Name: Chuck Steak Slow Cooker
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h
Ingredients: 2 pounds thin-sliced chuck roast steaks; 2-3 large carrots, peeled and washed; 1 large white onion; 6 cloves garlic; 1 tablespoon garlic powder; 1 tablespoon onion powder; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 16 oz beef stock or bone broth; 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, or other herbs you love

When we're craving big beef flavor, but steaks aren't in the budget, there is no dinner better than slow cooker chuck roast steakscooked right in their own gravy!

Transforming traditionally cheap cuts of meat into a restaurant-quality dinner isn't always easy – but with this recipe, you will feel great about serving your family chuck roast steaks. They are a economical cut, and pair perfectly with potatoes, rice, vegetables, even cornbread!

We're using the ultra-economical chuck roast for this dish – sliced thin, as you can find in many grocery stores and butcher shops – or you can thinly slice your own from a roast.

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Chuck Roast Steak Ingredients

To make this recipe, we will need the following ingredients:

Thin-sliced chuck roast steaks. Chuck roast is a large cut that will take longer than 4 hours in a slow cooker – but we are using thin-sliced chuck roast – roast that has been cut into steaks – so it cooks faster. Chuck roast is
Carrots. Carrots add a sweet flavor that helps cut the fatty beef flavor, and has a lovely bitter side that enhances the flavor of pepper.
White onion. Onion doesn't add flavor to this dish – white onion has an enzyme that helps to tenderize beef and keep the texture soft and easy to chew, breaking down the fat and tendons more efficiently as it cooks. Onion also gives an earthy, pungent flavor that is a solid compliment to rich, meaty beef.
Garlic. Fresh cloves of garlic bring a subtle “heat” and bit of a kick to dishes, upping the addictive quality of herb-packed gravy.
Garlic powder. Garlic powder is less spicy, a bit sweeter, and earthier than raw garlic, and lends a more balanced flavor to gravy.
Onion powder. Onion powder is sweeter than raw onion, and lends a rounded balance to gravy.
Olive oil. A bit of oil helps to lock in the moisture of chuck roast as it cooks, acts as a critical fat for the gravy to set properly, and adds a light briny flavor.
Beef stock or bone broth. This dish needs liquid to cook in to tenderize the meat and help it braise – and using a flavorful beef or bone broth instead of water will help you pack as much flavor into your dinner as possible – so it can sink into the meat, as well as act as a base for the gravy.
Fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, or other herbs you love. We love to finish steaks with a hit of fresh herbs for a complex, earthy flavor and intoxicating smell that fills the whole house – a few fresh herbs can make your slow cooker meal seem gourmet!

How to cook Chuck Steak (Slow Cooker)

Once you've gathered your ingredients, we will use the following method:

Prep

Dice carrots, garlic, and onions, place in bottom of slow cooker.

Add Steaks, Oil & Vegetables

Lay chuck steaks over vegetables in slow cooker and top with garlic and onion powder, and olive oil.

Add Stock & Herbs

Add stock and give a quick stir to slow cooker. Place fresh sprigs of herbs on top.

Cook

Add lid and set slow cooker to high. Cook 4 hours. After 4 hours, remove steaks from slow cooker and set aside on plate or cutting board to rest.

Blend Gravy & Serve

As meat rests, using an immersion blender (or add liquid in slow cooker into a blender), blend until liquid and vegetables in the slow cooker become a thick, velvety smooth gravy.

Kitchen notes

No need to brown. Most of our slow cooker dishes we pre-sear, but this dish doesn't require browning. If you'd like a bit of extra color after cooked, pop steak in a pan for 2-4 minutes to get a bit of caramelization and a touch of browning on both sides.

Let beef rest before carving. Before slicing beef, let it cool for 5-10 minutes. We remove beef from slow cooker while we make and blend gravy, letting it rest enough so that it is cool enough to touch and no longer steaming, and then we will trim off any fat to discard. We'll then add beef back to slow cooker to gravy and top with chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and any other additional seasoning.

Blend gravy well. We use an immersion blender to blend gravy right in the slow cooker – to prevent messing up another dish. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can add to a blender or food processor and pulse on high until completely velvety smooth.

Thicken gravy naturally. We don't need to use any thickener or flour to thicken gravy as we find the fat and vegetables thicken it perfectly on its own, thanks to our blending, but you can get it thicker if you'd prefer. If you do need to thicken gravy, we prefer making a quick roux in a pan, and then stirring in to slow cooker to cook down and thicken rest of gravy.

Slow Cooker Beef Chuck Steak FAQs

When are chuck roast steaks done in the slow cooker?

Thin-cut chuck roast steaks take about 4 hours on high, until meat is dark brown, has reduced in size, fat has largely rendered, and the internal temperature is over 160 degrees.

Do slow cooker chuck roast steaks shred?

This recipe is for tender steaks – they will be melt-in-your-mouth soft, but not quite at the shredding point. If you'd like them to shred, continue cooking another 40 minutes to an hour until they pull with light pressure from a fork.

Can we use pre-made gravy?

We love the flavor, budget-friendly price, and ease of this homemade gravy – but you can swap it for pre-made gravy from a pouch or jar, if you prefer. Only add 1 cup stock, add 2-3 cups gravy, and skip other vegetables/seasonings (do keep fresh herbs).

What cut of meat should we use for this dish?

Look for thin-cut chuck roast steaks in your grocer's butcher section. We've recently seen this cut mislabeled as thin-cut sirloin roast steak (you can tell it is not in fact sirloin roast by the amount of fat and marbling – sirloin has little, and chuck will have a lot) – but this label error can save you a LOT of money if you find it!

Keeping leftovers

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Cooked crock pot steak can be frozen for up to four months. Always thoroughly reheat leftovers to 135 degrees.

Serve it with

We love to serve steaks with Air Fryer French Friessalty, crunchy, and solid Air Fryer Baked Potatoes, simple and easy Creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Saladsemi-homemade Easy Garlic Knots, or a fresh-baked loaf of Easy No Knead Bread.

If you're going for a lighter take, we love to serve steak with Crunchy Lemon Parmesan Salad Pear and Goat Cheese Salad 10 Minute Broccolinior Spinach Zucchini Squash and Feta Casserole.

For more of our side dishes, please visit some of our favorites below:

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Ingredients

2 pounds thin-sliced chuck roast steaks
2-3 large carrots, peeled and washed
1 large white onion
6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
16 oz beef stock or bone broth
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, or other herbs you love

Method

Dice carrots, garlic, and onions, place in bottom of slow cooker.
Lay chuck steaks over vegetables in slow cooker and top with garlic and onion powder, and olive oil.
Add stock and give a quick stir to slow cooker. Place fresh sprigs of herbs on top.
Add lid and set slow cooker to high. Cook 4 hours.
After 4 hours, remove steaks from slow cooker and set aside on plate or cutting board to rest.
As meat rests, using an immersion blender (or add liquid in slow cooker into a blender), blend until liquid and vegetables in the slow cooker become a thick, velvety smooth gravy.
Trim excess fat from steaks and add back to slow cooker. Season with fresh ground pepper and top with chopped parsley.
Serve with potatoes, yorkshire pudding, salad, vegetables, over pasta or rice, and enjoy!