Honey Garlic Beef and Potatoes in the Slow Cooker

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This Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Beef and Potatoes is a delicious easy dinner with garlic, onions, honey, and molasses for a touch of sweet. Perfect for busy days!

This Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Beef and Potatoes recipe is a delicious easy meal that’s incredibly savory, with a hint of sweet.  Tender beef cubes are cooked in the slow cooker with lots of delicious garlic, onions, cilantro, soy sauce, and potatoes.  Then honey and molasses are added for that touch of sweet that makes it such a flavorful dish really takes this over the top!  The beef is fall apart, melt in your mouth tender.  The potatoes soak up all of the amazing sauce and flavors.   

This is one of those easy and delicious recipes that you can make almost entirely out of your freezer!  The beef, onion, and garlic, can all be stored in the freezer.  Thaw the beef overnight and add it to the slow cooker with the frozen garlic and onions, plus the rest of the ingredients.  Click here to get my printable cheat sheet with 10 Freezer Hacks to make easy dinners!

SLOW COOKER LOVE

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted a Slow Cooker Recipe.  So, I thought I would take a moment to list all of the fantastic benefits of slow cooking!

• Easy way to cook! You simply add the ingredients in the morning, then set the timer and it cooks dinner for you!
• Healthy!  Because you are adding ingredients and liquid, you don’t need to add a ton of oil or butter.  That said, many recipes for the slow cooker are not exactly healthy.  Therefore, it’s up to you to use your discretion on which ingredients you add.
• Economical!  Because the slow cooker can cook for up to 10 hours, you can use less expensive tough cuts of proteins.  They get beautifully tender in the slow cooker and taste incredible.
• Abundant!  Since the slow cooker most often produces stews, soups, or other one-pot-meals, you can typically get a LOT of food from one cook.  That means you may get lunch or second dinner out of it!  
• Get Ahead!  Not only are slow cooker dinners easy, but they can be prepped ahead and stored in the fridge or even the freezer!

Here are some of my favorite Slow Cooker Family Dinners:

• Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
• Light & Creamy Broccoli Soup
• Slow Cooker Ground Chicken Ragu
• Paprika Pork Stew
• Chicken and Mushroom Soup
• Brazilian Black Beans

Quick note!  This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you purchase from them.  This commission is what helps me keep this blog afloat :).  I also share these links because I have used the products, genuinely love them, and want you to know exactly what I used. 

Simple Ingredients and Substitutes

• Onion, diced – I used yellow onion, but you can use white onion, red onion, shallots, or even scallions (green onion). If you don’t have fresh onion, you can also use a tablespoon of onion flakes or onion powder.
• Fresh Garlic cloves, minced – Fresh is best to get this delicious garlic sauce, but you can buy the pre-minced garlic sold in a small jar or use dried garlic flakes or garlic powder.
• Fresh Cilantro leaves – In my personal opinion, there is no substitute for the vibrant flavor of fresh cilantro. However, if you do not have it or like it, you can use fresh parsley for the color or simply leave it out.
• Worcestershire Sauce – This adds so much depth of flavor. If you don’t have Worcestershire sauce, you can add Soy sauce or beef, chicken, vegetable, stock or broth.
• Beef brisket, boneless – Brisket flat-half (the leaner half of the whole brisket) is what I used for this recipe. It has lots of connective tissue and needs to be cooked long enough to break this down and be tender. You could also use Beef short ribs, beef chuck, or Pork shoulder (pork butt).
• Russet potatoes – I used russet potatoes, but you can use red potatoes or yukon gold potatoes as well.
• Beef Broth or beef stock – You can also use, vegetable broth or stock or Chicken broth or stock. You can also use water mixed with a beef or chicken bouillon cube or beef base or chicken base.
• Honey – Honey brings natural sweetness. You can substitute the same quantity of white granulated sugar or even brown sugar. There are other sweeteners, such as pineapple juice or orange juice that will work too.
• Molasses – Molasses brings a unique sweetness, slightly bitter, and slightly smokey flavor. If you don’t have it, you can add a tablespoon of brown sugar.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

I made this recipe in a slow cooker. However, you could also make it in the oven in a dutch oven or small roasting pan with a lid. If you make this in a dutch oven, you will follow the same instructions, but instead cook it in the oven 450 F degrees for 3 hours.

It can also be helpful to cut the beef with kitchen shears, but you can also just cut with a knife. And mincing garlic is made super easy with a Garlic Press.

PREP-AHEAD STEPS YOUR HONEY GARLIC BEEF AND POTATOES

We are all extremely busy and making dinner during the week can be overwhelming. Here are steps you can prepare ahead to save time on busy nights! (See the full recipe below)

Peel and cut the onion into chunks. Add the onion, cilantro leaves, garlic cloves, and Worcestershire sauce to a food processor. Pulse to get the onion going and then puree until the onion and garlic are minced to about rice-size.

Cut the beef into 2-inch chunks.  You can use kitchen shears or a sharp chef’s knife.

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add to the slow cooker pot. If you will not be cooking this right away, submerge the potatoes in cold water and store in the fridge. Before cooking, drain the potatoes and discard the water.

COOK YOUR HONEY GARLIC BEEF AND POTATOES

TIP: If you want to give the beef even more flavor, you can sear it in a large skillet over medium-high heat with olive oil before adding it to the slow cooker.

To the slow cooker, add the potatoes, cut beef, onion mixture, broth, honey, molasses, salt, and pepper. Set the Slow Cooker to 6-10 hours, depending on your schedule.

Serve with a crusty bread. ENJOY!  😍 Carrie

Variations to this Garlic Beef Recipe

• Korean Inspired – You can give this recipe more of a Korean spin! Try mixing in a small bowl ¼ cup dark soy sauce, a splash of rice vinegar, a tablespoon of sesame oil, or even oyster sauce, along with a tablespoon of corn starch. You can add a teaspoon of minced ginger and red bell pepper as well. Serve garnished with toasted sesame seeds.
• Low Carb Version – To make this low carb, simply omit the potatoes. In their place, you can add carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, or other veggies. You can also serve it over cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles.
• Spicy! – If you want to spice this up, you can add red pepper flakes (1-2 teaspoons), a diced jalapeno, or a teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

Honey Garlic Beef and Potatoes FAQs

What kind of Beef to use?

As mentioned earlier, one of the benefits of slow cooker is that you can use less expensive tough cuts of beef.  The most commonly used beef cut for stew is Beef chuck, which comes from the shoulder and has a lot of connective tissue and it gets very tender when cooked for a long time.  I used brisket for this recipe, but you can use beef chuck or round.  Many stores have pre-cubed beef stew meat ready to buy.

Can I add other vegetables to this Garlic Beef recipe?

This is a very versatile recipe where you can add your favorite veggies! Diced carrots, green beans, peas, spring onions, bell peppers, kale, mushrooms, are all great choices!

What can I use instead of Molasses?

If you cannot find molasses, you can add ¼ cup of Brown Sugar and then reduce the honey to 3 tablespoons.  Or you can simply leave the molasses out all together and increase the honey to ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons.

Can I freeze this Garlic Beef and Potatoes?

You can freeze this recipe before or after cooking it. If you freeze the ingredients before you cook it, do so WITHOUT the broth. Place all of the ingredients in a freezer bag or airtight container in a flat layer. When you are ready to cook it, place the frozen ingredients in the refrigerator to thaw 24 hours in advance.

Or you can cook it in the slow cooker and then portion it out and freeze it.  If you go this route, you can cook it in the oven straight from the freezer or thaw it 24 hours in advance in the fridge.