This Beef Topside Pot Roast is slow cooked in a delicious tomato, bacon and mushroom sauce until beautifully tender. Carved into lean slices and covered with the deliciously savoury gravy, the entire family is sure to enjoy this roast dinner! It’s an easy slow cooker recipe that delivers big flavour. Served with your favouite vegetables, it’s perfect for family dinner.
Ingredients needed for this slow cooker roast beef
This topside beef roast recipe has these simple ingredients:
Beef – You’ll need a topside of beef approximately 1.2kg for this recipe. Topside is a cheaper cut of beef because of it’s somewhat tougher texture compared to cuts like rib or fillet. Gently slow cooking it in sauce though results in a beautifully tender meat, covered in delicious gravy!
Onion and garlic – For added flavour!
Bacon – I’m always reluctant to leave out bacon, but consider this if serving to family under 12 months of age due to sodium content.
Mushrooms – Button mushrooms add a savoury depth of flavour to the sauce.
Tinned tomatoes – I normally use the Ardmona brand of diced tomatoes, which have no added salt or sugar. If using another brand, just check the ingredients listed on the tin and adjust this recipe if needed.
Tomato paste – You can opt for the salt-reduced variety if you like.
Beef stock – Use salt-reduced or salt-free stock if serving to family under 12 months of age.
Oregano – I use dried herbs in this recipe for simplicity. If you have fresh oregano, then by all means substitute. Fresh thyme is also a nice addition.
Bay leaves – Dried bay leaves, for added flavour.
Salt and pepper – Leave out the salt if serving to family under 12 months of age.
Olive oil – For searing the beef.
Cornflour – For thickening the sauce/gravy.
How to make this slow cooked roast beef
Thermomixer? For this roast recipe, the Thermomix is just a tool to help with chopping. I’m a believer in using the machine where useful, but I’m not going to try to ‘thermomix’ this whole recipe. It’s an easy recipe to make anyway, and you need to sear the beef in a pan at medium to high heat for maximum flavour and texture.
Conventional cook? Sear the seasoned beef in a frypan at medium to high heat until dark golden brown. This equals flavour! Transfer the beef to the slow cooker, and then sauté the onion, garlic and bacon in the same frypan. Add the beef stock, stir to get any and all good flavour off the bottom of the pan, and simmer until the liquid is halved. Transfer this to the slow cooker, and add all remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Remove the beef and rest at room temperature for 5 minutes, then slice thinly. While the beef is resting, you can attend to the yummy gravy! If you find it’s too runny, mix together 2 tbs cornflour with splash of sauce, and stir through the gravy. Residual heat may be enough to thicken, otherwise stir the sauce on medium heat to thicken.
See the recipe card below for ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both thermo cooker and conventional cooking methods.
Adapting this recipe for babies and toddlers
This pot roast recipe recipe is already suited to cooking for toddlers, with minimal processed ingredients, no alcohol and minimal salt. If cooking for family under 12 months of age, you might like to leave out the salt and only season the beef with pepper before searing. Then, season the family’s portion to taste once cooked.
This meal can be served to young children in different ways. The texture of this beef joint once slow cooked makes this an easy beef meal for toddlers to eat. It’s so tender! Chop it into appropriately sized pieces for your little person, and serve with their favourite vegetables. For early weaning, purée it with or without vegetables. The meat is tender enough that this can be one of baby’s first roast beef recipes.
Serving and storing this beef pot roast
The best way to serve this Beef Topside Pot Roast in my opinion is with sides like this Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Mash (it’s perfect for the saucy roast!) and green beans or peas. You could also serve it with roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings for a more traditional Sunday roast. For me, buttered white bread is also a must – mopping up the sauce with it is almost the best part of the meal!
The perfect Sunday roast should always leave leftovers! If not, cook more!🤣 Leftover meat can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Gently reheat in the oven, or have it cold for roast beef sandwiches the next day. Roasts are a great meal prep option, and the leftover beef from this meal can be used in so many ways. I’ve also finely diced it and used it with the gravy as a pasta sauce for the kids. We love repurposing leftovers in this house! 😁
If you make this pot roast beef, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing how my recipes work for you and your family! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest too for more delicious recipes.
Happy cooking,
Chloe x
Beef Topside Pot Roast
Category: Family MainsTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg topside of beef
- 1 tsp salt for family over 12 months
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped (Thermomixers: See Step 1 for chopping)
- 1 brown/yellow onion finely chopped (Thermomixers: See Step 2 for chopping)
- 2 rasher middle bacon finely chopped (Thermomixers: See Step 2 for chopping )
- 200 ml beef stock salt-free or salt reduced for family under 12 months
- 8 button mushrooms finely chopped (Thermomixers: See Step 3 for chopping)
- 1 400g can diced tomatoes
- 2 tbs tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbs cornflour
Thermo Cooker Instructions
- Put the garlic (peeled) into the mixing bowl. Chop 3 seconds, speed 7, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl.
- Add the bacon (rind removed) and onion (peeled and quartered). Chop 3 seconds, speed 5, MC on. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Add mushrooms to the mixing bowl. Chop 2 seconds, speed 4, MC on. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Continue by following the conventional instructions below.
Conventional Instructions
- Pat the topside joint dry with paper towels. Season all sides well with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Sear the beef on all sides, for about 8 minutes. Browning the beef well is important for flavour!
- Remove the beef from the frying pan and transfer to the slow cooker.
- In the same frying pan, sauté the onion, garlic and bacon. Cook for 3 minutes until the onion is browned.
- Add the beef stock and simmer until liquid reduces by half.
- Into the slow cooker add mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, bay leaves and oregano.
- Transfer the onion, bacon and stock mixture to the slow cooker. Mix carefully.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Remove beef and rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Slice thinly.
- Season sauce to taste. If you want to thicken it, add 2 tbs cornflour mixed with splash of sauce. Residual heat may be enough to thicken, otherwise heat sauce to thicken. Repeat if needed.
- Serve slices of beef topped with sauce. It’s brilliant with mashed potatoes and vegetables, and fresh white bread for mopping up the sauce!
