Down-Home Smothered Steak
A smothered steak and onions for your slow cooker.

Editor's Note: This Down-Home Smothered Steak is one of those classic Southern recipes that families love to eat. This particular steak recipe cooks up in a slow cooker, making it ideal for busy weeknight dinners - just throw it on to cook and you can forget about it until it's ready! Vegetables and a savory brown sauce provide a mouthwatering finishing touch. This easy steak recipe is a favorite among all ages and makes for a flavorful addition to your dinner table. And if you thought this recipe couldn't get any easier to make, it does. You can even make part of the recipe ahead of time. It truly doesn't much more Southern than smothered steak!
This traditional favorite from the Deep South is usually cooked on top of the stove, where it requires a fair bit of watching. Not only does the slow cooker do away with that tedious work, it produces outstanding results. Serve the rich gravy over mashed yellow squash.
Serves6
Cooking MethodSlow Cooking
CostModerate
Total Timehalf-day
Make Ahead RecipeYes
Kid FriendlyYes
OccasionCasual Dinner Party
Recipe CourseMain Course
EquipmentCrock Pot
MealDinner
Taste and TextureMeaty, Savory
Ingredients
- Medium (approx. 3½ quart) slow cooker
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) clarified butter or beef tallow (see Notes below), divided
- 2 lbs (1 kg) round steak or “simmering” steak, patted dry (see Notes below)
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (see Notes below)
- ½ tsp (2 mL) sea salt
- ½ tsp (2 mL) cracked black peppercorns
- 2 cups (500 mL) beef stock
- 2 green bell peppers, cut into thin strips
More Down Home Dishes from Cookstr.com
If you love southern recipes and food traditions from below the Mason Dixon line, you'll love our collection of southern recipes.
Check it out to find classic appetizers, dinners, country fried steak, green bean casseroles, and so much more!
Find it here: 35+ Easy Southern Recipes: Country Cooking for All Occasions
Instructions
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In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the clarified butter over medium-high heat. Add steak, in pieces, if necessary, and brown on both sides. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.
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Reduce heat to medium and add remaining tbsp (15 mL) of butter to pan. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add sea salt and peppercorns. Add stock and bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up brown bits from bottom of pan.
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Pour over meat. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours, until meat is tender.
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Stir in bell peppers. Cover and cook on High for 20 minutes, until peppers are tender. Serve piping hot.
Notes:
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Serves 6.
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If you are halving this recipe, be sure to use a small (approx. 2 quart) slow cooker.
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While round steak is traditionally used for this dish, an equally successful version can be made with “simmering steak,” which is cut from the blade or cross rib.
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If you are using the outer stalks of celery, peel them before slicing to remove the fibrous exterior.
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Be aware that these cooking times are general estimates. Not only do cooking times vary substantially among slow cookers, but people have different preferences with regard to how well they like their meat done. If you prefer fork-tender results, start checking after the food has cooked for 6 hours on low.
Make Ahead
Complete Step 2. Cover and refrigerate mixture for up to 2 days. When you’re ready to cook, complete the recipe.
Beef Tallow
Beef tallow is rendered beef fat. It is a very stable fat, only about half of which is saturated, although saturated fats play a significant role in keeping us healthy by performing functions such as boosting immunity and promoting bone health. Beef tallow is excellent for frying. Among other benefits, it is a source of palmitoleic acid, an omega-7 fatty acid, which appears to have a beneficial effect on certain health conditions.
More Southern Steak Recipes
Love a good Southern steak? Check out some of our favorite southern fried and Salisbury steak recipes!
1. Chicken-Fried Steak and Cream Gravy
2. Flash-Fried Steak with White Bean Mash
3. Butter Bombed Porterhouse
4. Tri-Tip Steak Chili
5. Chimichurri Skirt Steak
6. South Texas Skirt Steak Fajitas with Fresh Tomato Salsa
7. Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Sauce
2013 Judith Finlayson
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Member 1617620
Apr 22, 2018
This recipe to me is not a good one,all the steak broke up ,it has no flavor, very bland, don't waste ur money. The pic looks good but the finish product is nothing like the pic.

Jim Moriarty
Jul 27, 2017
This looks extraordinarily delicious. That picture. YUM!

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