5 Warming Stews, Curries and Slow-Cooked Dishes for Winter Nights
The recipes we're reaching for
There's a particular kind of cold that settles in through the early Winter months - the sort that no amount of thick socks and a warm jumper quite fixes. That's when we reach for a proper, spoon-in-hand dinner that screams comfort on a plate. Something that's been quietly doing its thing in the oven or slow cooker while the rest of the day gets on with itself.
We're not talking about a quick 20-minute stir-fry. These are the dishes that reward a bit of patience: a Sunday afternoon spent pottering around the house while dinner takes care of itself, or a weeknight where you throw everything in before the school run and come home to something that smells like it's been cooking all day. Because it has.
But sometimes, even having all the tools to make it happen on hand, the hardest part is getting the inspiration on what to whip up. So we’ve done the hard work for you – sharing five of our favourite ways to warm up this winter, using cuts that were built for exactly this kind of cooking.
The Sunday Special: Beef Cheek Ragu
There's slow cooking, and then there's beef cheek ragu. Beef Cheek is one of the most underrated cuts in the fridge — dense, hard-working muscle that needs hours of low heat to break down, but rewards you with something deeply rich (and almost silky) by the time it's plated. Our Beef Cheek Ragu recipe pairs it with fresh pasta for a Sunday dinner that feels like a proper occasion, without asking much of you in the kitchen. It’s that real restaurant quality cooking, from the comforts of your own home. Prep time is just 15 minutes, while the slow cook or oven does the rest over 8 to 10 hours.
The Midweek Stew: Green Olive and Tomato Beef Shin
Beef Shin doesn't get nearly the amount of attention it deserves. Taken from the leg, it's a cut that's packed with connective tissue and flavour, and it turns beautifully soft after a day in the pot. Our Green Olive and Tomato Beef Shin recipe is a proper stew in every sense - briny olives, sweet tomato, and beef that falls apart at the touch of a fork. We love serving this one over a bed of tabbouleh, with a side of roasted carrots and something crusty to mop up the sauce. If you’re after an alternative to tabbouleh, this dinner dish works equally as well on a bed of rice or quinoa.
The Spice Warm-Up: Beef Rendang
If you're after something with a bit more heat and spice, Beef Rendang is our answer. Made using our versatile Diced Beef, this fragrant, Indonesian-inspired dish is cooked low and slow (around two and a half hours) until the beef has soaked up all of that rich, aromatic sauce. Serve it over steamed rice for a family-style dinner that tastes like it took a lot more effort than it did.
The One-pot Wonder: Slow Cooked Miso Bolar Roast
Bolar Roast is one of our most versatile and loved cuts, and this Slow Cooked Miso Bolar Roast recipe is proof of it. This cut serves all year-round, however works overtime during Winter. The miso adds a savoury depth that pairs beautifully with rice and a side of seasonal vegetables. It's a genuine set-and-forget dinner — brown the roast, add your liquid, and let time do the rest.
The Freezer Filler: Our Own Hearty Beef and Veggie Soup
Sometimes the best dinner isn't a named recipe at all - it's whatever you can throw in a pot with a good stock and a generous handful of Diced Beef. Our go-to on the coldest nights is a simple beef and vegetable soup: browned Diced Beef, a splash of red wine if you've got it open, whatever root vegetables need using up, and a few hours on low heat. It's endlessly adaptable, freezes brilliantly in portions, and is the sort of dinner that gets better as leftovers.
The beauty of winter cooking is its simplicity. None of these dishes need much active effort.. just good ingredients, a bit of time, and a beef cut that was built for the job. Most of them freeze well too, so a big batch on a quiet Sunday can mean two or three dinners are already sorted before the week even properly starts.
Whichever one you try first, the formula's the same: brown it, season it, and let time turn a handful of ingredients into something that tastes like it took all day. Because, honestly, it did… you just weren't the one standing over it.
