It is a little ironic that I really dislike “baked” steak, but I love a tomato based Swiss steak. They both are long cooking steaks, but usually differ in texture and definitely differ in flavor.
Baked steak to me was either a “cube steak” or its thicker and differently tattooed cousin, the “bake steak.” Both of these cuts of meat usually had been “tenderized” with the spikes or needles of an electric tenderizer, which left a pattern in the meat. The cube steak was much more aggressively pounded by the tenderizer resulting in a rather thin steak marked with a pattern of small squares all over the steak, thus its name. The baked steak looked to be gently rolled with a spike or needle laden tenderizer by comparison, thus retaining a thicker and more natural steak like appearance with only pattern of holes visible. What does all of this have to do with making Swiss Steak? Well, another term for the process of tenderizing the meat by pounding or rolling it is called swissing. Yes, this is the origin of the name Swiss Steak… not Switzerland.
Yes, you could make Swiss Steak using either cube steaks, but I beg of you don’t. If you must use a pre-tenderized steak, choose the more elusive bake steak cut instead. The bake steak cut is closer to the optimal thickness of about 1 inch. I think it an easier and better alternative cube steak is to just buy a round steak, which is often the cut of meat both cube and bake steaks start as, and pound it yourself. You could just use my preferred cut for Swiss Steak: sirloin….no pounding required.
The flavor difference is most evident in a subtle sweetness of a tomato sauce coated Swiss steak that a brown gravy laden baked steak lacks.
Both Swiss and baked steaks do have one thing in common for me though….they are both really ugly in their serving dish and do not make a pretty…or even appetizing…photograph.
Swiss Steak is one of a handful of recipes that I prefer to use a slow cooker/crock pot to cook. In fact, I don’t think I have ever made it any other way. It is not a one pot dish though. A really good Swiss Steak needs to be seared prior to braising, so you will need to brown the steak in a skillet prior to putting it in the slow cooker. Once everything is in the slow cooker, the magic begins. The end result is a fork tender, delicious tasting steak.
Slow Cooker Swiss Steak
Ingredients
- 2 lb. boneless beef steak (round, sirloin, etc), about 1 inch thick
- 1/2 tsp.+ salt
- 1/4 tsp. + ground black pepper
- 1 - 2 Tbsp. canola or similar oil
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 medium carrots, sliced
- 28 oz. canned tomatoes, crushed or whole
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 4 oz. water or beef broth/stock
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. thyme, crushed (Italian seasoning blend or Herbs de Provence may be substituted)
Instructions
- Trim fat, if any, from steak(s) and dry steak(s) with a paper towel.
- Season both sides of steak with salt and pepper. Pound seasoning into meat if using a tougher cut of meat (ie. bottom round or chuck steak).
- Heat oil in a skillet.
- Brown steak(s) on both sides.
- To a slow cooker crock add onions, celery, carrots,undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, water or stock, brown sugar, and thyme, Stir to incorporate tomato paste and sugar.
- Season with desired amount of salt and pepper.
- Add browned steak(s) on top of vegetable mixture.
- Cook covered on low for 9 - 10 hours or on high for 4 - 6 hours. (For a thicker sauce, cook the last hour or so on high,,,even if you cooked it on low the rest of the time).
- Serve warm.