This year for Christmas eve we made several dishes to take to my in-laws’ house for dinner. One of the dishes we made was this Crock Pot Braised Beef with Balsamic Tomatoes.
We wanted to give the in-laws some time off from cooking, so that they could better enjoy the holiday. And, well, to be honest, we wanted it to be easy on us too.
My husband decided that he wanted to make his Braised Beef with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes, but wanted the ease of making it in a crock pot. He also wanted to be able to take it in the crock pot so it was nice and easy to transport and reheat!
Christmas Eve Dinner Menu:
Here’s what we made and brought to Christmas Eve dinner (see pictures below the menu listing):
- Crock Pot Braised Beef with Balsamic Tomatoes
- Hashbrown Casserole, and I used meatless Tofurkey Kielbasa sausages in it. This way I had a main dish and everyone else had a side dish. And, you know what, everyone loved the meatless sausage in it! I was pleasantly surprised!
- Butter Dipped Biscuits. I’ve made these several times before, and I love them. Normally I cut the butter in half when I make them, but I figured this time it was for a special occasion, so I left it with a whole stick! I mixed the dry ingredients in a large mason jar and the wet in a smaller mason jar. This way it was super easy to travel with. Just tossed the jars and a stick of butter in a bag and we were good to go. This would be a great idea for camping too!
- Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert – I put festive sprinkles on them too.
Hashbrown Casserole – since I was taking this to serve at someone else’s house, I couldn’t really scoop into it to get you a picture. It was delicious though!
Butter Dipped Biscuits packed and ready to go. I just mixed these together and baked them at the host’s house.
Recipe Notes:
I made the Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes with Onions about a week in advance, and just kept them in the freezer. The whole batch of Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes with Onions makes more tomatoes than you’ll need for this Crock Pot Braised Beef with Balsamic Tomatoes recipe, but they’re really handy to keep in the freezer, defrost a bit, and toss them into a pasta dish or casserole for a great flavor hit!
Use a good red wine in this recipe – one that you’d drink!
This time Dan used a Syrah. Just make sure it’s a good red wine that you like.
This Crock Pot Braised Beef is great the first day, but it really is amazing a day or two later. If you can make it before hand, I highly recommend it. Making it early allows the flavors to meld, to get to know each other.
So, here’s our new twist on the Braised Beef with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes – this one’s done in the crock pot / slow cooker.
Related Recipes (click on the picture to get to the recipe):
Crock Pot or Slow Cooker Carne Asada
Provencal Veggie Stew
Dan’s World Famous Gumbo
Crock Pot Braised Beef with Balsamic Tomatoes Recipe:
Crock Pot Braised Beef with Balsamic Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 cups Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes with Onions
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 4 teaspoons olive oil divided use
- 2 medium onions vertically sliced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 pounds beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
Instructions
- In the bowl of a slow cooker, mix together first 11 ingredients (Balsamic tomatoes through red wine). Set aside.
- Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, add sliced onions, and cook until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes, add in a couple tablespoons of water if the onions appear to be burning or cooking too quickly. Once the onions are nice and caramelized, stir in the flour, and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Place caramelized onions in the crock pot with the liquid. Wipe out pan.
- Heat remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in the same large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, add cubed beef, cooking until well browned on all sides, about 10-20 minutes per batch. Remove beef from pan once it is browned, and place in the crock pot. Deglaze pan with water or red wine between batches.
- Turn crock-pot on high, and cook, covered, for about 4-6 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Balsamic tomatoes sounds delish! I look forward to making this for my family!
Looks great! Totally my kind of meal, and I’m sure my whole family will enjoy it! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Yes please!! What a great flavorful dish! I love how tender the meat looks!
I love everything about this delicious recipe. It’s comfort food at it’s finest!
I also looks for short cuts when cooking for others, especially when you have several dishes to prepare. Boy, what a delicious feast and I bet the beef was sooo tender! Looking forward to trying myself!
Crock pot braised beef is my ultiimate comfort food! And the fact I’ll have extra tomatoes afterwards for other recipes makes my day…I love timesaving tricks like that.
Your braised beef looks so warm and wonderful! I love the addition of balsamic tomatoes… What a great idea! Pinned this recipe (and your Provencal Veggie Stew and Dan’s World Famous Gumbo, too) and can’t wait to taste it!
Wowza!! That looks incredibly comforting!
Slow cooker meals are the best! I can’t wait to make this!