Julie Clark
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Slow Cooker Swiss Steak
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This comforting, slow cooker swiss steak without tomatoes is made with real food ingredients. It’s a high-protein meal that the whole family will love.
Prepare this round steak recipe in the slow cooker in the morning. You’ll love how convenient the recipe is, and that it contains no “cream of” soups. Although some swiss steak recipes have tomatoes, like our dutch oven swiss steak, this one is made instead with a mushrooms and coconut milk for a creamy gravy even the kids will love.
About our slow cooker swiss steak recipe:
For as much as you all love my sweet, rich desserts (cheesecake dip, anyone?), even more so you are thoroughly enjoying our family-friendly dinners made with real, unprocessed ingredients. Dinners such as sweet potato chili and italian meatballs that are naturally gluten free.
Did you grow up eating swiss steak like I did? Comforting, creamy, slow-cooked round steak that is done to perfection, meaning the meat flakes apart with a fork. So tender. I took that classic recipe, swapped the cream of mushroom soup out and created a mushroom gravy with real ingredients.
This recipe has mushrooms, which I honestly don’t love. But they are run through a blender with beef stock to be chopped tiny. This, along with coconut milk creates the creamy mushroom gravy. And I can’t even tell it’s mushroom! Win 🙌
Enjoy! -Julie
Key Ingredients
Even there are no “cream” soups in this crock pot swiss steak recipe, the ingredient list is still simple. And notice, no diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes! 🙂
- Round steak. I’ve used both eye of the round steaks (individual steaks) and top round steaks as shown above. You can even use cube steaks. The slow cooker works to tenderize the meat to fork tender so well.
- Coconut flour. Any flour will work here: all-purpose flour, gluten free flour, or even almond flour.
- Coconut milk. The cream of the coconut milk is what helps keep the gravy a little creamy without adding any dairy.
See the recipe card below for full ingredients and amounts.
Slow Cooker Swiss Steak Recipe
This comforting, slow cooker swiss steak without tomatoes is made with real food ingredients. It's a high-protein meal that the whole family will love.
Servings 8
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch*
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 pounds round steak eye of the round or top round
- 2 tablespoons olive oil for browning steaks
- 1/2 cup white onion diced
For Mushroom Sauce:
- 2 cups beef stock
- 8 ounces white mushrooms
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cans full-fat coconut milk chilled
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch*
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the coconut flour, tapioca starch, salt and garlic powder. Mix well. ½ cup coconut flour, 2 tablespoons tapioca starch*, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture and turn to coat. 3 pounds round steak
- Put two tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and turn on to medium heat. Place the steaks in the hot skillet. Allow them to brown on the first side, 1-2 minutes, then flip the steaks and allow them to brown for 2 minutes on the other side. 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Place the browned steaks in a slow cooker. Top with diced onions. ½ cup white onion
- Pour the beef stock, mushrooms, pepper and salt in a blender. Blend for 30 seconds on medium speed, or until the mushrooms are chopped to the size you'd like. 2 cups beef stock, 8 ounces white mushrooms, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon salt
- Pour the mushroom sauce over the steaks. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-9 hours until the steaks are tender.
- 30 minutes before serving, open the chilled cans of coconut milk and scoop out the hardened cream into a bowl. Reserve the clear coconut water for another use.** 2 cans full-fat coconut milk
- Mix the coconut cream with 2 tablespoons tapioca starch. Add this to the slow cooker and allow the coconut cream to "melt" in. 2 tablespoons tapioca starch*
- Allow the coconut cream to heat through. Mix gently just before serving.
Notes
- If you don’t care about this being gluten free/paleo, you can use cornstarch and all-purpose flour in place of the tapioca starch and coconut flour.
- If you want the gravy to have more flavor, try adding carrots and celery into the slow cooker to cook with the meat.
- This clear coconut water is good in smoothies.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks. The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 8, with 1 serving being ⅛ of the steak and gravy. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. **
Nutrition
Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 1264mg | Potassium: 1032mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 7mg
Step by Step: How to make slow cooker swiss steak
Brown the steaks on the stove. Is browning the steaks really necessary, you ask? Yes. It takes just a few minutes, but deepens the flavor by caramelizing the outside of the steak. It also gives the steaks a mouth-watering, light breading that is so fantastic. Don’t skip this step. Please.
Make the gravy. The homemade cream of mushroom soup is so easy. You’ll blend beef stock (or beef broth), mushrooms, salt and pepper until you can’t tell they are mushrooms :). If you love mushrooms, add a few additional mushrooms to the slow cooker that are whole or in slices. Pour the gravy over the meat and onions.
Cook all day, then add the coconut cream. After the round steak has slow cooked all day and your belly is rumbling because you’ve been smelling roasted beef for hours, it’s time to add the coconut cream. Open two cans of refrigerated full-fat coconut milk. Scoop out the hardened coconut cream. Mix two tablespoons of tapioca starch with the hardened coconut cream and scoop it on top of the swiss steak. Cover the slow cooker and allow it to sit for 30 minutes or so. That coconut cream will melt in, making a gravy that is so delicious served over mashed potatoes.
What to Serve with Slow Cooker Swiss Steak
Serve the slow cooker swiss steak with baked potatoes or veggies such as steamed broccoli or green beans. It’s also delicious over egg noodles.
Love slow cooker meals? Try our slow cooker ham and beans, slow cooker butter chicken or chicken parmesan soup.
I made this for dinner last night, and it was a hit. Meat was so very tender, and the gravy was absolutely delicious! I don’t usually even like mushroom, but blended them into broth and slow cooking them made them phenomenally delicious. Hubby and son raved about it, too. Yum!