Name: Slow Cooker Beef and Bacon with Portabella Mushrooms
Cook time: 480 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds lean stew beef or flat iron steak cut into thin ribbons; 1/2 package bacon (cut into small pieces); 1- pound sliced portabella mushrooms; 1 cup diced onions (optional); 4 cloves of garlic (minced); 1/2 to 1 cup beef broth; 1/2 cup red wine; 3 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons cornstarch + 1/4 cup cold water; Himalayan salt and black pepper to taste

This slow cooker beef and mushroom takes it up a notch! And it’s SO versatile too! If you have 5 minutes, prep it for a great weeknight meal. If you have 15, turn it into a delicious recipe worthy of any date-night.

Crockpot Beef and Portabella Mushrooms with Bacon

Quick Jump Links

Crockpot Beef and Portabella Mushrooms with Bacon

Like I was saying earlier, this recipe can go from 5 to 20 minutes. It’s great using any one of the options listed down in the printable recipe.

Do what you can with the time you have. Serve it alone or over rice, pasta or potatoes. It’s well worth making!

Slow Cooker Beef: Cuts for the Crockpot

If you follow Slow Cooker Kitchen…

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Anyways, if you follow SlowCookerKitchen.com OR know your slow cooker pretty well…you already know that cheap cuts of meat are awesome for crockpot cooking.

Why? Because the cheaper cuts of meat are tougher. The long, slow crockpot method cooks them into tender, juicy deliciousness!

Beef Tips or Flat Iron Steak in the Slow Cooker

For this recipe, you can use two totally different cuts of meat. Or really, you can use about any tough beef cut for this recipe.

But so far, I’ve used the two I am recommending. If you try something different when making this slow cooker beef and mushroom dish, let me know please. I’d love to add your notes (with credit of course).

Anyways…thus far I’ve used beef tips AND flat iron steak to make this recipe. Both worked beautifully.

I also have made it using the three methods listed in the printable recipe. All 3 ways are delicious.

Beef tips and the 5-minute method are more of a weeknight or freezer meal.
Flat iron steak and the 20-minute prep method are more of a date-night affair.

Again, do what you can with the time you have. It’s yummy no matter how you do it!

Mushroom Substitutions for Crockpot Beef & Bacon Portabella

You can also sub out your mushrooms if you need to or want to do so. OR if you don’t like mushrooms, leave them out.

If you decide to leave out the mushrooms, I’d (personally) double my onions and slice them thin instead of diced them up. But that’s me. Do as you please.

But us…we LOVE us some mushrooms. And I can generally find button and portabella mushrooms. So that’s generally what gets cooked with.

Video for Crockpot Beef & Portabella Mushrooms

Here’s the video slideshow for the folks that prefer watching to reading. Don’t forget to grab the printable after watching the video!

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Printable Recipe for Slow Cooker Beef and Bacon with Portabella Mushrooms

Slow Cooker Beef and Bacon with Portabella Mushrooms

Cook Time

8 hrs

This is an incredibly delicious crockpot beef recipe. There are several options on cooking it. And it takes 5 to 20 minutes prep time. Read over the options, decide what you have time to deal with and proceed.

And don’t worry. The recipe is delicious no matter which method to choose. But the more time you can give it, the more flavor you’ll get at the dinner table.

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Gwen@SlowCookerKitchen

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds lean stew beef or flat iron steak cut into thin ribbons
1/2 package bacon cut into small pieces
1- pound sliced portabella mushrooms
1 cup diced onions optional
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 to 1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch + 1/4 cup cold water
Himalayan salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Crockpot Directions:

Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease the inside of the slow cooker.
Place the beef in a baggie. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the cornstarch (disregard 1/4 cup cold water for crockpot). Shake vigorously to coat the meat.
Optional Second Step: Fry the bacon, onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Onions will slightly caramelize. Add the beef and sear on all sides.
Pour contents of pan, including the meat drippings, into the crockpot.
Add the mushrooms and stir. Pour beef broth and wine over the top. Stir if needed to coat.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. High isn't recommended as the beef won't be nearly as tender.

Freezer Directions:

Place the beef in a freezer bag. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cornstarch. Shake well to coat. Set aside.
Place 2 tablespoons of butter, diced onions, garlic and diced bacon into a second baggie. Set aside. (Optionally you can cook this NOW, let it cool and bag it ready to go for when you cook this recipe later OR you can bake the bacon either with or without the onions and garlic). Do WHICHEVER method you want and have time for here. See recipe notes for more information.
Pour the mushrooms, wine and broth into the third baggie.
Stack the baggies and use freezer tape to tape them all together as we demonstrate in crockpot chicken pot pie.
Make a note on your label IF you didn’t precook the bacon that you’ll need to either cook it before proceeding with this recipe.

Stove Top Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine beef, wine, parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Let marinate for 3 hours.
Remove beef; strain and reserve marinade.
Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Sauté the diced onions, garlic and bacon until slightly the onions are slightly caramelized.
Add the beef and cook until evenly brown. Remove beef mixture. Set aside.
Slowly stir the beef broth into the pan drippings. Then add the reserved marinade.
In a separate dish, mix the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of cold water until well combined. Slowly pour into the beef broth mixture. Stir constantly.
Return the beef and onions to the pan. Stir in the mushrooms. Cover and simmer on low for 3 hours.

Recipe Notes

Recipe Notes: If you decide to go with the crockpot version, you have 3 different options.

You can do first seven steps for the stove-top directions. Then do your cook time in the slow cooker. Going this route will take you 10 to 15 more minutes but the results are delicious and completely worth the time.
You can go with just the crockpot directions and do the optional step listed at the beginning. This will add 5 to 10 minutes to the easy recipe, but it will add a lot of flavor as well.
You can use precooked bacon and toss everything in the crockpot (after you flour/cornstarch the beef). The onions will cook completely during the crockpot process. And the recipe is very good, but not as good as options #1 and #2 above.

Freezer Meal Notes:

You can easily turn this into a freezer meal. Just purchase canned mushrooms or sauté them with the onions and garlic before freezing.
You will need a 3 freezer safe baggies and freezer (or masking) tape for this freezer meal. Quart or gallon sized, depending on the quantity you intend to make. The quantities listed in this recipe will work with 3 quart-sized freezer baggies.