This Easy Swiss Steak Recipe features thin cuts of round steak simmered in a peppery tomato beef sauce until tender. Your family will love this classic dinner!
So, I was going through the mountain of old family recipes that my parents sent over, and I came across my mom’s vintage recipe for Swiss Steak. Have you ever had it? We ate this a couple of time a month when I was growing up, but for some reason, I never made it for my own family.
Except for the occasional chuck roast, I mostly use ground beef because we pretty much mostly live off of quick and easy dinners. But with round steak, you have to let it cook low and slow. My mom used to make Swiss Steak in the electric skillet and let it simmer for a couple of hours. The result was delicious!
I like the idea of making some retro recipes for my kids so that they can experience the same dinners I grew up on — total food nerd moment here. So, I made Swiss Steak twice in the last week.
The first time, I followed my mom’s recipe closely, but not quite exactly. I dredged the meat in corn starch instead of flour, and I used red and yellow peppers instead of green. I also adjusted the spices to add some garlic. My family enjoyed it, but I wanted to tweak the recipe a little.
The next time I made Swiss Steak, I mixed in some beef broth with the crushed tomatoes. And, I also let the steak simmer for almost 3 hours instead of almost two. And this, friends, made a huge difference!
The sauce from the second recipe was more like a gravy instead of tomato sauce, although both versions are definitely good. And, letting the Swiss Steak simmer longer made the meat tender enough to cut with a fork. So if you have time, you want to let the meat hang out as long as you possibly can.
How to Make this Easy Swiss Steak Recipe
Thin slices of round steak dredged in corn starch and simmered in a peppery tomato beef sauce until tender. This hearty dinner recipe is gluten free as is, if you use gluten-free corn starch. It's also relatively low carb. But you can serve it over egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes or with a side of vegetables.
- 2 pounds bottom round steak, trimmed and cut into large squares
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup red and yellow bell peppers, diced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup crushed tomato puree
- 1 cup organic low sodium beef stock
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Season the meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder, and lightly dust with cornstarch on both sides
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Add olive oil to Dutch oven or large skillet, and brown meat on both sides over medium high heat
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Stir in peppers, onions and celery
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Pour crushed tomatoes and beef broth over meat, stir, cover, and let simmer on medium low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally
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Serve over cooked rice, mashed potatoes or egg noodles, or with side of vegetables
You can use flour instead of corn starch
You can also reduce black pepper to 1/2 teaspoon for a milder flavor
If you don't have beef stock, use 1 cup of water, instead
This easy Swiss Steak recipe does require some extra prep time, but you can make things easier by chopping your peppers, onions and celery in advance. I always try to keep a stash in the freezer to make weeknight meals as easy as possible. Once you have the round steak simmering on the stove, you just let it go until you’re ready to eat.
My family loved this Swiss Steak! I wasn’t sure if they would, since it’s a little bit different, but they ate it all up. My little guy even asked for seconds!
If you try it, let me know how it goes.
Happy Cooking,
I can honestly say that I’ve never had swiss steak before. It looks and sounds delicious! Aren’t family recipes just the best?
One of my favorites from childhood.
This is a perfect recipe for my kids! They’re going to love it!
It looks like the perfect comfort food dish!!
Yum! I have tried different versions of swiss steak and can never seem to recreate my mom’s recipe(even though she has given me the instructions). Trying your tonight!!
I hope you like it! Really, I think we can never quite top our moms’ recipes! 😉
My Mom used to make it with mashed potatoes and we used the sauce with gravy. I haven’t had this in years but I think it will be a wonderful meal for next week. Thanks for sharing.
This would be so good over mashed potatoes! Now I want to make it again just so I can have it over potatoes! 🙂
This is pure yummy comfort food 🙂
Do you think I could use flank steak and shorten the cooking time? I rarely see round steak for sale where I live in Canada. Thanks.
Hi Helen. I think some people do use flank steak instead of round steak, so if you shortened the cooking time, it should work. 🙂
Oh how you brought back the memories. My Mother cooked round steak quite a bit. I don’t know how in the world she was able to make it so tender. I enjoy making my Mom’s recipes too. This sounds delicious.
Could you cook this in a crock pot instead of stove top? Open flame for 3 hours is a little unnerving to me.
I would brown them on the stove first, but you should be able to let them simmer in the Crock-Pot after that. An electric skillet works well, too!
Mom used to make SwissSteak over mashed potatoes, sometimes Rice.
Is it just my region, or has anyone else not seen a Round Steak at their local grocers? Why not? Would Chuck Roast work? I’d love to make this again.
Hi, Nancy. I think some people make this with cube steak, but I’m not sure a thicker cut like chuck would work. I found the round steak at Fry’s (Kroger), so maybe a store with a butcher shop would have it.