Cooking any meat by poaching with vegetables in its own juice is very common not only in the Caucasus, but throughout the world. An amazing and simple dish - beef in sauce, a great combination of meat and tomato sauce with lots of vegetables.

Usually, a dish whose name contains the combination “in its own juice” is perceived by us as something completely natural and tasty, at the subconscious level. Somewhere in there we have it, since it’s in its own juice, which means without excess, without water or additives. This is usually the case. Poaching is one of the main methods of cooking food. Moreover, there is no clear boundary between poaching and cooking in a small amount of liquid. It turns out very tasty too.

When cooking meat, as a rule, little liquid is released. But if the meat is cooked as part of a complex dish with vegetables, the moisture of the vegetables is quite enough for cooking. As an exception, sometimes a little broth or water is added. Likewise, beef in sauce can be prepared with the addition of liquid or in the liquid secreted by vegetables.

In the Caucasus, the method of cooking by poaching several foods at the same time is as common as other cooking methods: boiling, frying, baking.

Beef in tomato and vegetable sauce is prepared by poaching the ingredients without adding liquid.

Step-by-step recipe for beef in tomato sauce

Ingredients (2 servings)

• Beef 350 gr
• Purple onion is not large 4-5 pcs
• Garlic 1-2 cloves
• Tomato 2-3 pcs
• Red pepper (sweet) 1 PC
• Butter 50 g
• Salt, suneli hops, savory, basil, hot pepper Spices:

1. Beef in sauce is prepared from meat that is not the fattest, but it is also not very good without fat at all. Best for a dish

   A low-fat spatula is best suited for this dish.

2. Wash the beef and cut into small pieces. If you are using ribs, first cut them into pieces along the intercostal spaces and chop them along the bone into pieces 5-6 cm long.

   Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the beef in it

3. Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the beef in it. Fry the meat over medium heat, stirring and without a lid. Roasting time 12-15 minutes.

   Fry the meat over medium heat, stirring and uncovered

4. Add peeled and chopped onion.

   Add peeled and sliced ​​onion

5. Fry the meat with onions for 5-6 minutes.

   Fry meat with onions for 5-6 minutes

6. Grind the red bell pepper and tomato pulp (without seeds and skin) to a puree in a blender. Add vegetable puree to the meat, cover with a tight lid and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. The sauce should barely simmer.

   Vegetables for frying and sauce

7. The moisture from the vegetables will be enough to slowly simmer the meat. If for some reason there is not enough moisture (not juicy peppers, tomatoes with a small amount of juice), add the required amount of water, or even better - natural fresh tomato juice. For half an hour, the beef simmers under the lid until almost done.

   Add vegetable puree to meat

8. Peel the garlic. Beef with tomato and vegetable sauce is salted to taste. Add a mixture of khmeli-suneli spices, a little ground hot pepper and finely grated garlic so that the beef in the sauce is aromatic.

   

Step 1: Prepare the beef.

First of all, we need to prepare the meat. To do this, thoroughly wash a piece of defrosted beef under running water to remove all kinds of contaminants. After that, put it on a cutting board and wipe it with paper kitchen towels, getting rid of excess water. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the beef into portions approximately the size up to 5 centimeters, and you need to cut across the grain. Transfer the resulting pieces into a deep plate, add the required amount of flour to it and carefully coat the meat.

Step 2: chop the onion.

Next, peel the onion and rinse under cold running water. After this, immediately transfer it to a cutting board and chop it into small pieces of arbitrary shape up to 1 - 1.5 centimeters. If your eyes start to water, then rinse the knife under water.

Step 3: chop the tomatoes.

We wash the tomatoes under running water, dry them with paper kitchen towels and place them in a deep plate. Then pour boiling water so that the liquid covers the red vegetables, and leave them for 5 minutes. Then drain the water and wait for the tomatoes to cool a little. Now you can easily remove the skin and the place where the fruit was attached to the plant.
Place the processed vegetables in a blender bowl, add tomato paste and grind until liquid.

Step 4: fry beef with onions.

Now turn the stove temperature to medium, pour a little vegetable oil into the frying pan and place it on the stove. Place the chopped onion in the heated oil and begin to fry for 2 - 3 minutes until completely softened and golden brown. Then transfer the prepared onion to a separate plate. And add a little more fat to the pan and increase the temperature of the stove. Place floury pieces of beef in hot oil and fry them until golden brown and crispy for several minutes, turning occasionally with a kitchen spatula.

Step 5: stew the beef in tomato sauce.

As soon as the beef is covered with the crust we need, lower the temperature of the stove to a low level, lay out the fried onions and pour in the tomato sauce.
Then add plain clean water so that the liquid completely covers the surface of the meat pieces, cover the pan with a lid and begin to simmer. The beef will be ready in about 60 - 80 minutes. During this time, it will be saturated with tomato sauce and will become softer and more delicate in taste.
Throughout the stewing process, do not forget to stir the meat so that it does not burn. Add salt and ground black pepper almost at the very end of cooking.

Step 6: Serve beef stew in tomato sauce.

Stewed beef in tomato sauce served hot. Chopped parsley, dill, green onions or spinach are suitable as decoration. But almost anything can serve as a side dish for this dish, including pasta, crumbly rice or buckwheat porridge, boiled or fried potatoes, as well as chopped fresh or pickled vegetables. A delicious meat dish with tomato sauce is ready! Bon appetit!

To give the dish a piquant taste, you can fry 1 - 2 cloves of chopped garlic along with the onion.

In addition to ground black pepper, stewed beef is perfectly complemented by spices such as marjoram, oregano and basil, and they can be added either fresh or dried.

Fresh tomatoes can be replaced with ready-made tomato puree.

Beef can be fried not only in vegetable oil, but also in butter. For this recipe, 10 grams will be enough.

It is better to use different cutting boards and knives for cutting vegetables and meat.

Beef stew is a tasty and dietary dish. It is easy to prepare and can be a great addition to dinner. This meat can be eaten even by small children, because it is not fatty and is easily digestible. We recommend serving beef stew with. The recipe for its preparation is on our website.

Required Products

• beef - 0.8 kg
• bell pepper – 350 gr
• carrots - 100 gr
• onion - 150 gr
• garlic - 3 cloves
• tomatoes in their own juice - 0.4 kg
• Chili pepper - 1 pc (optional)
• Bay leaf
• cinnamon
• salt pepper

Let's start cooking

1. We wash the meat, cut it into 2-3 large pieces and put it in a saucepan. Fill with water, put on fire and bring to a boil. Then remove the foam, add salt, bay leaf, peeled carrots and onions (70 g). Cook everything over low heat until the meat is cooked.
2. Leave the finished meat to cool in the broth for 30 minutes. After the allotted time, take it out and cut into pieces.
3. Cut the remaining onion into rings, and remove the seeds from the bell pepper and cut into strips.
4. Place the prepared ingredients in a saucepan and add a little broth. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Peel the garlic and chop it. Place the tomatoes in a cup and mash with a fork. Chop the hot pepper. Transfer the prepared ingredients to the meat and simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Then pour in a little (0.5 l.) of the remaining broth and simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Our beef is ready. Serve with side dish and herbs.

Bon appetit!

Beef in a thick sauce seasoned with spices is just the thing when you want to eat a large piece of meat and complement it with the appropriate side dish. There’s no need to be particularly weird; it’s best to choose a classic side dish, namely mashed potatoes. Potatoes sprinkled with sauce and covered with a juicy and soft piece of meat will please everyone.

What products should be prepared:

• Beef (loin) – 1 kilogram
• Onions – 2 large onions
• Carrots (choose a sweet variety) – 3-4 pieces, large size
• Garlic – 2-3 cloves
• Dry mustard powder – 1 teaspoon
• Thyme spice - half a teaspoon
• Wheat flour - 2 tablespoons, without a slide
• Broth (water) – 100 grams
• Tomato paste (thick) – 4 full tablespoons
• Granulated sugar – 1 teaspoon
• Salt and pepper - to your taste
• Vegetable oil - for frying

How to cook beef in sauce:

1. We cut the meat, cut it into large pieces. Salt, pepper the beef and fry in a hot frying pan in oil. Fry each side for about five minutes until golden brown.
2. Prepare the sauce. Peel the carrots and onions and chop them. Cut the carrots into cubes and the onion into half rings. Fry the vegetables in a frying pan (separate from the meat) for about ten minutes. Add finely chopped garlic, sugar, thyme, mustard powder and pepper. At the very end, add flour and mix thoroughly.
3. Dilute the tomato paste in two glasses of water (add some salt if necessary).
4. Transfer the meat to the pan with the vegetables, add the diluted tomato paste and broth. Stir, taste for salt and leave to simmer. It is better to turn the heat to minimum, cover the meat with a lid and simmer for a couple of hours. The longer you simmer the meat, the more tender and soft it will be. I simmer for about three hours (stirring occasionally), and then the meat simply melts in my mouth.
5. Place the finished meat with the thick sauce into a saucepan.

And the issue of delicious dinners will be resolved. It is very convenient to have such a dish in the refrigerator; take it out, heat it up and add any side dish. Share the recipe with your friends, enjoy your meal.

It is very good to cook beef in tomato sauce. The sauce can be made like this: take peeled tomatoes, put them in meat, browned with onions, pour dry wine.

Culinary classic: beef stew in tomato sauce

Light diet beef is very receptive to aromatic herbs and spices, and tomato sauce added at the right time will make lean beef more tender.

Advice: when cooking, do not allow it to boil too much; it is better to simmer over low heat.

How to cook a dish with beans in a frying pan

To make it perfect, it is better to add beans to the beef, soaked in cold water the night before.

You will need:

• 55 ml sunflower oil (odorless);
• 1 pinch of thyme;
• 3 garlic cloves;
• 25 g of tomato;
• 200 ml tomato juice;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 onion;
• 0.6 kg beef pulp;
• 230 g beans;
• add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Calorie content per serving: 174 kcal.

How to cook:

1. Chop the pulp into cubes; if there are tendons and films, remove them first.
2. Brown the pieces of meat in hot oil. Cut the carrots into large strips, the onion into quarters, crush the garlic with a knife and chop coarsely. Add all these ingredients to the meat and continue frying.
3. Pour in the juice, add tomato paste, season to taste, and simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Wash the beans, add to the meat, adding thyme, continue cooking for another 35 minutes.

Tip: if the dish turns out too thick, you can add a little more tomato juice or just water.

Option for cooking juicy meat in the oven

Beef in tomato sauce is a familiar dish to everyone. There are a million such recipes, but you can always find a new one.

You will need:

• 0.4 kg beef tenderloin;
• 35 g of “Peasant” oil;

For the sauce:

• 5 ripe tomatoes (soft);
• 1 lemon;
• 1 small bunch of fresh basil;
• 6 branches of thyme;
• 35 ml olive oil;
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper;
• 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Time required: 70 min. Calorie content: 168 kcal.

How to cook:

1. Using a fine grater, remove the zest from the lemon and squeeze the juice out of the fruit pulp. Simply tear the basil with your hands. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water, remove the skin, and chop with a blender.
2. Prepare the sauce: in a deep frying pan that is suitable for the oven, mix olive oil with 30 ml of lemon juice, zest, basil, thyme, tomato puree, season everything and mix.
3. Chop the beef coarsely, add it to the sauce, stir and leave for half an hour so that the meat is saturated with the aroma of spices.
4. Preheat the oven, put the dish to simmer until done.

Tomatoes always play the main role in the sauce; they also decorate the sauce with their color; of course, they must be as ripe as possible.

Multicooker recipe

This dish is very light, with a minimal set of ingredients; you can add any herbs to it or do without them, but be sure to add onions.

You will need:

• 0.8 kg beef;
• 3 onions;
• 5 tomatoes;
• vegetable oil to taste;
• 4 garlic cloves;
• a large bunch of fresh herbs;
• seasonings to taste.

Cooking time: 2 hours.

Serving contains: 175 kcal.

Cooking beef in tomato sauce in a slow cooker:

1. Rinse the meat with cool water, dry and cut into pieces. Fry until golden brown in a multicooker bowl using a small amount of heated oil.
2. Chop the onion, tomatoes, garlic. First, add the onion to the meat, fry for 7 minutes, then add tomatoes, salt, garlic, spices to taste, pour hot water, it should cover the meat completely. Turn on the “Extinguishing” mode for 1.5 hours.
3. Decorate with greenery to your liking.

Tip: be sure to add onions to the tomato sauce, otherwise it will turn out bland.

Spaghetti with beef in tomato sauce

The main thing in this dish is to combine the pasta and beef with tomato sauce.

You will need:

• 250 ml plain water;
• leek stalk;
• 300 g spaghetti;
• 4 tomatoes;
• salt to taste;
• 3 pods of sweet pepper;
• 0.6 kg beef
• 50 ml olive oil;
• 2 carrots;
• freshly ground pepper to taste;
• 2 onions;
• 1 garlic slice.

Time: 45 min.

Calorie content: 199 kcal.

How to cook:

1. Chop the beef and grate the onion.
2. Brown the meat in hot oil. Add tomatoes chopped in a blender, chopped carrots, pour hot water, simmer for an hour until the beef is cooked.
3. At the end of cooking (about 15 minutes), add thinly sliced ​​bell peppers, leeks, crushed slices of garlic, and season to taste with spices.
4. Cook the spaghetti. Combine tomato sauce and pasta.

Tip: cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan, salt the water thoroughly, then they will not stick together and will be ready at the same time.

Meat baked in tomato sauce

We draw your attention to the recipe, which is truly hearty, but not heavy. It can be used to prepare a low-calorie lunch.

Required:

• 250 ml thick tomato juice;
• 500 g beef;
• 3-4 tomatoes;
• 150 g ghee;
• freshly ground pepper to taste;
• 8 g table salt.

Cooking time: 1 hour. One serving contains: 155 kcal.

How to cook:

1. Cut the beef flesh into small pieces.
2. Sprinkle the meat with red pepper, season with salt, and fry in melted butter. Place in a form that can be placed in the oven.
3. Place chopped tomatoes around the meat pieces, add tomato juice and bake in a preheated oven until fully cooked.

This beef goes well with a light vegetable salad; just cut fresh cucumbers and tomatoes into thin slices, sprinkle with pepper and salt to taste and place beautifully on a dish; if desired, you can add thinly sliced ​​blue onions or finely chopped green onions.

Useful culinary tricks

Whatever cut of beef you buy, there are general rules for choosing and cooking:

1. When purchasing, pay attention to the color of the pulp and the shade of the fat layer. The lighter the flesh, the better. The fat should be white. For stewing, it is better to take fillet.
2. If you bought a tough piece of meat, soak it for three hours in lemon juice, dry wine, wine or apple cider vinegar. The meat fibers will become softer, and after stewing the beef will be tender.
3. Be sure to fry the meat pieces until an appetizing crust appears; this procedure will help preserve the juice. If you cook beef without searing, it will be gray and tasteless.
4. Beef will cook faster if you add tomato paste or fresh tomatoes.
5. Fry in refined sunflower oil. For small pieces of meat, heat it in a frying pan moderately.
6. Marinating will help make the meat tender. Many different products are used for this, such as kiwi or lemon. But it is better to take 4% wine vinegar, white or red.
7. Balsamic will give an excellent taste, but the color of the meat will not be very beautiful. But sherry vinegar is just perfect for beef.
8. It is not recommended to use wine for pickling, since cheap wine will not work, and it is simply a pity to use expensive wine for pickling; it is better to drink it.
9. For beef dishes, it is better to use more spices. A good addition to meat is a sprig of rosemary or thyme, as well as salt, garlic, and pepper. This set is quite enough.

The video explains how to cook beef in tomato sauce in the oven: