- 2 carrots roughly chopped
- 1 onion sliced
- 6 tbsp cornflour
- 3 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Add the carrots and onions to the slow cooker, then add 3 tbsp of cornflour and stir to ensure an even coating. Rub a little oil all over the beef and season well with salt and pepper. Sear the beef all over in a hot pan, and transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add the beef stock, red wine, tomato puree and sugar, ensuring that the beef is mostly covered by the liquid. Cook on low for 5 hours, or high for 3 hours. Once cooked, remove the beef from the slow cooker and cover with foil to keep warm. Rest the beef for up to 30 minutes. If you want to be sure about cooking times, use a meat thermometer – one is linked in the equipment list.
- Reduce the remaining liquid and vegetables in the slow cooker to a gravy consistency, adding 3 tbsp of cornflour to thicken (remove a little liquid, mix in the cornflour to make a paste, and mix it back into the gravy). If you've got a slow cooker with a metal pot (see the equipment list for a recommendation) you can do this by transferring it straight to the hob, if not, you'll need to transfer the contents of the slow cooker to a pan.
- When you're ready to serve, slice the beef with a sharp knife and coat with plenty of red wine gravy!
Video
Notes
Cooked Beef Internal Temperature
Insert the beef thermometer into the middle of the beef and wait for the temperature to settle. Use the following temperatures as a guide, depending how you like your beef to be cooked: Rare: 50CMedium: 60C
Well done: 70C The temperature will continue to rise slightly once the beef is removed from the slow cooker.
Is it easy to sear a whole beef joint? Is it not better to cut the joint into manageable chunks first?
Easy-peasy to sear, whack it in a pan and turn after each side is browned. Don’t cut it into chunks!
Cooked my topside in the slow cooker and wow oh my word it’s amazing !!!!
Have used your recipe for topside of beef in slow cooker but didn’t use red wine. But must say once cooked and served it was just as you said, just melt in the mouth. Thank you it was brilliant. Will use this method next time I have beef. Very pleased indeed.
Is it better to cook on low or high to get tender beef. Still want to be able to slice it not pull apart soft?
The only thing low/high adjusts is the cooking time, and yes it will be sliceable unless you accidentally bought brisket 🙂
I made this with the 1kg joint. Perfect. But now I’d like to make it for Christmas with a 2.5kg joint. How do I adjust the other ingredients, liquid and timings? Help! 😊
Adjust the other ingredients accordingly, and cook by temperature to ensure it’s cooked to your taste.
Do you have to use wine in recipe?
There are many examples of people that have not use wine in the comments, but it’s not something we’ve tested.
Thanks for the recipe! I want to do it this Thursday for Thanksgiving as it’ll give me more oven space for turkey. I’m only worried that the beef won’t be sliceable and will fall apart. I do have top round. Any other tips to ensure I can get nice cuts for serving rather than a pulled beef situation?
If you use the right cut of beef it’ll be sliceable and not fall apart, enjoy!
Like many others who have commented I will never cook roast beef in the oven again! This really takes any stress out of serving up delicious roast beef. I had a 2kg joint of topside, did the prep and put it in the slow cooker at 11pm, came down at 6.30 to a wonderful smell in the kitchen and turned the cooker off ( after having checked the temperature with a thermometer). Took it out and left for about an hour before carving beautiful, succulent well done beef. The gravy was amazing and I had enough to freeze some too. I’ll be using this brilliant recipe to cook our beef at Christmas.
Thanks Alison, pleased you enjoyed it!
We cooked 1 kg topside on low (Crockpot, 4.7 L) and checked temperature after 4 h 15 min – was +90 oC, so unfortunately, meat was overdone and a little dry. Will repeat the recipe with larger piece and/or shorter cooking time. The gravy produced was delicious!
We definitely recommend buying a meat thermometer and cooking by temperature to ensure the meat is cooked to your taste. There’s one in the recipe card – good luck!
My toddler didn’t leave a scrap of beef on his plate! Really enjoyed this. I added bay leaves too.
A toddler eating a roast is definitely a winner!