Slow cooked beef cheeks, braised in red wine, with vegetables and flavoured with thyme, bay and cinnamon. A hearty, warming stew, perfect for cold Winter days.
My slow cooked beef cheeks are a tasty winter warming stew. Beef cheek is a cheap cut of beef, but one that is packed with flavour. However, despite this, it is a cut of beef that many people are nervous about cooking.
Beef cheek (Ox cheek) is the cheek muscle of the cow. It is a tough, working muscle and as such requires a little care when cooking. This dish is easy to prepare, but time must be given to cook it slowly at a low temperature.
By cooking it this way the fat and muscle within the cheek breaks down, leaving a beautifully flavourful, tender piece of meat. It's worth pointing out that this is quite a lean cut of beef, not too fatty. Rather it has a really rich, beautiful meaty flavour.
Why you'll love this recipe
- This is comfort food at its best! A rich and warming beef stew that everyone will enjoy.
- Easy cook, just assemble the dish and place into the oven to bubble away slowly while you get on with your day.
- Make ahead a day or two in advance and store in the fridge until ready to serve. The stew will taste even better when it's had a chance to sit as the flavours will really intensify.
- Feeding a crowd? No problem, this recipe is easily doubled or trebled.
Recipe ingredients
- Beef or ox cheek is the meat element of this dish. The best substitute for beef cheeks would be beef short ribs.
- The braising vegetables used in this dish are onion; carrot; celery; chestnut mushrooms; dried mushrooms and garlic. This gives the braising liquor a great flavour, and therefore results in a great tasting gravy. You can't taste any one vegetable on its own, however if there are any vegetables that you really don't like then leave them out.
- Fresh parsley, thyme and bay leaves are the herbs we like to use to flavour the dish. You could also add some fresh rosemary.
- A cinnamon stick is added to flavour the beef and the gravy and does not leave this dish feeling overly spiced. Rather the cinnamon adds just a warm hint of mild spicing to the dish.
- Red wine flavours the cooking liquor, we used a Shiraz as it is rich in flavour which in turn enriches the sauce. You could use any other heavy bodied red wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon; Rioja; or Merlot. Just make sure that you cook with a wine that you would actually drink - bad wine will only make the food taste bad!
- Rich beef stock pots are added to flavour the cooking liquor without the need for extra water. These particular stock pots are our favourite to use for this dish as they are really rich and have a depth of beef flavour. You can substitute with any beef stock.
- Apple or blackcurrant jelly or jam is added to finish the gravy as the sweet jelly balances out the savoury flavours in the gravy. You could substitute with a redcurrant jelly.
How to make Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks
Preparing and searing the beef cheeks
Assembling the stew
Finishing the red wine sauce
- Once the beef cheeks have cooked, remove the portions of cheek from the pan and set aside on a plate.
- Next place a sieve over a large, clean saucepan. Gently pour the gravy through the sieve, allowing the sieve to catch all the vegetables.
- Leave to drain for 15 minutes as you want to save as much gravy as you can. Discard the vegetables.
- Place the gravy saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling, cook the gravy until you have reduced it by half. By this time the grave will have thickened a little. Stir through the apple or blackcurrant jelly/jam.
- In a small non-stick saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the flour. Stir to combine into a roux. Continue to cook the roux for 5 minutes to cook out the flour, stirring continuously to avoid burning.
- Now add the flour roux to the gravy and whisk quickly to avoid lumps from forming. Once combined pass the gravy through the sieve one last time to remove any lumps that may have formed from either the roux or jam.
- Taste the gravy for seasoning, adding salt and pepper. Return the beef cheek portions to the pan and heat up gently before serving.
Serving suggestions variations
I like to serve braised beef cheeks with a couple of veggie sides like my Honey Glazed Carrots or Roasted Root Vegetables.
For a potato side try my Creamy Easy Mustard Mash or Potato Pave (a great side dish that can be made ahead of time).
Useful hints and tips
- Critical step: take your time to properly prepare the beef cheeks, removing the sinew and any excess fat from the cheek (see instructions above). This will result in a superior tasting stew.
- Why do you discard the braising vegetables? This stew cooks for 5 hours, after this length of time the vegetables are really mushy and all the flavour from them has gone into the gravy. They've done their job so remove them and finish off the gravy.
- Do not salt the gravy while it is cooking! Other than salting the flour when browning the beef, do not add any additional salt to the braising liquor. The cooking juices are reduced down after the meat has been cooked to form the basis of the gravy. If you add salt before reducing down the juices this can result in an overly salty gravy. Instead finish the gravy and then add salt and more black pepper to balance the taste.
- Equipment: no fancy equipment required, use a Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid, or a deep-based casserole pan with a lid to stew the beef.
- For gluten free diners, replace the flour with a gluten free plain flour and ensure that the beef stock you are using is also gluten free.
- For dairy free diners simply omit the butter when finishing off the gravy.
- Allergy advice: egg free, soya free and nut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.
FAQs
Beef cheeks should be cooked low and slow. Beef cheeks contain a lot of collagen, and this collagen needs time to break down during the cooking process. Once cooked down it turns into gelatine, making the meat moist and tender.
Yes, I always recommend searing the beef cheeks in the pan before you add in the other ingredients. Searing and browning the beef cheeks adds so much extra layers of flavour to the finished dish.
Beef cheeks will fall apart if cooked correctly. First, it's really important to take time preparing the beef cheeks before you start cooking. Trim off excess fat and sinew, as sinew will not break down during the cook and remains tough. Most good butchers will do this for you. However, if your beef cheeks are still chewy after cooking, they simply need to be cooked for longer. Check that you have enough liquid left if the pan and top up with a little beef stock if required then place back into the oven to cook a little longer.
As with pretty much any stew this beef cheek stew can be made 2-3 days ahead of time, cooled and allowed to sit in the fridge. The flavour of the meat really intensifies and you will have a far better gravy as as result. When ready to cook, remove from the fridge and bring up to room temperature before heating on the hob or in the oven.
As with most beef stews, these braised cheeks freeze really well in their gravy. Simply finish the cook and allow to cool, before spooning into an airtight container and placing into the freezer for up to 3 months. Then when you are ready to eat, remove from the freezer and allow to defrost overnight in the fridge.
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Additional recipe suggestions
Try some of my other slow braised beef dishes:
Looking for inspiration on feeding the family, then why not have a look at my Ultimate Guide to Family Dinners. This guide is full of recipes, hints and tips to make mealtimes easier.
Beef cheek braised in red wine
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef or ox cheek
- 2 tablespoon plain flour
- salt & pepper
- 3 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 2 onions (chopped)
- 2 carrots (chopped)
- 2 sticks celery (chopped)
- 300 g chestnut mushrooms (sliced)
- 3 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 20 g dried mushrooms (optional)
- 1 large bunch parsley
- 1 small bunch thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bottle red wine (we used Shiraz)
- 2 Knorr rich beef stock pots
To finish the gravy
- 1 dsp apple or blackcurrant jam/jelly
- 30 g butter
- 30 g plain flour
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Remove any sinew from the beef cheek and cut into 2-3 large portions. The size will depend largely on the size of the cheek. Don't dice up the cheek. You want to allow a large portion to each diner.
- Place the flour in a shallow plate and season well with salt and pepper. Roll each portion of cheek in the flour and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoon sunflower oil in a large ovenproof casserole, one with a tight fitting lid. Over a medium heat sear each cut of cheek on all sides. Remove from the pan into a clean plate once brown on all sides. Take care not to add too many to the pan at a time as this will only steam the meat, not brown it.
- Once you have seared all the beef, add the final 1tbsp sunflower oil to the pan. Add in the braising vegetables and cook gently for 5 minutes.
- Add the beef back into the pan, along with the dried mushrooms, fresh herbs, cinnamon stick, red wine and beef stock pots. Add a good crack of black pepper and stir well. Do not add any salt at this point as this will result in a salty stew when you come to reducing the cooking liquor for making the gravy.
- Cover the casserole with a lid and place in the oven at 140CFan for 5 hours. During this time remove the casserole a couple of times to give it a mix and push the beef cheek down into the braising liquor.
- After 5 hours remove the casserole from the oven, allow it to cool and if time permits, pop it into the fridge overnight. This really improves the flavour of the meat.
To finish the gravy
- When you are ready to serve the beef cheek, bring it gently up to a low heat. Remove the portions of cheek from the pan and set aside on a plate.
- Next place a sieve over a large, clean saucepan. Gently pour the gravy through the sieve, allowing the sieve to catch all the vegetables. Leave to drain for 15 minutes as you want to save as much gravy as you can. Discard the vegetables.
- Place the gravy saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling, cook the gravy until you have reduced it by half. By this time the grave will have thickened a little. Stir through the apple or blackcurrant jelly/jam.
- In a small non-stick saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the flour. Stir to combine into a roux. Continue to cook the roux for 5 minutes to cook out the flour, stirring continuously to avoid burning.
- Now add the flour roux to the gravy and whisk quickly to avoid lumps from forming. Once combined pass the gravy through the sieve one last time to remove any lumps that may have formed from either the roux or jam.
- Taste the gravy for seasoning, adding salt and pepper. Return the beef cheek portions to the pan and heat up gently before serving.
Notes
• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •
Lou Gunstone says
Great post. Love beef cheeks and as you say they are perfect for slow cooking... which makes life so simple 🙂
Lesley says
Thank you Jo, this dish looks to have a lot of ingredients, but it really is a case of popping it all in a pan and then leaving it to cook away in a low oven. Impressively easy. Lesley x
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
Wow - this just looks incredible. I love slow cooked beef - and especially if it has a red wine sauce. In fact, any meal which uses a whole bottle of wine is a winner for me 😀 Eb x
Lesley says
Thank you Eb, I couldn't agree more, I love slow cooked beef. It went down really well with diners at our recent Supperclubs. Lesley x
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
This looks incredibly delicious. I'm pinning this to make the next time I see beef cheeks! It looks so comforting.
Lesley says
Thank you Cat. Although it's a lengthy cook, it's a very simple one. The oven really does all the hard work. Lesley x
Louise Fairweather says
This is not a cut I have really used. Looks lovely. Thanks for sharing
Lesley says
Thank you Louise, it's such a simple cut to cook with. It takes a long time to break down but is so full of flavour. Lesley x