Slow cooker beef satay

An easy family friendly meal

Serves

6 - 8

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

4 hrs 30 mins

Packed with tender New Zealand beef, vegetables and a rich creamy peanut sauce, this meal will be a new weekly dish in your household. It is just ten minutes prep, then you let the slow cooker do the work! It's perfect for meal prep or feeding a crowd.

What we love about this recipe is that you can also add whatever vegetables you have in your fridge or freezer. Don't throw out that limp broccoli, ratty onion, or wrinkly carrot but add them in here!

Vanya Insull

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Ingredients

Stew

1kg Quality Mark chuck steaks
diced
2 Tbsp cornflour

1 onion
sliced
2 capsicum
sliced
2 carrots
diced
250g green beans
sliced

Marinade

400g can coconut cream
we chose light
1 Tbsp crushed garlic
100g peanut butter
about 5 level Tbsp
1 Tbsp ginger paste
3 Tbsp salt-reduced soy sauce
2 Tbsp curry powder
mild
2 Tbsp brown sugar
½ cup water
boiling

To Serve

white rice
steamed
fresh coriander
chopped
broccoli
steamed

Method

In the base of a slow cooker, combine all of the marinade ingredients.

Mix well, then add your chopped vegetables and diced beef.

Cook on high for four hours or on low for seven hours, until the beef is cooked through and falling apart.

Mix the cornflour with 4 Tbsp of cold water to make a slurry and add to the curry 30 minutes before serving.

Add the beans at the same time. Stir and leave to cook the vegetables through and thicken up.

Serve the satay beef on top of steamed rice, and broccoli, and garnish with coriander.

Prepare your ingredients by chopping the vegetables. Feel free to swap the beef cut or veggies for what you have on hand.

In the base of your slow cooker, mix the marinade ingredients.

Stir through the onion, capsicum, carrot and diced beef until well coated.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours, until the beef is tender and falling apart.

Add the cornflour slurry and beans 30 minutes before serving. Stir through and cook until the sauce thickens.

Enjoy the satay curry served over rice with a side of broccoli.

Make it work with what you've got

This dish is all about flexibility and flavour. Whether you’ve got juicy NZ chuck, casserole steak, gravy beef or blade steak, every cut shines in the slow cooker. Even bolar roast would be delicious, cut into chunks.

These classic Kiwi braising cuts soak up all the goodness as they gently cook to perfection. No need to hunt for just one cut - choose what’s fresh or on special at your local New Zealand butcher or supermarket. The secret? Dice your beef or lamb into even chunks for that perfect, consistent cook every time.

A great way to empty the fridge and reduce food waste

We all know the feeling - a half head of broccoli here, a lonely carrot there, or a bag of frozen veg that’s been sitting at the back of the freezer for too long. This recipe is perfect for pulling all those bits and pieces together and turning them into something hearty and delicious.

Slow cooker meals like this one are a great way to cut down on food waste. The satay sauce is super forgiving, which means you can add just about any veg you’ve got on hand - fresh, frozen or even canned.

Some of our favourite add-ins:

Fresh: mushrooms, courgette, pumpkin, kūmara, cauliflower, spinach, silverbeet
Frozen: peas, beans, corn, stir-fry mixes
Canned: baby corn, water chestnuts, chickpeas, lentils
Change the base: try brown rice or quinoa for extra fibre. Noodles also work well - whatever you’ve got on hand

Just chop your additions into similar-sized pieces and add them at the right stage. Root veg can go in from the beginning, while greens and quick-cooking vegetables (especially frozen ones) are best added in the last 30 minutes so they keep some bite.

It’s a simple way to stretch a meal, use up what you’ve already got, and feel good about wasting less.

Got leftovers?

Make it work for meal prep. Spoon leftovers into lunch containers with rice and veggies — they’ll keep in the fridge for a few days or freeze well for up to three months.