Photography: Tim Roberts | Styling: Michele Cranston | Recipe: Kim Coverdale
There’s nothing quite like wrapping up a lazy Sunday with a bubbling chuck steak casserole with a golden, cheesy garlic bread topping fresh from the oven. This one-pot wonder takes humble, budget-friendly beef chuck and slow-cooks it low and low until meltingly tender, then finishes it off with a blanket of toasted garlic bread and melted Colby cheese.
It’s the kind of set-and-forget dinner that fills the kitchen with rich, savoury aromas while you get on with your day – perfect for cosy family dinners, easy midweek meals, or lazy weekend cooking. Best of all, it’s all made in a single dish, so there’s minimal washing up and maximum comfort food payoff.
Ingredients
Method
Preheat oven to 150°C/130°C fan-forced.
Heat oil in a large, heavy-based baking dish on medium-high heat. Cook beef, in two batches, until browned all over. Transfer to a plate.
Add carrot and celery to the dish. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until vegetables start to soften. Add garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Reserve 2 tablespoons onion relish to serve. Stir remaining relish into the dish. Add flour. Cook, stirring, until well combined and mixture is bubbling. Add wine. Simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Gradually stir in stock, then tomatoes. Season. Return beef to dish. Cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally during cooking.
Remove dish from oven and increase temperature to 200°C/ 180°C fan-forced. Roughly break up beef into large chunks. Remove bay leaves. Stir in half the parsley.
Slice each piece of garlic bread in half (to give two thinner pieces). Arrange bread over the top of the stew. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and the cheese.
Bake stew for a further 10–15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden and the bread is toasted. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve topped with reserved relish and sprinkled with extra parsley.
Chuck steak is ideal as its higher fat and connective tissue content breaks down during slow cooking, resulting in tender, fall-apart meat. Other good options include gravy beef, blade steak, or beef cheek.
This dish is hearty enough on its own thanks to the garlic bread topping, but a simple green salad or steamed greens like broccolini work well to balance the richness.
Yes, the stew freezes well for up to 3 months (without the garlic bread topping). Thaw overnight in the fridge, reheat until piping hot, then top with fresh garlic bread and cheese before baking.
