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 Save 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.
Courtenay says
My Mother-in-law used to make this in her old fashioned pressure cooker and my husband loved it but when I tried to make it, I burned it. When we married I had never cooked a meal so there were a lot of misses as I tried to learn how to cook. This was way before the Internet and I got a lot of my recipes from magazines. Thanks Marye for your blog and the many recipes you feature.
Adeline says
This sure brought memories to me. Mom used to make Swiss Steak in her Presto Pressure Cooker. In fact, I am pretty sure the recipe was in the Presto Cookbook that came with the pressure cooker. I have now put this on my menu for week after next and put round steak and green bell pepper (will use that instead of jalapeño) on my grocery list. I plan to serve with mashed potatoes and maybe a cold 3-bean salad.
I do have a question. I don't recall Mom putting brown sugar in her Swiss steak. Do you know if that is in the original recipe?
Marye says
I just know that's how my mom did it LOL!
Deborah Stahl says
This dish is absolutely delicious!!
Maureen says
I have made this before and I must say it is a close to my mom's recipe as you can get. She didn't have a slow cooker but simmered in the oven til it melted in your mouth. This does exactly that. Love this recipe and will have it cooking away when I leave for Atlanta. That way hubby can enjoy a homecooked meal with out having to do anything.
Another winner Marye.
Dee says
I cannot have tomatoes anymore so am wondering if you think it would be just as good without them. I read that they tenderize the meat but even vinegar would be a problem. Do you have suggestions for making this without any acid or tomatoes? I could always add beef broth for more liquid. Thanks for great recipes and your site too. It is very informative and helpful.
Marye says
Could you possibly give it a soak in buttermilk? I know that's still an acid but it's lower? Other than that I'd just use the beef broth and remaining ingredients.
Sherry Mash says
I will have to give this recipe a try. In the past, every time that I cooked swiss steak in the crockpot, it had a very chewy consistency. Your methods looks REALLY delicious.
Tonya says
This looks so AMAZING!!! I can not wait to try this! I bet it smells amazing slow cooking all day!! I can not wait to try this over some roasted garlic mashed potatoes and some potato rolls!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Sue Turcsany says
Haven't made swiss steak in ages. First time I will try the slow cooker method. I like the fact that it freezes well but better yet your clever idea of making it into a soup if you don't have enough leftovers for a meal.
Pat Turner says
This sounds like a dish my mother made. Can't wait to try it with your jalapeno cheese grits. YUM!!!
Judy Burrell says
Marye you have encouraged me to cook Swiss Steak again with this easy slow cook recipe. I just haven't cooked Swiss Steak in years. Thank you for all your recipes.
Shasha Norman says
That looks delicious. Do you think I can use salmon, or shrimps instead of beef?
Marye says
I think shrimp would be great!
Marye says
Shasha I think shrimp would be perfect.
Laura Riwland says
I had forgotten about Swiss steak, but this recipe took me right back to my childhood. As I remember, my mother used green bell pepper instead of jalapeño. I’ll use jalapeño because my husband and I both like heat.
Thank you for posting this recipe!
Sherri Rochester says
I love all of the ingredients. They are what I grew up eating, except jalapeno. WHY didn't my Mom ever make this? I have heard about this dish forever. I am going grocery shopping tomorrow and picking up the round steak. I am just so excited. Stewed tomatoes are such an underused ingredient. I love them! I buy them a flat at a time. I am taking your suggestion and serving over the grits. My stomach is growling just thinking about this!! Thanks! 😎
Sharon Oberritter says
Wow, what a wonderful way to use round steak which can be somewhat tough. It is a meal that my family would enjoy. I love slow cooker meals because once the ingredients are added, I don't have to stand over a pot to make sure it cooking correctly.
Sherry Staples says
Marye, this recipe is definitely worth a trip to the grocery store. I need to pick up a few items and then I will be putting this on to cook. I've been looking for a different way to cook beef and it freezes well too. This sounds like a win, win. Thanks for sharing.
Betty Freano says
I cook a lot of meals in the crockpot but because it’s just two of us would it work if I used less ingredients. Also, can you use chuck steak instead or will it not be tender. This recipe looks delicious can’t wait to try it.
Marye says
I'm sure chuck steak would be fine.
Terrie Williams says
My hubs is our crock pot king and a HUGE carnivore! He loved this recipe and made me print it out. His birthday is tomorrow and said he's making it for his special dinner!
Debbie Dano says
My husband and I go to Rockport Texas for the winter and I use my crockpot almost every day, its so easy to get a great meal going in the morning and go to the beach or sightseeing and come home to a warm meal! I have used several of your recipes even though my husband is extremely picky, I usually have to leave out or replace a few ingredients so he will eat it!
Patsy says
Other than leaving out the jalapeños (we are a family of spice wimps!), we really enjoyed this recipe. I love that you include a photo of all of the ingredients with your recipes so I can quickly see if I need to purchase anything.
Sharon says
Love your recipes