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Home » Recipes » Freezer Meals

Crockpot Swiss Steak

Published: Mar 14, 2023 · Updated: Jan 28, 2025 by Marye

Slow cooker swiss steak is an easy recipe for an old fashioned favorite. This is comfort food at its best - inexpensive, filling, and deliciously reminiscent of your grandmother's kitchen. Freezes well.
Total time for the recipe to be finished.Total Time 8 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
Jump to Recipe
A ladle filled with a serving of swiss steak.
Overhead view of the slow cooker filled with swiss steak and a text overlay for Pinterest.
Closeup of finished recipe with text overlay for Pinterest

Make this old fashioned recipe in the slow cooker and enjoy a hearty meal the whole family will love.

Don't want to scroll through the page to get to the recipe? Use the table of contents to click on the section you want to go to.

A crockpot filled with steak and vegetables in a tomato sauce.
Table of Contents
  • ❤️ Why you'll love it
  • 🧾 Ingredients
  • 🔪 Instructions
  • 🥫 Storage
  • 📖 Variations
  • 💭 Things to know
  • 👩‍🍳 FAQs
  • 📚 Related recipes
  • 🍽️ Serve with...
  • 🥄 Restless Chipotle recommends
  • 📞 The last word
  • 📖 Recipe
  • ✍🏻 A note from Marye...
  • 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love it

  • This slow cooker swiss steak recipe takes a cheap cut of beef and turns it into a fork tender, hearty meal.
  • It's hands-off. There's very little prep time and then the slow cooker takes over.
  • Leftover swiss steak is even better the next day. If there's not enough leftover for a full meal add some beef broth and turn it into soup.

Like salisbury steak, this is comfort food at its best - inexpensive, filling, and deliciously reminiscent of your grandmother's kitchen. 

🧾 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

Labeled ingredients for this recipe.

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Step by step images showing how to make swiss steak.
  1. Chop the vegetables in large chunks and add to slow cooker with stewed tomatoes.
  2. Dredge beef in flour mixture.
  3. Sear the beef in a hot pan on the stove top over medium high heat. You can skip this step if you like but it does add flavor. Add to the crockpot on top of the vegetables.
  4. Add beef stock to the hot pan and scrape any brown bits of meat that are sticking to the bottom. Add the Worcestershire to the crockpot and cook as directed in recipe card below.

I know this is not very traditional but I like to serve swiss steak with these jalapeno cheese grits. Try it!

🥫 Storage

Store leftovers in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. They'll be fine for 3 days or so.

You can also put the leftovers in a freezer container and freeze for up to 3 months.

A serving of swiss steak being removed from the slow cooker.

📖 Variations

  • Some people like swiss steak to be on the creamy side. If that's you add a can of cream of mushroom soup.
  • If you don't like spicy heat use green pepper instead of jalapenos - or just leave peppers out altogether.
  • Use tomato soup in place of the stewed tomatoes.
  • Use a different cut of meat - any of the budget cuts will work!
  • If you use cube steak you don't need to tenderize it with the meat mallet.
  • Instead  of making potatoes or rice to go with this make toast and serve it over the toast.
  • One thing I do a little differently is to add chopped Poblano or jalapeno pepper in place of the bell pepper. It adds just a touch of spice that I love.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip: Skip dredging the beef in the flour and just toss it in the slow cooker - you'll lose some flavor but save about 10 minutes.

  • Save time by buying the pre-chopped vegetables.
  • When the meat is gone, or there's not enough left for a meal, add some beef stock or water and you'll have a delicious homemade base for vegetable soup.
  • The acids in the tomatoes and long, slow cooking time make tough cuts of meat tender but will turn tender cuts to mush. Inexpensive lean meat cuts are best for this recipe.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

What is a swiss steak cut of meat?

Round steak is most often used for swiss steak but you can also use a chuck shoulder steak or other normally tough cut of beef. The long braising time tenderizes it beautifully.

Why do they call it Swiss steak?

Swissing is another term for the process of tenderizing the steak before cooking - it has nothing to do with Switzerland or cheese! The original term came from a British term for describing how fabric is stretched between rollers.

How do you make Swiss steak?

You can make it in an oven or slow cooker - either is fine as long as it gets long, slow cooking on a low heat. There are notes in the recipe below for making swiss steak in an oven.

What steak to purchase for swiss steak?

I like cubed steak the best. It's round steak that's been tenderized.

A bite of swiss steak on a fork.

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🍽️ Serve with...

Add mashed potatoes and some buttered and seasoned green beans or a wedge salad and you're good to go.

Or, if you love egg noodles try these noodles romanoff recipe. It's creamy and cheesy.

Of course homemade rolls are always nice, too!

Here are more great ideas for what to serve with swiss steak.

🥄 Restless Chipotle recommends

The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

You'll need the following items to make this crock pot swiss steak recipe successfully.

  • slow cooker
  • iron skillet
  • spatula
  • meat mallet

📞 The last word

Probably one of my favorite recipes, next to a good pot roast, crockpot Swiss Steak is cooked slowly in tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, and celery.

The acids in the tomatoes and the slow cooking make the cheapest cut of meat butter tender and delicious!

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

A ladle filled with a serving of swiss steak.

Crockpot Swiss Steak

4.94 from 33 votes
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Slow cooker swiss steak is an easy recipe for an old fashioned favorite. This is comfort food at its best - inexpensive, filling, and deliciously reminiscent of your grandmother's kitchen. Freezes well.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Amercian Heritage
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours hours 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 8 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
Servings:8 servings
Calories:300
Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds round steak, or cube steak
  • ¼ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning (Tony Chachere’s), optional
  • olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, sliced
  • 1 cup celery, sliced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
  • 25 ounces tomatoes, canned or home canned stewed tomatoes
  • 1 cup carrots, sliced
  • ½ cup beef stock, or water
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ cup parsley, chopped

Instructions

  • Place the chopped vegetables, tomatoes, and garlic into the bottom of a slow cooker.
  • Pound meat until thin with a meat mallet.
  • Mix flour, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and Creole Seasoning.
  • Dredge the meat in the flour mixture and rub it in.
  • Shake off excess flour.
  • Cut the meat in serving sized pieces.
  • Add about 2 tbs of olive oil to a heavy skillet.
  • Heat oil  until it shimmers a bit then carefully add steak
  • Fry until just golden
  • Flip and fry on the other side.
  • Repeat with all steaks. You may need to add a little more olive oil
  • Place the steaks over the vegetables in the slow cooker.
  • Add the beef stock to the hot pan.
  • Stir and scrape the bottom with a spatula to get up any brown bits of meat that are stuck.
  • Pour the stock over the ingredients in the slow cooker.
  • Add Worcestershire sauce and cook on low for 8 hours.

Notes

Storage:
Store leftovers in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. They'll be fine for 3 days or so.
You can also put the leftovers in a freezer container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Tips:
  • You can make this in the oven, too. Just put the ingredients in a baking dish instead of a slow cooker, cover tightly with foil, and bake at 300F for 2 hours.
  • This recipe freezes well.
  • Save time by buying the prechopped vegetables.
  • If you buy "cubed" steak you won't have to pound it with the mallet.
  • Skip dredging the beef in the flour and just toss it in the slow cooker - you'll lose some flavor but save about 10 minutes.
  • Instead  of making potatoes or rice to go with this make toast and serve it over the toast.
You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 340mg | Potassium: 996mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3745IU | Vitamin C: 18.4mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 4.5mg

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

✍🏻 A note from Marye...

I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.

When I was growing up there weren't fast food places and restaurants on every corner - and going out to eat wasn't a weekly thing.

Unless you counted the lunch counters at Woolworths and Grants or the shiny, chrome diners that dotted the landscape.

Inexpensive, comfort food. Nothing fancy, no one used tweezers to place micro-greens just so. It was the same stuff your mom cooked at home only you didn't have to do the dishes.

Swiss steak was a popular diner food then and it's still perfect for everything from weeknights to Sunday dinner now. If you've never tried it you're in for a treat.

This post was updated from the July 2009 version. Last updated March 14, 2023 for better images and improved content.

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About Marye

Meet Marye Audet, a wizard in the kitchen and a storyteller at heart. Marye is like your eccentric but fun aunt who knows all the secret recipes and isn't afraid to spill them.

Comments

    4.94 from 33 votes

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    Love it? Give it 5 stars!




  1. Susan Johnson says

    July 31, 2024 at 1:18 pm

    Can this be cooked on high for 5-6 hours in the slow cooker?

    Reply
    • Marye says

      August 01, 2024 at 9:07 pm

      Yes but you run the risk of it being tough.

      Reply
  2. Jennifer says

    April 14, 2024 at 9:46 am

    5 stars
    Good Morning Marye!
    We had your 'CrockPot Swiss Steak' dinner last night, (using stewing beef) and it was wonderful over rice. We used cornstarch as a thickener, because of a gluten intolerance. Our grandchildren are learning to enjoy meat, but haven't progressed to potatoes...thus the rice. The stewing beef was cut into smaller cubes, we left out the Creole Seasoning along with the Jalapeño pepper.
    Today we will turn the left overs into a soup, as suggested, adding peas and carrots, their favourite. We love our crockpot dinners! Thank you for this recipe!

    Reply
  3. Becky Crocker says

    April 14, 2024 at 9:36 am

    5 stars
    Thanks Marye, for another quick way to make very delicious dinner. I also love those 20 minute meals. And all the vegetables in the Swiss steak. So next time round steak is on sale, that will be the first thing I create.

    Reply
  4. Michelle Gosser says

    April 13, 2024 at 8:20 pm

    Now, as much as I love Marye and Restless Chipotle, this is a recipe that I know won't be a good fit for my family. But don't listen to my negative, if you or your family likes this kind of meal, please give it a try!

    Reply
  5. Monica says

    April 13, 2024 at 8:17 pm

    Mary’s, thank you again for a tasty recipe.. jalapeño cheese grits! What a great pairing. Making this Monday!

    Reply
  6. Theresea says

    April 13, 2024 at 5:26 pm

    I tried the Swiss steak. But, I used a little cornstarch to thicken up the broth (sauce). Very simple recipe lots of choices with spices. Thanks again.

    Reply
  7. Penny says

    April 13, 2024 at 10:25 am

    This looks amazing! I'm going to add this to the menu this week. My wife has GERD, so I'll leave out the jalapenos, but I'm pretty sure this will become another "win" 🙂

    Reply
  8. Melanie C says

    April 13, 2024 at 12:08 am

    5 stars
    I have made this recipe as is to great acclaim, but I did have a few questions.
    Firstly-is it ok to dredge the meat beforehand-like the evening before while cooking a meal and leaving in the refrigerator until assembly?
    Secondly- can I cook it longer than the recommended time?I tend to put my crockpot recipes in during the early am, so they get left longer than 8-12 hours which is no problem with stews and cheaper cuts of meat?
    Total hit with my family, just looking for a few tweaks for us.

    Thanks as always for the great recipe!!

    Reply
    • Marye says

      April 13, 2024 at 7:27 am

      I wouldn't dredge it ahead - the flour will soak into the meat. You can leave it on low as long as you need to! There's enough sauce that it will be fine.

      Reply
  9. Jack says

    April 13, 2024 at 12:05 am

    I cannot wait to try this for Sunday dinner. I was indecisive on what to cook for my picky brother and his sweet wife. This will please him and the whole family, especially me (the cook)!!!!!
    Thanks for this recuing recipe.

    Reply
  10. Linda Youngs says

    April 12, 2024 at 9:43 pm

    5 stars
    This is one of my go-to recipes when I want to make a meal to take to a friend. It is always yummy and appreciated!!

    Reply
  11. Pam Anslem says

    April 12, 2024 at 9:05 pm

    I LOVE Swiss Steak! It’s been a long time since I’ve made it and seeing your email with the link brought a flood of memories back of my Mother making it! Your recipe is close to hers. She would make mashed potatoes to put it over. This has to go on the menu soon! Thank you the recipe

    Reply
  12. Judi Schafman says

    April 12, 2024 at 7:40 pm

    I can't wait to try this. My Mom made swiss steak when I was a kid and it was delicious. Of course that was before slow cookers - she cooked her's on the stove in a cast iron skillet and cover it and let it simmer forever. Oh the memories this brings backs. thanks hun.

    Reply
  13. Jane says

    April 12, 2024 at 5:42 pm

    5 stars
    This looks yummy but beef is so expensive, how about some chicken breasts and chicken stock instead?

    Reply
    • Marye says

      April 13, 2024 at 7:30 am

      That should work.

      Reply
  14. Maria says

    April 12, 2024 at 4:13 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe was used as a birthday request, using his venison. It was really good, not just saying it, REALLY good! (better than my throw-together version!) He took home all remaining leftovers...of course. I make this sort of thing all the time and will forever use your recipe-the crock pot lives on! thank you

    Reply
  15. Joe Mantooth says

    April 12, 2024 at 3:57 pm

    "I love how you incorporated such unique and flavorful ingredients.

    Reply
  16. Sarah says

    April 12, 2024 at 3:54 pm

    5 stars
    This is a brand new way of making Swiss steak to me. I grew up with the creamy, mushroom kind. This slightly spicy and savory recipe does not disappoint.

    Reply
    • Marye says

      April 13, 2024 at 7:28 am

      I always thought that was salisbury steak? I have a recipe for that, too!

      Reply
« Older Comments
Marye Audet-White, founder of Restless Chipotle Media

Hey Y'all, I'm Marye

Welcome to my kitchen! ☕

NY Times bestselling author. 10 cookbooks. Mom of 8 kids. Homeschooling mom for 22 years. Addicted to Hallmark Christmas Movies. Collector of old cookbooks.

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