The wine pairing for this meal is easy – use the leftover wine from cooking! I suggest a heavy red wine such as Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon (or any Cabernet blend) for this recipe. You could also use a Cabernet Franc or Malbec.
Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine
This dish comes together with just a few ingredients and minimal effort, but the end result is melt-in-your-mouth tender beef cheeks in a thick and luscious red wine sauce. Serve over mashed potatoes and you might just have the perfect winter meal!
Servings
4 Servings
PREP TIME
30 mins
COOK TIME
30 mins + 6 hours
TOTAL TIME
7+ hours
Difficulty
Easy
Wine pairing
Cabernet blend, Shiraz
Ingredients
1.20 kg beef cheeks
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, roughly diced
2 carrots, roughly chopped
4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
300 g mushrooms, thickly sliced
1.50 cups heavy red wine
2 cups beef stock
200 g tomato paste
6 fresh thyme sprigs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Ingredients
2.60 lbs beef cheeks
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, roughly diced
2 carrots, roughly chopped
4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
10 oz mushrooms, thickly sliced
1.50 cups heavy red wine
2 cups beef stock
7 oz tomato paste
6 fresh thyme sprigs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
- The vegetables only need to be roughly chopped. You’ll puree most of them at the end to finish the sauce, and I reserve some for serving so you want them chunky enough to withstand the long slow-cooking time.
- Choose a heavy red wine such as Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon.
- If you don’t have fresh thyme sprigs sub with a few teaspoons of dried thyme.
Variations
If you don’t have a slow cooker, this can be made in a dutch oven. Add an extra 1/3 cup of stock or water, and cook covered over very low heat on the stove, or 100°C / 210°F in the oven, for 3.5 hours.
Directions
1
Sear the beef cheeks
Note: If your slow cooker has a sear/saute setting, do these steps directly in the slow cooker. Otherwise you’ll need to cook the ingredients on the stove top, and then transfer them to the slow cooker later.
1. Heat the oil in the slow cooker. Pat the beef cheeks dry, then sear them on all sides (work in batches if necessary). Remove seared beef cheeks to a plate.
2
Add the vegetables and slow cook
1. Turn the temperature to medium-low. Add the butter and, once melted, add the garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Stir every minute or so, until they have softened (about 3 minutes)
2. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’ve browned (about another 3 minutes).
3. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for a minute or two. Then add the wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape any burnt bits that are stuck to the bottom of the slow cooker.
4. Once the wine is simmering, add the stock, thyme, salt and pepper, and return the beef cheeks to the slow cooker.
Note: If you cooked everything on the stove top, transfer it to the slow cooker now.
5. Slow cook for at least 6 hours, up to 10 hours.
3
Finish the sauce
1. Use a slotted spoon to remove the beef cheeks to a plate (if you use tongs, they might fall apart).
2. Use the slotted spoon to remove about half of the vegetables. This step is optional; if you don’t want chunky vegetables in your finished meal, then skip this step.
3. Use an immersion blender directly in the slow cooker to puree the remaining vegetables and sauce, until it’s smooth.
Serve beef cheeks over mashed potato, and scoop a generous amount of the red wine sauce over the top. Delicious!
Wine pairing