Beef Recipes Made Easy

Later this month (April 23rd) is Great British Beef Week, giving you the perfect excuse to try out some delicious foods to make the most of this versatile ingredient. With so many cuts of beef available and a huge array of different meals to try, cooking with this meat is a fantastic way to add more flavour to dinner time.

However, many of us tend to stick to the same beef recipes and cuts, with minced beef being an easy option and a roasting joint being perfect for putting a little bit more effort in. If you’re stuck in a beef rut, Great British Beef Week could be the ideal time to shake things up a bit and use different cuts of meat and some new recipes.

To help you change up your ways with beef, we’ve found some simple and delicious recipes for you to try. Just be sure to head to the butcher for the best cuts of beef to suit each of these and you’ll have some popular meals on your hands.

Chilli tends to be a tasty and simple meal that you can whip up in no time to feed the whole family. However, most of us are missing out by using a packet of minced beef picked up at the supermarket as a few other cuts add a lot more flavour.

Eat Like a Girl has a fantastic recipe for chilli that uses beef cheek to create a mouthwatering and tender meal that is sure to have you questioning why you’ve just used minced beef for so long. This cut is fairly cheap and requires a bit of cooking to really get the most out of it, meaning a slow cooker or pressure cooker is the best option. It also makes great leftovers so don’t worry about making too much chilli.

Don’t let the cooking method put you off using this fab recipe from Cook Sister as you can make this meal in a casserole dish or slow cooker if you don’t happen to have a potjjie to hand. This recipe uses a nice cheap cut of beef and includes a lot of flavour that is ideal when you want something comforting.

The fact that you can make this beef brisket in a big batch – and that it doesn’t come with a high price tag – means it is ideal for feeding the entire family, as well as for batch cooking. If you’re making it in a slow cooker, simply get everything ready in the morning and you’ll come home to a delicious meal.

Not many of us cook with beef shin, but it means we’re missing out on a seriously tasty cut of beef that doesn’t cost the earth. You can find beef shin at your butchers and it is a great alternative to supermarket cuts you’d usually use for casseroles or stews.

As with many of the cheaper cuts of beef available, the key to beef shin is slow cooking, but it is definitely worth the time as it creates succulent meals that are full of flavour. Taming Twins uses it perfectly in this lovely beef stifado recipe that is Slimming World-friendly and sure to be popular with everyone. The recipe is simple to make – especially if you use an Actifry to cook everything – and will help you make the most of this great cut of beef.

Another great and underused cut of meat is beef skirt, which – once again – is bank account-friendly as well as super tasty. There are lots of ways you can use it, but this recipe for satay skewers from The Lemon Bowl caught our eye.

It may not be barbecue weather just yet, but this is the perfect dish to cook up if you want to create sharing platters or something a bit different. It’s packed full of flavours, easy to prepare and takes just minutes to cook, making it the perfect choice when you’re run off your feet – especially if you manage to get the beef marinating the day before.

There seems to be a misconception that beef ribs are difficult to cook, but if you have the ribs cleaned and prepared properly by the butcher, they are fairly simple to turn into a really tasty meal. Once again, you need to be able to cook them for a while to ensure the meat is as tender as possible, but other than that, it’s just about creating the right spice mix.

Follow Divas Can Cook’s recipe, though, and you’ll have no trouble at all, as she has a great fool-proof recipe that will leave you with stunning beef ribs that are sure to become a firm family favourite. Just don’t forget to choose a good barbecue sauce to finish them off.