Slow Cooker Veg-Packed Beef Rib Sauce (+ Stovetop Version)
I LOVE this sauce. I could eat it every day. I’m not kidding.
It hits all of the right flavour points – it’s salty, sweet, savoury and even gets a little bitter/sour note from the vinegar. It’s just the right balance, and it helps that it is made cheaper and healthier by the ingredients added to it.
Using beef ribs and lentils over more meat (and more expensive meat) helps keeps the cost down, adds more fibre, and also allows you to use less meat and more veg without compromising on flavour and feeling full. On top of which, adding half a dozen different vegetables boosts the nutrition.
And I love how versatile this is, too. It’s perfect for stirring through some cooked wholegrain pasta, of course, but it’s also lovely served with any cooked grain or even cauliflower rice of courgetti (zucchini noodles), especially alongside a nice fresh salad to balance the heaviness of the sauce. It’s great spooned over baked potatoes. It even works on its own served with chunky bread to dip in it as a kind of stew.
Which is why it’s great to make a big batch up, especially since it freezes so well. Once cooled, simply spoon the sauce in portions into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or defrost carefully in the microwave then cook until piping hot before serving.
Melt-in-your-mouth tender beef, half a dozen vegetables, all mixed together to make a deep, rich, flavour-packed sauce. Cheap, easy, and perfect for freezing, this is a wonderfully simple weeknight family dinner. Gluten and dairy free.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 500-750 g (1-1.5 lbs) beef short ribs (the best quality you can afford)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or more olive oil)
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 sticks of celery, finely diced
- 2 small or 1 large carrot(s), finely diced
- 1 medium courgette (zucchini), finely diced
- 100 g (1/2 cup) green lentils
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 65 ml (1/4 cup) red wine vinegar
- 1 (400g/14oz) tin of plum tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes) + 1 tin of stock (chicken, beef or vegetable) or water
- 6 sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped (optional but highly recommended as it adds a lovely sweetness)
- large handful pitted green olives (optional but adds yummy saltiness)
- 1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs
- salt & pepper
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve (optional)
- roughly chopped fresh parsley, to serve
- cooked wholegrain pasta, rice (regular or cauliflower) or jacket potatoes, to serve
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Brown the beef ribs in the olive oil all over for about 4 minutes. Add the butter and allow it to sizzle and foam. Add to the slow cooker insert along with all of the other ingredients (except the Parmesan, parsley and pasta) and set to High for 3-4 hours or Low for 7-8 hours. Taste and add seasoning as necessary. Serve with the Parmesan, parsley and pasta.
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On the stove top, brown the ribs as with the slow cooker option, and add the butter, then stir through the onion, celery, carrot and courgette (zucchini) and cook over gentle heat for 5-10 minutes, or until softened. Mix in the green lentils and garlic and cook for 1 minute before stirring through the tomato puree, then the vinegar, tinned and dried tomatoes, olives, and the herbs. Season to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 2-3 hours, until the meat is tender and falls off the bone and the vegetables and lentils are really soft.
