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Beef recipes - Our favourite beef recipes so you can make the most out of your organic beef

beef recipes

Here's a collection of beef recipes from our weekly newsletters, and some lovely ones you've sent in. If you'd like more please have a look at our recipe index! To find out about our beef producers and order yours click here.

Spicy Onion Marinated Beef Steak
Beef Stew with Cinnamon, Red Wine and Bay
Minute Steak, Roast Vegetables and Bagna Cauda
Balsamic Thyme-Minute Steaks, Chunky Chips with Sea Salt, Rocket and Roasted Tomatoes
Classic Lasagne
Homemade Beefburgers
Wok-Fried Sirloin with Broccoli and Leeks
Slow Cook Silverside Pot Roast
How to Make the Perfect Steak

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Spicy Onion Marinated Beef Steak

Let the flavours develop by marinating the steak for a few hours or overnight. Serves 6-8.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon each chilli powder and ground cumin
2 teaspoons each paprika and dried oregano
3 medium garlic loves, finely minced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 handful coriander leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
1 tin tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato puree
100ml water
About 1 kilo (2 lbs) beef steak, any cut (except for stewing or braising steak)

Heat the oil in a saucepan over low heat; add the spices and oregano. Sauté 2 minutes, stirring; remove from heat and cool. Place the mixture in a food processor or blender with remaining ingredients (except beef); blend until smooth. Place in a container with beef and marinate in the fridge. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Heat a little oil in a frying pan until hot; remove beef from marinade and sear 3 minutes on both sides. Transfer to the oven and roast 10 minutes, brushing with marinade, or to desired doneness. Remove, leave 10 minutes, slice thinly and serve over rice or salad.

Beef Stew with Cinnamon, Red Wine and Bay

Rich, velvety and soul-warming. Serves 2.

500g rump or braising steak, in 3-4cm pieces
300ml red wine, a silky Burgundy works well
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cinnamon sticks
6 bay leaves
70g cubed pancetta
30g salted butter
6 small shallots, peeled but left whole
3 large parsnips (or 6 medium-to-small ones), cut into 4cm long batons
8 prunes
300ml beef stock
1 tbsp plain flour

Put the meat, wine, garlic, cinnamon and bay in a large bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge for 3-4 hours or, preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 150C/Gas mark 2. Drain the meat, reserving the marinade, cinnamon and bay. Dry the meat on paper towels. Fry the pancetta in a casserole over medium heat until it starts to brown. Add half the butter, the shallots, parsnips, prunes and reserved bay and cinnamon. Sauté until the carrots and shallots start to brown.

In a separate pan, melt the remaining butter, brown the meat (in batches if necessary) and add to the casserole. Add the stock. Return to the boil, cover and put in the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened. Remove from the oven and stand, covered, for 20 minutes. Serve with hot crusty bread, buttery mash and/or a watercress salad. Alternatively, cool, refrigerate for up to 2 days and reheat.

Minute Steak, Roast Vegetables and Bagna Cauda

Bagna cauda is a traditional Piedmontese dip made with anchovies, garlic, parsley and butter, or cream. Its lovely with raw veggies, but equally delicious with cooked ones, as here. Serves 4 but can be scaled down, simply make few steaks and veggies and save the extra dip for later will keep for 2 days in the fridge.

4 minute steaks (about 150g each)
2 tsp olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper For the roast vegetables:
2 courgettes, topped, tailed and cut lengthwise into 6 wedges
3-4 carrots, tops and tail trimmed, and cut into halves or quarters (depending on size)
1 fennel, quartered if small, cut into 8 wedges, if large
2 tbsp olive oil For the bagna cauda:
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 anchovy fillets, chopped
7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
15g unsalted butter
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the carrots in a roasting tin, toss with oil and roast for 5 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables, toss again and roast for 15 minutes until tender. While they cook, make your bagna cauda. In a small pan over a low heat, cook the garlic, anchovies, olive oil and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes until the anchovies dissolve. Stir in the butter and parsley. Set aside. Quickly cook your steaks. Season on both sides. Heat the oil in one very large or two average sized frying pan. Cook on 1-2 minutes on each side, or a tad longer if you want them really well done. Serve the steaks with a mound of roast veggies and a little pot of spoonful of bagna cauda on the side.

Balsamic Thyme-Minute Steaks, Chunky Chips with Sea Salt, Rocket and Roasted Tomatoes

A very elegant take on the classic steak and chips! To make the assembly as quick and easy as possible, we've provided a timeline below! Serves 2

Assembly timeline:

1st step: Cut, rinse and parboil chips.
2nd step: Cool chips. Then, refrigerate.
4th step: Marinate steak.
-NOTE: all these steps can be done the night or morning before!-
5th step: Cook the chips, which are oven roasted
6th step: Roast the tomatoes, 10 minutes after you've popped the chips in the oven
7th step: Cook the steaks
8th step: Dress the rocket and plate up!

For the chips:

350g Pink Fir Apple potatoes (select the longest potatoes out of the 700g bag)
250ml rapeseed oil
Cornish sea salt

Thoroughly wash the potatoes and scrub clean. Use a small, thin paring knife to quarter each potato lengthwise – first halving it, then halving each half.

Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and cook until just tender (you don’t want them to be too soft or they’ll snap in half!), about 15 minutes.

Drain, cool and refrigerate until ready to use (this can be done up to 24 hours in advance – or just 30 minutes before you want to crisp the chips, which will be done in the oven. The idea here is to get the chips at least a bit cold so they crisp up nicely once they hit the heat – and, the parboiling ensures a soft interior and means the chips need less time cooking in the oil, thus making them a tiny bit better for you!).

An hour before you plan to serve your meal (or just over an hour before dinner time), heat the oven to 200C. Once the oven temp it up (about 10 minutes after turning it on), place the oil in a roasting tin, pop into the oven to heat, once hot, carefully place your potatoes in the oil and coat in the oil. Roast in the oven on a shelf/rack toward the top half of the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, checking and tossing in the pan frequently. They may crisp up and turn golden sooner than 45 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Give the chips a generous sprinkling of sea salt while they’re still hot. Serve when your steaks are ready – the chips can be reheated if you want to have them fully ready before you pop your steaks in the pan to cook.

For the roasted tomatoes:

250g cherry tomatoes
4 sprigs fresh thyme sprigs

Preheat the oven to 200C (the same temp you need for the potatoes). Place the tomatoes in a shallow oven-proof dish. Nestle the thyme springs in amongst the tomatoes. Pop into the oven on a low shelf (below the potatoes if roasting at the same time) and roast for 30-40 minutes, or until the tomatoes have a touch of brownish black on tops and side – they should have collapsed a bit and have a sticky glaze to them (this glaze is the tomatoes uses that have caramelised!).

For the steaks:

2 minute-steaks

2 tsp fresh thyme, leaves only

2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

4 tbsp red wine (if you plan to drink red wine with the steak, use that wine here – if you don’t want to use wine, substitute with balsamic vinegar)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

Cornish sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Rub garlic and thyme into the steaks. Place in a dish with a cover or a plastic bag and add the wine and olive oil. Marinate for at least 15 minutes - but you can do this overnight if you're super-organised!

Once ready to cook, melt butter in a pan, turn heat up and pan fry steak for 2 minutes on each side for medium rare - longer or less for well-done or rare, respectively! Remove from pan.

Pour marinade into the pan and reduce down by half. Top steaks with the roasted tomatoes and then pour over the pan/reduced marinade juices.

Serve with chips and a handful of fresh rocket leaves, lightly dressed in balsamic vinegar or your favourite dressing.

Classic Lasagne

This is a great weekend dish for family and friends, especially as it can be put together the day before. It also freezes well. Serves 6

For the meat sauce:

500g beef mince
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400g tin chopped tomatoes
3tbsp tomato purée
50ml red wine
1tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
2 bay leaves
2 large pieces of cinnamon bark
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the white sauce:

700ml milk
a sprig of fresh parsley
a pinch of ground nutmeg
½ small onion, peeled and sliced
5 black peppercorns
60g unsalted butter
3 tbsp plain white flour
100g Parmesan cheese, grated
249g pack Organico lasagne sheets
Sea salt

To make the meat sauce, put the beef, onion, carrot and garlic in a pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring, for about 10 minutes, until the meat starts to really brown. Spoon off any fat, but leave the juices.

Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, red wine, oregano, bay leaves and cinnamon bark. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile make the white sauce. Put the milk, parsley, nutmeg, onion and black peppercorns into a sauce pan and bring gently to the boil. Melt the butter in a separate pan and add the flour. Mix until you have a yelllowy-brown paste, then strain the milk and add it little by little until you have a thick, smooth white sauce. Bring the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes, then take off the heat, add the half of the Parmesan, taste and add salt as needed. Set aside.

To cook the lasagne sheets, fill a shallow pot or frying pan 2/3 with water. Add a pinch of sea salt, a glug of olive oil and bring to the boil. Once boiling, gently place 3-4 lasagne sheets in the water at a time – you want just a single layer and you don't want the sheets to overlap or they might stick together! Cook at a gentle boil for 7 minutes. Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon and place in a single layer on a baking tray which has been lightly oiled. Continue until all the lasagne sheets are cooked.

Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Cover the bottom of a medium-sized ovenproof serving dish with a single layer of lasagne sheets. Spoon on a thin layer of meat sauce, and cover with some of the white sauce. Arrange a layer of lasagne on top of this. Continue layering, finishing with white sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. If making in advance refrigerate and cook the next day, or you can freeze it for up to 2 months. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bubbling and golden on top. Serve with a salad or green vegetables.

Homemade Beefburgers

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 5-20 minutes

Makes 5-6 burgers (they freeze well)

500g minced beef
½ onion, very finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
A good handful of freshly chopped parsley or coriander
A good splash of Worcestershire sauce or balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper
A few slivers of cold butter

Mix the mince, onion, garlic and a splash of Worcestershire or savoury sauce (to give them oomph). Add a good pinch of salt and generous grinding of pepper. Mix and shape into 5-6 burgers - depending on how big you want them.

Slip a few slithers of cold butter into the centre of each burger. This is a secret trick that makes the burgers extra succulent and keeps them from going dry. If you have time, pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes to let them firm up before cooking - this will help prevent breakages when you flip the burgers.

Pan-fry the burgers for about 7 mins on each side, or until a peek in the middle of one reveals brown inside. If you're worried about them getting done in the middle, you could sear the burgers for 3-5 mins on each side, until they have a golden crust and then pop them into a 200°C/400°F/gas 6 oven for 10-15 mins. If the sun's shining whack 'em on the barbie.

If you're going all out for a cheese burger, add the cheese in the last few minutes of cooking. Pile into the buns and top with your favourite things.

Wok-Fried Sirloin with Broccoli and Leeks

Because our steak is so top notch, we wouldn't usually advise doing to much to it to enjoy it. But this recipe rocks - and a little goes a long way - you could even add more veg and rice and feed 6.

Prep: 5-10 minutes
Marinating time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 4 as a main course with rice or noodles

The marinade:

2 tbsp soy sauce
A splash of white wine or cider vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp sugar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
A thumb of freshly grated ginger
A little bit of fresh red chilli (optional)

The stir-fry:

2 beef sirloin steaks, cut into thin strips across the grain
4 mugs broccoli, trimmed into 5cm (2in) pieces
2 leeks, cut in 1cm slices
A few glugs olive or sunflower oil

To garnish:

1/2 mug toasted sesame seeds or almonds

Mix the marinade ingredients together. Pour into a glass dish. Add the beef. Put aside for half an hour. Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Heat a few glugs of oil in a very hot wok. Remove meat from marinate (reserving marinade for later).

Stir-fry beef and leeks for about 1 minute. Add the marinade to the wok and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes. Add the broccoli. Cook for a further minute or so until the broccoli is heated through. Serve on warm plates garnished with seeds or almonds, and a bowl of noodles or rice (and a cold beer!).

Slow Cook Silverside Pot Roast

To get true succulence from a topside/silverside joint roast it slowly in a pot full of veggies, herbs and wine. The true joy of this dish is often in its leftovers. Shred the meat into the sauce, and thicken it up with some tomatoes to make a luscious ragu for pasta.

Prep time: 15-20 mins
Cooking time: 3 hrs

Serves 6-8

1kg topside/silverside of beef, boned and rolled
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 rashers of bacon, snipped into lardons (optional)
2-3 carrots, cut into hunks
2-3 onions and/or leeks, cut into hunks
2-3 ribs of celery, cut into hunks
500ml red wine
A handful of fresh wintery herbs like rosemary, bay leaves and thyme, tied into a bundle
A cinnamon stick (optional)
Water or stock to cover
2 tbsp flour, mixed into a paste with 1-2 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas mark 1. Season the beef and rub half the garlic into it. If you've a pestle and mortar, crush the spices and garlic into a paste then rub it in, this keeps the garlic from catching on pot when you brown it.

Place a large flameproof casserole dish over a high heat and add the bacon, if using. Sauté until golden and much of the fat has rendered out. Add the beef to the pot. If you didn't use bacon, add a splash of olive oil to the pot first. Brown the beef all over, pushing the bacon (if used) to the edges of the pot as you turn the beef.

Once the beef is nicely browned - get a good, golden crust on it - tumble the vegetables and remaining garlic into the pot. Stir. Nestle the bouquet of herbs and cinnamon stick (if using) on top. Sprinkle over a bit of salt and pepper. Pour in the wine. Top with enough water or stock to just cover the beef.

Cover and place in the oven for 2 hrs. Remove the lid and cook for a further hour, turning the meat once or twice to allow it to brown evenly.

Remove from the oven. Place the silverside onto a serving platter. Cut the string off the meat and carve. Serve with the saucy veg (if the sauce is too thin for your liking, thicken it up by whisking 2 tbsp flour with 1-2 tbsp water until you have a thick paste. Stir it into the sauce over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until it works its magic.

Serve with a mound of creamy mash, buttery leeks or cabbage and a sprinkling of parsley or fresh thyme over the top.

How to Make the Perfect Steak

Follow these steps for perfectly divine steak every time.

To test your steak is done just right. Pinch your index finger and thumb together. Feel the fleshy bit of your hand below your thumb; press your finger on the steak – if it feels the same the steak is rare.

Thumb to middle finger = medium rare
Thumb to ring finger = medium well
Thumb to pinky = well-done

Now – to get it to your preferred 'doneness':

1. Take your steak out of the fridge 15 - 20mins before cooking. Warming it up naturally to room temp, meaning less cooking time and more even cooking.

2. Massage a drizzle of olive oil into the steaks and season well.

3. Get your pan really, really hot. Here's a great way to test it: place your hand 1cm above the base of the pan, if you can feel the heat instantly it's ready.

4. Add about 1 tbsp of butter to the pan. Butter adds loads of flavour and it helps give a caramelised crust. Swirl the butter around to coat the pan and help it melt.

5. Press your steaks into the pan. Let them stay there for a full minute before moving them.

6. After the minute's up, give the pan a shake to ensure the steaks aren't sticking. Let them cook for another minute or so – less if it's a minute steak, more for thicker cuts like rump.

7. Give your steaks a little check. Once they're golden brown and caramelised, flip.

8. Season the cooked side. Let the bottom side cook for a minute or so. Check the colour.

9. Now, test the doneness. Whip 'em out of the pan when they're exactly how you like them. (If your steak has a fatty rind on the side of it, you can crisp it up by holding the steak upright with tongs and pressing the fatty rind into the pan until nicely golden and crisp.)

10. Place your steaks on a plate. Pour any pan juices over them. Let them rest for 10 minutes before cutting them. Tuck in and relish your perfect steak.