People think of beef olives as a bit “old school,” but that doesn’t mean we can’t eat them anyway. We love a little nostalgia, and a Beef Olive recipe certainly gives us that!.
But Sonja often had them on the menu when she was growing up, even though Phil had never heard of them. But it’s been a LONG time since she even thought about them.
That is, until we saw Beef Olives on a menu in the Scottish Highlands. Since then, we’ve seen them in a few grocery stores and restaurants.
Even though we were more interested in something else on the menu that night, we talked about what a Beef Olive was and why it might be called that.
This food has a strange name, so here’s what it is and how to make Beef Olive, with different options for the inside of the “olive.”
Though not as well known as Haggis or Balmoral Chicken, Beef Olives are often said to be a Scottish dish. However, the rest of Britain might disagree. We go into a bit more detail about their origin below.
Their name doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with what you’ll be served, like some other Scottish foods. We’re looking at you, Black Pudding, Rock Cakes and Tipsy Laird!.
However, these are now back in rotation at our house, alongside classic desserts like Cornflake Tart. And we’re not complaining!.
How To Cook Beef Olives In A Slow Cooker: The Complete Guide
Beef olives are a classic British comfort food that have been around for centuries. Traditionally the thin beef slices are stuffed with sausage meat or other fillings, tied up, then braised in a flavorful sauce While delicious, cooking beef olives on the stovetop does take some time and attention Luckily, the slow cooker makes achieving fall-apart tender beef olives easy and hands-off!
In this complete guide, I’ll walk through how to make perfect beef olives every time using a slow cooker. We’ll cover:
- Benefits of slow cooker beef olives
- Ingredients and stuffing options
- Prep steps before slow cooking
- Cooking times and temperatures
- Finishing steps before serving
- Troubleshooting and tips
With just a few simple steps, you can have tasty homemade beef olives with very little effort. Let’s get into the nitty gritty!
Why Cook Beef Olives In A Slow Cooker?
There are a few key benefits that make the slow cooker a great choice for beef olives
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Convenience – Once assembled, you can leave beef olives unattended for hours. No need to worry about burning or drying out.
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Tenderness – The low gentle heat and steam of a slow cooker breaks down tough connective tissues over time. The beef ends up succulent and meltingly tender.
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Flavor development – As the beef cooks, juices and sauces meld together into a more concentrated, complex flavor.
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Budget-friendly – Affordable cuts like round or chuck work great. The long cook renders them delicious.
With minimal hands-on time, the slow cooker makes cooking beef olives an easy weeknight or weekend meal. Now let’s talk ingredients!
Beef Olives Ingredients and Stuffing Options
For each olive, you’ll need:
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Beef slices – Choose relatively thin uniform slices like minute steak or round steak, pounded thin.
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Stuffing – Sausage meat, ground pork, bacon, haggis, skirlie, breadcrumbs, herbs, etc. Get creative!
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Twine – For tying up stuffed beef slices. Butcher’s twine works well.
For the braising liquid:
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Onion and carrots – Aromatic veggies as a flavor base.
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Stock – Beef works well, or you can use broth/wine.
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Herbs and seasonings – Garlic, Worcestershire, thyme, rosemary, etc.
The filling and braising liquid can be tweaked based on what you have on hand and personal tastes. Ready to put them together? Let’s go!
Preparing Beef Olives For The Slow Cooker
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Season the beef slices on both sides with salt and pepper. Lay them flat.
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Add a spoonful of filling about 2 inches from the edge. Roll up tightly and tie at 1-2 inch intervals with twine.
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Heat a skillet with oil over medium high heat. Quickly brown the olives on all sides.
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Place olives in the slow cooker and add aromatics like onions and carrots around them.
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In a bowl or measuring cup, mix together stock, herbs and seasonings. Pour over the beef olives.
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Cook on LOW heat for 7-8 hours or HIGH heat for 4-5 hours.
That’s it for prep! The beef and filling get sealed in the quick browning then slowly tenderize in the moist environment of the slow cooker.
Cooking Time and Temperature
The total cook time will vary a bit based on exact slow cooker model and size/thickness of the beef olive slices.
For 1-inch thick beef olives on LOW heat, cook 7-8 hours. On HIGH heat, cook for 4-5 hours.
Check for doneness after 6 hours on LOW or 3 hours on HIGH. The beef should be fork tender and shred easily when poked. If not, re-cover and continue cooking until fully tenderized.
For food safety, ensure the beef reaches at least 160°F internally before serving. Use a meat thermometer to verify.
Finishing Steps Before Serving
Once cooked, there are just a few quick final steps:
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Carefully remove the beef olives to a plate or cutting board.
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Skim any surface fat from the braising liquid if desired.
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Let the liquid simmer uncovered for 5-10 minutes to thicken slightly.
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Cut and remove twine from beef olives. Slice or shred beef and moisten with sauce.
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Taste and season more if needed. Serve beef olives with sauce spooned over the top.
The beef olives are ready to enjoy! For the best texture, make sure to slice them across the grain. Mashed potatoes are a natural pair.
Troubleshooting And Tips For Slow Cooker Beef Olives
After many rounds of testing, here are some troubleshooting tips:
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Beef too tough – Increase cook time. Chuck or round needs 8+ hours on LOW.
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Filling falls out – Tie twine tighter and sear browned surfaces well at the start.
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Sauce too thin – Mix a cornstarch slurry and stir in at the end to thicken.
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Dries out – Make sure liquid covers olives by at least 1/3. Add more stock if needed.
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Bland flavor – Boost braising liquid flavor with red wine, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, herbs.
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Overly mushy – Use sirloin tip or topside cuts. They withstand moist heat better.
Take your time prepping and tying the beef olive rolls tightly, and you’ll be rewarded with tender, sliceable results!
The slow cooker does most of the work with this classic comfort food. With the right ingredients and a few smart techniques, you can make fall-apart tender beef olives any night of the week.
What are Beef Olives?
What are Beef Olives? They are thin beef steaks wrapped around sausage meat, skirlie, stuffing, or even haggis.
Spoiler Alert: Beef Olives have no olives in them. I mean, you could add them if you want to….
These are browned and then cooked in a casserole dish until they are tender and delicious. We cooked ours in a good red wine beef stock, which brought out the flavors of both the tender beef and the filling of your choice.
When paired with potatoes and vegetables, our Beef Olives recipe is one of the tastiest meals the whole family will love.
How to make Beef Olives – Step-by-step method
Yield: 4 Beef OlivesPrep time: 20 minutesChilling time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Layout your 4 steaks and season them with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
Add the sausage meat, breadcrumbs, sage, ½ onion, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste to the bowl of a food processor. Blend the ingredients until smooth. Blitz until thoroughly combined.
There are two equal parts of sausage meat. Roll them into a sausage shape that is about the width of your steaks. Place the two sausages about an inch from the end of two of the steaks.
For Haggis Filling – Split the haggis into two equal parts and again roll these into sausages. Place these on the other two steaks.
Starting from the short edge with the sausages/haggis on, carefully roll up each steak, completely enclosing the filling. Then tie each steak parcel securely using food-safe twine.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Brown the beef olives, frying for approx.
2 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Then remove them from the pan and set them aside.
Add another splash of oil to the pan. Add the onion and carrots and fry until softened – about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle over the flour and stir well to combine.
Gradually add the wine, stirring as you go. Then slowly pour in the beef stock, again stirring after each addition.
Add some seasoning to taste, bring to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer.
Let the sauce cook for another 5 minutes. While it simmers, preheat the oven to 170C.
Transfer the sauce to a baking dish, then place the beef olives on top.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
The stuffing in our Beef Olive Recipe is made with sausage meat and haggis, but you can try a lot of different versions until you find the one that works best for you.
For example, you could mix the sausage meat and haggis together to capture the best of both worlds.
To make the dish more interesting and less meaty, you could use Skirlie or sage and onion stuffing.
To make pork mince taste even better, you could add chopped chorizo or small pieces of smoked bacon.
These are the kinds of Beef Olives that Sonja grew up with: they have roast dinner stuffing inside them.
There are a lot of different ways to make it, but here at Scottish Scran, we like to keep things simple.
After all, if your beef olive ain’t broken, why stuff it with something else… or something like that!?
Let us know if you make a different variation!
Slow Cooker Beef Olives | Scottish Recipe
FAQ
How long should you cook beef olives for?
Do you need to put water in slow cooker with beef?
Can I put raw beef in slow cooker?
Does cooking beef in a slow cooker make it tender?
How do you cook beef olives in a slow cooker?
Put the beef olives, onion, and prunes into the pre-warmed slow cooker. In a jug, mix-together the flour, stock, worcestershire sauce, and pour over the beef olives. Cover with the lid. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Serve the beef olives on a platter with lashings of potatoes and your favourite vegetables.
How to cook beef olives?
To cook beef olives, you can use a sauce in the oven to prevent them from drying out too much. Alternatively, you can cook them without the sauce, but remember to turn them a couple of times to prevent them from drying out.
How to cook olives in a slow cooker?
To cook olives in a slow cooker from a beef base, first brown the olives as per the recipe. Then, make the gravy by stirring a little flour into the meat juices. Pour the gravy into your slow cooker and layer the onions and beef olives on top. Cook on a low heat for 6-7 hours, or on a high heat for 3-4 hours.
How long should I cook beef olives in a crock pot?
This recipe for cooking beef olives does not specify cooking time for a crock pot. In the provided instructions, the dish is simmered in a skillet for 30 minutes. If you wish to cook beef olives in a crock pot, you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.