Does beef rendang sound too daunting to make at home? This Slow Cooker Beef Rendang will change that. All you need to do is throw everything into the Crock-Pot and come back in 5 hours to a thick, fragrant curry beef stew.
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Ingredient Notes
We’ll just say it up front: you’ll need some uncommon ingredients to make proper beef rendang. (Well, uncommon for North America, at least.) But they’re important to get the right flavour. If you’re craving Southeast Asian flavours but with more limited ingredients, try our Thai Beef Stew recipe instead.
Stewing Beef: You can buy pre-cut beef stewing cubes. But we prefer to buy our own beef (beef chuck, brisket, or our favourite, beef digital muscle) and cut them into 2-inch cubes for this recipe.
Coconut Milk: Use full-fat coconut milk for best flavour.
Lemongrass: Gives beef rendang a fresh, lemon minty flavour.
Galangal: This root looks like ginger but tastes quite different! To be honest, it smells a bit like soap when it’s raw. But cooked, it gives a lovely herby, floral flavour. If you don’t have this, just add a bit more lemongrass and ginger instead. Btw, galangal freezes well, so stock up when you find it!
Ginger and Garlic: Use a whole head of garlic!!
Thai Chile Peppers: Can use fresh or dried red chilies. Or leave this out if you don’t want to make it spicy. (Or, if you do like it really really spicy, may we suggest our Super Spicy Mapo Tofu recipe?)
Shallots: Traditionally, we use shallots in beef rendang. But you can also use a white or yellow onion instead.
Cloves, Star Anise, Cinnamon: Measure these out carefully because you don’t want to overload on these spices—they can easily get overpowering.
Toasted Coconut Flakes: Also known as kerisik. This is an important ingredient to get the right flavour of beef rendang. You can toast your own coconut or buy them pre-toasted.
Makrut Lime Leaves: Also known as kaffir lime leaves, but makrut is the more modern term. There’s really no good substitute for this. But just like galangal, lime leaves freeze well, so you can buy a big bag and it will last for a while!
Tamarind Paste: This super tangy paste adds a bit of sour to cut through the richness of the stew. You can also sub with half lime juice and half brown sugar.
See recipe card for quantities.
Directions
Step 1. Add beef cubes to the crock pot.
Step 2. Blend together coconut milk, cloves, lemongrass, ginger, galangal, garlic, chile peppers, shallots, and salt into a chunky puree.
Tip: Don’t have a blender? You can use a mortar and pestle to pound the aromatics then stir them into the coconut milk.
Step 3. Pour mixture over the beef. Add star anise, cinnamon, coconut flakes, and remaining lemongrass.
Step 4. Put on the lid and set the slow cooker on high heat for 5 hours.
Step 5. After 3 hours, stir in the lime leaves. Try to do this quickly, and put the lid back on as soon as possible to stop heat from escaping.
Step 6. After 6 hours, stir in tamarind paste and taste for salt, add more if needed. If the stew looks too wet, remove the lid and let it continue to simmer on high heat for 30 minutes.
Hint: Beef rendang is a dry curry. It should be quite thick with barely any liquid.
Equipment
We've tested this Slow Cooker Beef Rendang recipe in a Crock-Pot which works perfectly.
We don't recommend using the Instant Pot Slow Cook setting, because it cooks unevenly. Check out our Pressure Cooker Recipes instead for meals that are specifically designed for the Instant Pot.
Storage Tips
Fridge: Refrigerate crockpot Thai beef stew for up to four days.
Freezer: Thai beef stew can be frozen for up to three months.
More Asian Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
What to Eat with Beef Rendang
Here are a few dishes we suggest to serve with Slow Cooker Beef Rendang:
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating or comment below to give me feedback and help out other readers.
Recipe Card
Slow Cooker Beef Rendang
Equipment
- Slow cooker, Dutch oven, or stockpot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds stewing beef chunks or boneless beef shank in 2-inch cubes
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 4 whole cloves
- 3 stalks lemongrass cut into 2-inch segments
- 1 inch ginger
- 2 inches galangal
- 1 head garlic 10 to 12 cloves
- 5 Thai chile peppers *can sub with dried red chilies
- 5 shallots or 1 medium onion
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 whole star anise
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- ¼ cup toasted coconut flakes aka kerisik
- 12 makrut lime leaves aka kaffir lime leaves
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste *can sub with ½ tablespoon each of lime juice and brown sugar
Instructions
- Add 2 pounds stewing beef chunks or boneless beef shank to a slow cooker.
- In a blender or food processor (see Note 1), blend 1 can full-fat coconut milk, 4 whole cloves, half of the 3 stalks lemongrass, 1 inch ginger, 2 inches galangal, 1 head garlic, 5 Thai chile peppers, 5 shallots or 1 medium onion, and ½ tablespoon salt into a chunky puree. Pour the mixture over the beef in the slow cooker.
- Add 1 whole star anise, 2 inch cinnamon stick, ¼ cup toasted coconut flakes, and remaining half of the 3 stalks lemongrass.
- Slow cook on high for 6 hours. After 3 hours, stir in 12 makrut lime leaves. Try to do this quickly, and put the lid back on as soon as possible to stop heat from escaping.
- After 6 hours, stir in the 1 tablespoon tamarind paste and taste for salt, add more if needed. If the stew looks too wet, remove the lid and let it continue to simmer on high heat for 30 minutes. Beef rendang should be quite dry with barely any liquid.
- Serve with steamed white rice!
Notes
- You can also pound the aromatics paste in a mortar and pestle, which yields slightly better results. But the blender/food processor is much quicker and easier.
Penny says
So so easy to make and love that this is a dump-and-go recipe :p
Kelly Zhang says
Sorry for missing this comment Penny - we're glad you loved it and thanks for the review!