Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo–just like you get at your favorite Indian restaurant. It is easy and perfect for the slow cooker. Affiliate links were used in this post to link to items I am discussing.
This is definitely one of those dishes where staring at the photos weeks later, while I write this post, is making me seriously crave the dish. In this case, Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo, a luscious, tangy, hot Indian curry from the Goa region. I don’t know if this tastes like what they would eat in India, especially because I did not get the recipe from an Indian cookbook, but rather Jennifer Newens’ Cooking with Spice: Easy Dishes From Around the World
The cookbook I adapted from called for pork. Interestingly, while pork is indeed one of the common meats for Vindaloo in India, here in the States it seems far more likely to be made with lamb. Having said that, any braising cut of meat (not poultry) will work well in this recipe (poultry would work but will need to be cooked for less time and will not be as luscious). The dish is spiced heavily enough that I honestly cannot tell the difference between the lamb I usually order and the more accessible beef that I made it with at home. So use what you can get, just make sure it is a good braising cut (chuck, brisket, pork shoulder, lamb shoulder, etc).
On a whim I added 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to this recipe (I usually skip it completely)–the original recipe called for 1 1/2 teaspoons. And it was still too spicy for Alex, and even a tad spicy for me and Sammy! I guess we have turned into serious weenies around here (minus John of course). And Alex always was heat sensitive. But I think yogurt tastes fantastically with vindaloo, so I still loved the dish. Actually my kids did too, although Alex complained while she ate it with a lot of yogurt.
- 2 1/2 - 3 lbs beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 1 t sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1 t ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 4-5 T vegetable oil (my current favorite is avocado)
- 2 t brown or black mustard seeds
- 3 yellow onions, chopped
- 8-10 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 inch knob of fresh ginger, minced
- 1/2 t cayenne pepper, or more to heat tolerance
- 2 t paprika
- 1/2 t turmeric
- 2 t ground cumin
- 1 1/2 t cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 2 t garam masala, divided
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1-3 t brown sugar, optional
- plain Greek yogurt for serving-- it's a great equalizer if the dish ends up too spicy for some of your diners, optional
- Basmati rice for serving
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Sprinkle 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper over the cubes beef. Massage it into the meat and then set it aside to rest for 10 minutes.
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Heat the oil in either a large skillet or a cooktop-safe slow cooker insert over medium high heat. Place some of the beef cubes into the pot in a single layer--do not crowd the pan, you can brown the beef in batches. Brown the cubes, about 8 minutes, before removing to the bowl and adding the next round. When you are done, place the beef in the bowl and set it aside.
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Add the mustard seeds to the pan. Ideally, they will pop before you add the onions, but if there is a lot of beef remnants stuck to the pan, do not let those burn. If you have time for the seeds to pop, cover the pan with a lid slightly ajar so the seeds do not pop out of the pan.
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When the popping has slowed--or when you are concerned the pan may scorch, add the onions with a pinch of salt. Stir, scraping up the bottom of the pan as the liquid from the onions deglazes the pan. If you have anything seriously stuck to the pan, splash a little water into the pan.
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Cook the onions for 15 minutes, until caramelizing. Keep a cup of water beside the cooktop to splash some in if the onions start to stick or scorch.
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When the onions are brown, add the garlic and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
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Add the remaining individual spices and one teaspoon only of the garam masala. Stir to roast the spices but do not let them burn, 1-2 minutes.
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Add the vinegar to the pan and scrape up any stuck bits.
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Either scrape everything, including the browned meat, into the slow cooker insert, or add the meat to cooktop safe slow cooker insert. Stir in the water.
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Place on the slow cooker base. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
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Before serving, mix in the other teaspoon of garam masala. Taste for additional salt or even more garam masala. Taste for brown sugar (you are not looking for it to be sweet so much as smoothed out a bit).
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Serve with Basmati rice and some Greek yogurt for dolloping in case it is too spicy for anyone.
I wonder if I made it paneer, how it would turn out? I’m sure not exactly the same, but hopefully all that great spice would deepen the flavors regardless!
I was just wondering also when I saw you commented. It is really hard to sub for braised meat… I was wondering if mushrooms would be good. They have such a strong umami component… I am not a paneer fan though–it tastes like nothing to me. 🙂
G’day! This looks absolutely delish! I was wondering could I use some beef cheeks and if so, should I brown the beef cheefs before I put them in the slow cooker? Do I cut them into pieces or leave whole as they are about 6 inches by 3 inches and about 2 inches thick. Thanks you! Cheers! Joanne
Assuming that beef cheeks (which I have never eaten) are similar to hog jaw, it might be a lot fattier. If it is something you have braised with before and enjoyed though, I say why not. As to how to cut them, that is entirely up to you, but the recipe will take longer the larger you leave them. Good luck!
Spices makes it just adorable. Very delicious in taste.
Wow that looks like the perfect recipe to make for my boyfriend.. ohhh he will love this.. thank you for sharing.
Thanks! Let me know how he likes it!
Marvelous. Love these flavors. Need to locate the slow cooker. 🙂
Wow, I’m dying to try this amazing blend of spices Laura! It’s hard for me to find hormone-free beef in our area that isn’t a fortune. Are there any other meats or vegetables that you think would go well with this seasoning/sauce?
Pork for sure or lamb. Chicken would be ok, but much shorter cooking which in turn reduces some of the savory yumminess of the sauce.
Thank you!
Hi Laura,
I made this last night, but put it in the oven after adding the water and bringing to a boil. I kept it in the oven for a couple of hours. It was delicious! I added 1tsp of kashmiri chili powder and it was spicy, but not too spicy for us. Thanks for sharing this with us. Greta
Yay! Thanks for letting me know–and letting us know what you did differently for other readers.
This was the worst Beef Vindaloo I have ever eaten. The flavours just were not there. We couldn’t finish the meal so disappointing!!!
I am sorry to hear that was your experience–and surprised, since with that much spice and vinegar this dish definitely has flavor! Did you follow the recipe exactly or make any changes? I would love to help you troubleshoot what went wrong!
Turned out great!!!!!!!!!
Yay! Thanks for letting me know!
I love Indian food! I haven’t made it in the longest time because the kids didn’t like it when they were younger, but I think its time to try again. This looks delicious!
Absolutely delicious!! We have a very authentic Indian restaurant close by and are huge fans of all of their dishes but especially the pork vindaloo. I had a beef roast to cook and thought I’d give this a try. We LOVED it! I’m terrible at measuring and precisely following directions, so my version was lovely based on your version but it totally worked! The flavors were deep and well developed! This goes on our “regular” list as of today!!
I love these kinds of comments! Hooray! And thank you so much for stopping by to tell me!
I found this wonderful recipe and made it today. I used pork tenderloin and cut the garlic back to 4 cloves ( mind you they were large )
The flavour was incredible , we loved it !
Thanks
I love hearing that! Thanks for letting me know!
I AM FROM INDIAN HERITAGE AND I WOUL LIKE TO SAY THAT THIS RECIPE IS BETTER THAN MY OWN VILLAGE BACK AT HOME IN MUMBAI. THANKS FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TASTE SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL I COULD EAT THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. THANK YOU AND GOODBYE
LOVE FROM THE BEEF VINDALOO EXPERT AND MASTER OF FOOD AND MASTER OF THE BIG KLEMMER AND HIS KIDDIES
A slow cooker book I’ve been reading says that you should always be sure that you have enough liquid to cover whatever ingredients you start with. I was a bit worried with this recipe when it came time to turn the crockpot on, because the half-cup water and third-cup vinegar don’t come anywhere near covering the meat (using lamb shoulder cutlets with bones in) and onions. I added about a cup and a half extra water to get the liquid level about even. After 4 hours, it now looks way too liquidy! I’m going to try thickening and maybe adding another dose of spices depending on how it tastes. Looks like I should have stuck to the recipe! Does this idea of always covering the ingredients hold any water (pardon the pun) with those of you who are experienced slow-cookers? I kind of assumed that too little liquid would damage the pot or burn the food or something.
Wow I have never heard that–if anything I read the opposite in my slow cooker’s instructions because the liquid is so tightly trapped in there. You could try removing the meat and then boiling the sauce down on the cooktop. I would be tempted to toss that book! So sorry that happened!
Hi, I would like to try this recipe but I don’t have a slow cooker, no turmeric nor mustard seeds neither. I got rump steak instead of the suggested cut of meat. I will try to use mustard sauce and put more of the other spices to make up for the missing ingredients. Wish me luck! Really craving for Indian food right now (salivating)
Wow!! I am so impressed by this recipe! I made it on the stovetop in a dutch oven on med low heat. I added a bit more water at one point, just so that it wouldn’t stick. The meat was SO TENDER and flavorful. I served this alongside chana masala and aloo gobi with naan and basmati. Everything was delicious, but the beef was a hit. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know!
After seeing this yummy recipe and seeing all these awesome
Reviews I am going to give this vindaloo a try for the first time
Tonight. Love love curry
Thanks,
Serena
Smelled amazing, but I think the vinegar was a bit strong. However the spice combination was wonderful. I’ll cut back on the vinegar a little next time. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for letting me know! And this is a perfect example of why I always emphasize things being to taste. I adore vinegar, but I can easily see how it could be too much for some people. I recommend adding some yogurt to the batch you have.
Your recipe looks wonderful! I’m definitely going to try this out with lamb. How many people does this recipe serve?
Servings questions always make me so nervous because of all of the variables. I am going to guess 8 servings as a one pot meal.
This looks amazing. I made some chicken vindaloo recently and have been underwhelmed, edible but not the curry thrill I was craving. Can’t wait to try this with beef or lamb!
cooked it in a pressure cooker and it was really bland. no sauce at all just spiced beef with rice.
I am sorry you had that experience. I cannot imagine ever finding anything with 1/3 cup of vinegar and all those spices bland! I am not familiar though with converting recipes into pressure cooker recipes. Did you follow the recipe exactly?
Hi Laura I have to let you know how great this recipe is. We love authentic curry and this couldn’t be better. I never seem to have time to do it in the slow cooker but do it in a covered cast iron pot in the oven and it’s perfect vinadoo. I’ve shared the recipe with lots of friends and they love it too. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I am a huge fan of covered cast iron in the oven–honestly I got the slow cooker more because that is what people search for when looking for recipes. As you know, they easily convert! Glad you liked the recipe!
This dish was AMAZING!!!
So yummy & packed full of flavor. Can’t wait to
Cook it again.
Has anyone ever used Goat in this recipe?
Thanks! I have not but I bet it would be delicious. I have yet to find a good source of goat where I live!
Very disappointed not enough flavour sorry no way is this restaurant style
I am sorry to hear that was your experience–and surprised, since with that much spice and vinegar this dish definitely has flavor! Did you follow the recipe exactly or make any changes? I would love to help you troubleshoot what went wrong!
I followed the recipe exactly but it did not turn out well. It was dry and bland, maybe it was my slow cooker? The meat did not taste good, such a shame as the prep time was quite long.
There are a few things going on here. To me any braised beef should share a certain savory goodness, no matter the seasoning, so I guess I wonder if your beef was ok. Second, as to dry, how is the seal on your slow cooker? That should be more than enough liquid for braising beef chuck in a slow cooker. Last, as to bland, as you may note the instructions do call for adding brown sugar, garam masala and salt to taste at the end. I cannot imagine that much vinegar, aromatics and spices ever being considered bland. Did you try adding more garam masala or brown sugar? Sorry the dish did not work out for you!
If I halve this recipe, do you think it will turn out okay? Any impact on the cooking time?
Hope I am not answering too late, but I definitely think you can halve this recipe. Because the meat is cut into cubes the cooking time should not be affected, maybe a little shorter but certainly not a lot.
Thanks Laura! Cooking it right now so perfect timing. It’s for my Dad’s 70th birthday. Beef vindaloo is his favourite! Fingers crossed it turns out nicely
I hope you guys love it!
This recipe was fantastic! I cut it in half because I only had a 1.25lb package of stew beef in the freezer. I used a vindaloo spice mix that I got from a spice store. The method was perfect and the beef was tender and sauce was delicious. I did thicken the sauce a little with a bit of cornstarch at the end. Thanks for the amazing recipe! 😊
Thanks for letting me know–this recipe remains one of my favorites!
This was so yummy! The flavours were really nice.
I pretty much followed the recipe exactly other than i was a little shy on meat. Even so, I think next time i will one and a half the sauce ingredients to make it a little saucier. I used 3/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne. That made for a relatively mild vindaloo so next time i will take it up to the full 1.5 tsp as my husband really enjoys a lot of heat with his vindaloo.
I was in a time crunch so I cooked it for 4 hours on high and the meat was perfect!
I served this with rice, naan, and a homemade saag paneer and it was a huge hit.
Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for letting me know! Heat is so variable–my husband adds extra to everything because he prefers it too, but one of my kids cannot handle any heat, sadly enough. So we have learned to heat it up at the table.
Indian food can be time consuming to make but this recipe was worth the trouble. Loaded with flavor! Maybe the people who found it bland didn’t leave it simmering for the entire time because the flavors get more concentrated and intense the longer it cooks. I used chuck roast and made it exactly by the recipe except I added 2T of tamarind concentrate. When I heat it up tomorrow I may play with the brown sugar.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for commenting! And everything should ALWAYS be made to an individual’s taste, so if tamarind sounded good to you (which I can totally see) I am glad you added it!
Cooked this up last night for some foodie friends and it was a massive hit! Easy to make – only time consuming part was browning the meat. But the flavors at the end were incredible! The meat just fell apart. Looking forward to trying the leftovers (not that we have much left!) – I’m sure the flavors will have intensified further and it will be even more delish. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! Thanks for letting me know–we loved this dish and while it is true that browning is a pain (and takes the most time) it adds such great flavor.
All I can say is wow! I’ve tried many different curry recipes but this one was perfect!!! So we’ll balanced and so much flavour. So glad I found this!
Yay thanks for telling me! I love comments like this one!
What is cider vinegar?
Cider vinegar is the same thing as apple cider vinegar (I have changed the instructions to reflect that).
Can I use yellow mustard seeds I can’t find black or brown?
Yes. You may need to add a bit more as they are less pungent than brown or black.
I’m just wondering if I could add onions and peppers to the recipe…would it ruin the meal?
Hi! The recipe has 3 onions in it, so onions are definitely fine! Sweet peppers might change it a little but should be ok. I would not add green bell peppers.
I had a friend turn up to stay with 2kg of topside and very happy he was bringing us steak… tried this and wow! Household ingredients and some serious yum! I’m still craving the leftovers. Mine was mild so the yoghurt was strong, a little bit of mint sauce in it would have been spot on. Or do away with the yoghurt and serve with coriander you couldn’t go wrong… unless you’re a coriander hater! Thanks for sharing this is going on the favourites I can’t wait for an opportunity to cook it again!
Love it! And yes, always make to taste. Cilantro (coriander) would be fine in this as would a cilantro-mint chutney.
Just made the recipient but it does not look quite the same colour. Could it be that I need to use Kashmiri chillies powder also? . May be cut down on the Paprika. I’m waiting to taste it for dinner.
There are so many things that could affect the color of the dish, such as freshness of spices, that I would not worry about it and just focus on how it tastes. Without knowing how specifically it differs it is hard for me to guess what to do differently.
I don’t often eat Indian food, but I had a little pack of lamb stew meat, so I thought why not? I had to reduce the recipe A LOT, but I managed to use all ingredients except for ginger (out), so I used ground ginger (sorry). I also added a bit of hot Madras curry powder. Despite the fact that all my spices are old, it turned out so tasty! I’ll definitely use this recipe again with more beef, so I won’t have to add teeny amounts of spices. I do think it needed more liquid, and I didn’t use brown sugar or more garam masala. But it was a real hit to my taste buds!
Yay! Love getting comments like these. Sometimes things like liquid in a braising recipe do not reduce by the same amount when cutting a recipe down–that’s my only guess there. And I will forgive the ground ginger–you make do with what you have!