Swiss Steak is a perfect family dinner; it’s easy to make and can be cooked either in the oven or in the slow cooker. This dish has delicious tender beef in a rich tomato gravy and is perfect served over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes!
© SpendWithPennies.com
Swiss steak is one of those dishes I associate with comfort; I grew up eating this for dinner on Sunday evenings, and as I got older, it became one of those dishes I craved. These days it is a family favorite dinner option. We all love it for the incredible flavor, but also, as the grocery shopper for my family, I appreciate that an inexpensive cut of steak can become something so tender and delicious!
Swiss steak is often confused with Salisbury Steak, but there is a difference between the two. A Salisbury steak is made with ground beef and shaped into a patty while Swiss steak is actually steak! Salisbury Steak generally has a beef broth based gravy while Swiss steak has a tomato based gravy.
I cook this Swiss steak recipe in a dutch oven, but don’t worry if you don’t have a dutch oven! You can cook it in a frying pan and then transfer it to a casserole dish for baking, or you can put it in a crock pot for 7 to 8 hours to have dinner done when you come home from work.
When preparing your Swiss Steak, make sure you pound your steaks to tenderize them (I use a mallet style tenderizer). You can use round or chuck steaks, which are generally a tougher cut of meat, so the tenderizing process is important.
Believe me when I say there is nothing quite as nice as having a hot dinner that is packed with comfort from a great steak flavor with all of that creamy gravy!
Easy Swiss Steak
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds round steak
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or as needed
- 2 yellow onions chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juices, 1 can
- 10 ounces beef broth 1 can
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch optional, see note below
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Using a meat mallet, pound meat to ½″ thickness.
- Combine flour, paprika, garlic powder, pepper & salt to taste. Dredge meat in flour mixture.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven. Brown steaks on each side (adding additional olive oil if needed). Set aside.
- Place onion & carrot in the bottom of the pot. Top with browned steaks.
- Add remaining ingredients except for cornstarch. Cover and cook for 2 ½-3 hours.
- Serve over mashed potatoes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Made this tonight. My husband and I loved it. We agreed it will be on our regular rotation.
Loved this recipe! I used celery also. Was fantastic!!
Your recipe for Swiss steak turned out perfect! Thank you very much & glad you explained the difference between Swiss steak and Salisbury steak. Janet in Ohio
This is a wonderful dinner tonight but I did not use a slow cooker. I did everything in a large skillet. Our meat was cube steak that was tenderized by the butcher. It looked like swiss steak back in the 1960s. Once all of the ingredients were placed in the skillet, I placed a lid on the skillet and I cooked it on top of the stove until it was almost a rolling boil. I then put it into our oven that was set to 300°F and then I baked it for a full hour. I paired it with mashed potatoes (I forgot to warm up the string beans). Anyway, it came out wonderfully. I will use the same cutofmeat and repeat this. Thank You for putting this online.
Excellent! Followed the directions exactly. Meat was incredibly tender, the sauce/gravy was tasty. The only thing I did differently is use Better Than Bouillon Beef vs canned broth. I served with mashed potatoes and warm French rolls. Most definitely will be made again. It was very simple, directions were easy and I had mine in the over for just slightly over 2 hrs for 2lbs of meat.
I made this recipe and it was delicious so I made it again. While my back was turned my grand dog ate the whole thing. I couldn’t imagine where it went until I turned and saw her guilty face. She lives with vegans so I had to forgive her for seizing the opportunity.
Is it still 3 hrs if cooked in oven?
Hi Lois, this recipe is cooked in the oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours. Enjoy!
Thank you for this very easy and really delicious recipe! I cooked the onion in the fry pan with a little tomato juice to scrape up the brown bits from cooking the steaks. This is a recipe I will make often. Thank you again.
I had never cooked round steak before. I found this recipe and remembered it from childhood. I followed the recipe exactly. I checked my meal after 2 hours and it was dried out. I stull tasted it, the flavor was excellent but I couldn’t serve it to my family. I try it again, and check it sooner.
If the steak wasn’t tender, it may have needed to cook longer to break down the tougher fibers and tenderize.
So good! I added cumin and annatto powder. the gravy was fantastic!
Can this recipe be made without tomato products? I am allergic to all tomato products. Is it possible to email me a recipe with what I can substate all the tomato products with something else?
I would recommend trying Cube Steaks and Gravy which is made without tomatoes. Enjoy!
My family really enjoyed this, overall. The meat was a little tough and even though I followed the recipe exactly, there wasn’t any liquid left to make gravy. I’m going to try this again in the crockpot vs in the oven and add a bit more liquid. It reminded me so much of the Swiss Steak my Great Aunt would make on her farm.
This Swiss steak recipe is easy and delicious. The only other ingredient I added was celery since my family likes it.
Been making Swiss Steak for 6o years. This by far is the easiest and best tasting ever. No watching the stove to make sure it is not sticking , no messy stove to clean up and the best ever. Even hubby said it was great. Only thing I added was celery along with the onions and carrots.
I was skeptical about how tender the meat would be. It was very tender. I baked Yukon gold potatoes at the same time. Great dinner.
I love to try new recipes I’m very excited to recieve your book
Great recipe–added a little red wine.
My husband and I loved this recipe. I did make one change. I used Everglades seasoning in the flour and added paprika. I definitely plan to make this again!
My Sweet Mother in law passed without having a lot of recipes, she had a great memory. I used is recipe to make Swiss Steak and it tasted just like hers. So delicious.
I’m so glad you found my recipe and it honors the recipe your Mother in Law used to make. ❤️ Those are the best kinds of memories.
Great tasting, easy recipe!