Make this old fashioned recipe in the
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❤️ 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.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Chop the vegetables in large chunks and add to
slow cooker with stewed tomatoes. - Dredge beef in flour mixture.
- 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.
- 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.
📖 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
- 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
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.
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.
You can make it in an oven or
I like cubed steak the best. It's round steak that's been tenderized.
📚 Related recipes
- Slow cooker beef stew is another of our favorite
slow cooker recipes - Honey garlic pork chops are a delicious change from beef or chicken.
🍽️ 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
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You'll need the following items to make this crock pot swiss steak recipe successfully.
📞 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
Crockpot Swiss Steak
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 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
- 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.
Nutrition Facts
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.
Cristy Ann Barham says
Great recipe! Anything cooked in the crockpot is a win for me. The hardest part is smelling the deliciousness all day! I'm always more than ready to eat when it's done!
Terrie Salisbury says
I always sear my meat before putting it in crockpot. I don’t think the tomato soup would be as good. Plan on making this for Mother’s Day. My crockpot stopped working in the middle of Easter Dinner😢
Thank you for all your great recipes❤️
Denalyn says
I had no idea that the tomatoes would tenderize the meat. That's a great thing to know! I will definitely try this with potatoes or over rice.
Donna Moulton says
Do you think this would be good using boneless pork chops ? I have so much in my freezer and I'm trying to find ways to use them up. Thank you for all your wonderful and delicious recipes 😋
Marye says
I'm sure it would be great with pork.
Theresa A. says
Going to prepare this one as a trial - my husband is not a fan of "spicy" but I am and this sounds SO GOOD - just enough to take the "boring" out of a crock pot roast meal. If he thinks it's too spicy, I'll probably try it a 2nd time and leave the jalapeno out - I'd love to put this into our monthly meal rotation.
Amanda K says
Going to give this a try. Past swiss steak recipes I've tried always seem flat and one dimensional but I love the addition of jalapenos in your recipe. Guaranteed to kick up the flavor and I may even try your suggestion of serving with grits.
Thank you for another winner!
Jolene(JoJo) says
Oohhhhh myyyy yummy goodness ☺️ I can't wait to make this..you have the most mouthwatering recipes ..such a delight to find the swiss steak recipe in my messages this morning..Thank you!!!
Jody says
I'm always looking for something different to make for dinner, tired of the same old things week after week! I actually made this a while back and it really was very tasty, my husband even liked it, and he's pretty picky! I somehow forgot about how good it was, so now, I'll make it again and make my husband happy 🙂
Deborah L Barnes says
Great recipe, just added a few red pepper flakes for a little more heat.
Gayle Long says
This recipe also serves well over rice. It makes a delicious meal.
Elaine says
Loved this.
This is very classic in the way you prepare it….dredge. Fry. Smother with tomato and onion. Slow braise. The flavor profile YOU as the chef choose are a personal preference.
Carol S says
This was delicious. My husband and mom really liked it, and I loved the flavors. I followed the recipe except subbed a bit of bell pepper for the jalapeno to keep the heat factor low for my mom. Also, I cooked in the oven instead of the crockpot. I ran out of time, so followed the note that it could be made in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Honestly, I think I'll stick with this method as it ended up being a one pot meal. I browned the dredged cube steak in a Dutch oven, deglazed all the crunchy bits with the beef broth, threw in all the veggies, topped with the browned cube steak then topped with the stewed tomatoes. Opps I forgot the parsley, but with the Tony's and Worchestershire - it was flavorful. Served with a side of mashed potatoes. It was really really good. Definitely goes into rotation at our house. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
marye kandzor says
This is so very good. Everytime my grandson comes to visit I make this
I grew up with a version not as good as your recipe We all love this
old recipe.
I make this recipe everytime my grandson comes he loves it
We do too. I grew up with this dish but yours is so very good I use your recipe
Monica says
This is not a classic Swiss steak recipe. You may want to rename it. Classic Swiss steak does not have jalapeños, olive oil, or Tony Chachere’s seasoning in it.
Marye says
Feel free to leave those things out if you don't care for them. I think the name is fine the way it is but I'll take your opinion under serious consideration.
Grammy says
This recipe does not remind me of my mothers. She was a meat and potato, no fuss-no muss, salt and pepper only cook. I truly appreciate recipes that meld the old with new spice combinations to make something great. I also always gravitate to recipes that include vegetables, for a one pot meal. I doubled the amount, made mashed potatoes, and we feasted on this terrific recipe. Thank you
Laila says
Made this yesterday, delicious, and the house smelled wonderful. Love your recipes!
Marye says
Made this for a grandson
He loved it and still wants it made when he comes
It reminds me of my Moms.
Excellent recipe
Denis O'keefe says
Hello Marye
This comes to you from Australia (Down Under)
I Started following your recipes when I was looking to make some bread.
I follow all your recipes make some of them, and enjoy doing so.
I particularly like slow cooking and even play around with sous vide
One of the problems we have down here, is understanding what you call some things,
as they are literally "Foreign" to us but we get by with a little research.
One of the Major problems though is your bought mixes like Tony Chachere's seasoning
and a few others like Bay city that we don't have here.
It would be nice if you could give an idea of what some of these things are.
Marye says
Denis - Thank you! It's hard sometimes to remember that all y'all aren't from around here. Tony Chacheres is a spice mix that contains cayenne, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and chili powder.
Dorthy Owen says
I absolutely love Swiss steak! I cooked this as a Sunday fund raising dinner for our local senior center and everyone commented on how tender and delicious this main course was. We served mashed potatoes and green beans along with the steak. I used several electric skillets to cook the steak to finish as did not have oven or slow cookers enough for the job. Several ladies in town lent their electric skillets for this meal. We served a total of 125 adults plus numerous children. Needless to say it was a Hugh success ! I give it 5 stars easily!!!!
Marye says
🙂 So good to hear!
Chris Casey says
You asked for our favorite Dinner dishes; mine is Pork Tenderloin sandwich. I grew up in Iowa so pork was on the menu often. This sandwich is still very popular in the Midwest. Start with a 1/2" thick slice of tenderloin, pound to a fairly thin slice, dip in an egg wash and bread with Panko, and fry. The cook very quickly and are out of this world. I make them at least once a month.
often. This sandwich is still very popular in the Midwest. Is made by pounding a 1/2" thick slice of tenderloin tine, dipping the meat in an egg wash and the breading with panko.
Marye says
That sounds amazing - now I'm hungry!