Why you should always cook extra beef cheeks – and the genius ways to use them

Fall-apart tender and full of rich, savoury flavour, braised beef cheeks come into their own in chilly weather. The beauty of this cut is that most of the work happens in the oven, where they bathe in red wine, stock and aromatics, taking on a gorgeous depth.

Slow-cooked recipes are excellent do-aheaders. Cook on a Sunday to enjoy later in the week, and you’ll feel pleasantly smug. These cheeks are also a great candidate for freezing.

One cheek per person is ideal, given how rich they are. However, I’ve added a couple of extras to the pan so the recipe yields six generous portions, meaning you’ll have plenty of tender meat tucked away for later in the week.

Consider those extra cheeks your golden ticket to some low-effort, high-reward spin-off meals. They transform effortlessly into a deeply comforting beef cheek ragu with stracciatella and crunchy garlic breadcrumbs, and crisp, cheesy beef cheek quesadillas. Both recipes are below. Because why cook three times when you can cook beautifully just once?

Red wine-braised beef cheeks

Creamy garlic mash is a no-brainer accompaniment for beef cheeks – the perfect base for the rich braising liquid. A lemony parsley sauce adds freshness and cuts through the richness. Blanched green beans, broccolini or asparagus, or a handful or two of spinach wilted in the braising liquid, bring the balance.

INGREDIENTS

• 80ml (4 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 large brown onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 50g (⅓ cup) plain flour
• 500ml (2 cups) beef stock
• 6 beef cheeks (about 350g each)
• 1½ tbsp tomato paste
• 500ml (2 cups) red wine
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar

To serve

• 1 batch garlic mash (see recipe)
• 1 batch lemony parsley sauce (see recipe)
• blanched green beans, asparagus or broccolini, or wilted spinach

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 140C fan-forced (160C conventional).
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and a good pinch of salt. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften (4-5 minutes). Add the garlic and thyme sprigs, stirring until fragrant.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the vegetables and stir lightly to toast (about 1 minute). Pour in the beef stock, stirring well to combine. Season to taste, bring to a boil, then transfer the mixture to a large roasting pan.
4. Tip the remaining flour into a shallow tray and season it generously with salt and pepper. Dust the beef cheeks evenly in the flour, shaking off any excess. Discard any leftover flour.
5. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the beef cheeks until they are deeply browned with a beautiful crust all over, then transfer them to a plate.
6. Add the tomato paste to the empty frying pan and stir for a minute or two over the heat until slightly darkened. Pour in the red wine, stirring to scrape up all the delicious browned bits (fond) from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and let it cook for 1-2 minutes until slightly reduced.
7. Pour the wine mixture into the roasting pan with the vegetables and stir to combine. Nestle the browned beef cheeks in the liquid. Cover the roasting pan tightly with foil and braise in the oven for 3 hours. (Note: use this window to spend 5 minutes blitzing your lemony parsley sauce so that the flavours have time to marry.)
8. Remove the foil and continue to braise for another 30 minutes, or until the beef is fall-apart tender when tested with a fork. (Note: this final 30 minutes is the perfect time to make your garlic mash and blanch the greens.)
9. Remove the beef cheeks from the sauce. Use a spoon to skim off and discard the layer of fat from the surface of the sauce. Stir in the red wine vinegar, then return the cheeks to the sauce.
10. Serve the beef cheeks hot, spooning the rich sauce over a bed of garlic mash, and top with a drizzle of the lemony parsley sauce and a side of blanched greens of your choice.

Serves 4 with leftovers

Leftover pro-tip: You can refrigerate leftover beef cheeks and sauce in an airtight container for up to 1 week. The leftovers recipes here use shredded meat. I find it easier to shred the beef cheeks while they are still warm before chilling.

Garlic mash

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg floury potatoes (such as sebago), peeled and cut into rough 5cm chunks
• 80g butter, diced
• 150ml pouring cream or milk (or a combination of both)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

METHOD

1. Half-fill a large saucepan with cold salted water, add the prepared potatoes and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are very tender when pierced with a fork (about 12-15 minutes).
2. Drain the potatoes thoroughly, then return them to the warm saucepan. Add the diced butter and let it stand until the butter melts.
3. Meanwhile, bring the cream (or milk) to a simmer in a small saucepan with the minced garlic. Once simmering, remove from the heat.
4. Use a potato masher or a fork to mash the potatoes until they are completely smooth.
5. Gradually pour in the warm garlic cream, stirring continuously until the mash is smooth and well combined.
6. Season generously with sea salt and black pepper to taste, and serve warm.

Serves 4

Lemony parsley sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (firmly packed) flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp (firmly packed) oregano
• 2 tbsp capers
• 4-5 cornichons
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves
• finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

METHOD

1. Combine the parsley, oregano, capers, cornichons, mustard, garlic and both the lemon rind and juice in a food processor.
2. Add the extra virgin olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Process the mixture until it is very smooth.
4. Refrigerate for up to 1 week. Bring it to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 1 cup

Beef cheek ragu with stracciatella and crunchy garlic breadcrumbs

Having a couple of leftover braised beef cheeks sets you up for the most delicious ragu – serve on top of soft polenta or mash, or toss through pasta, as we have here. Crunchy breadcrumbs add texture, and a dollop of stracciatella is heavenly.

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• ½ fennel bulb, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
• 250ml (1 cup) red wine
• 400g can cherry tomatoes
• 250ml (1 cup) passata
• ⅓ cup beef cheeks braising liquid
• 2 red wine-braised beef cheeks (see recipe), shredded
• 400g dried pasta, or 250g fresh pasta (I used pappardelle)
• ⅓ cup finely grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
• stracciatella, burrata or torn fresh mozzarella, to serve
• 1 batch crunchy garlic breadcrumbs (see recipe)

METHOD

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and fennel and saute, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by half (3-4 minutes). Stir in the tomatoes, passata and braising liquid, then simmer until thickened (10-12 minutes).
2. Add the shredded beef cheeks and simmer until warmed through (4-5 minutes). Season to taste.
3. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of well-salted boiling water until al dente, then transfer to the beef cheek ragu mixture with tongs. Toss to combine and emulsify, adding a ladle or two of pasta water if necessary. Add the parmesan and toss to combine.
4. Serve the pasta topped with a dollop of stracciatella, scattered with crunchy garlic breadcrumbs and extra parmesan.

Serves 4-6

Crunchy garlic breadcrumbs

• 1 thick slice sourdough bread, crusts discarded, torn
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup finely grated parmesan
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

METHOD

1. For the crunchy garlic breadcrumbs, preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional) and line a baking tray with baking paper. Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl, add the remaining ingredients, season to taste and spread on the prepared baking tray.
2. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown (8-10 minutes). Let the breadcrumbs cool completely on the tray, then store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Makes about ½ cup

Cheesy beef cheek quesadillas

Beef cheeks are incredibly versatile, and using your pre-cooked leftovers makes these a breeze. Here, the shredded braised meat is amped up with adobo chillies and earthy spices. Sandwiched between tortillas with oozy, melty cheese, it makes these can’t-stop good.

Quick-pickled red onion is an excellent addition. Simply cut your onion into thin slices, squeeze over lime juice to cover, season with salt and set aside until the onion turns pink. So good!

INGREDIENTS

• 3½ tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp diced chilli in adobo plus 1 tbsp adobo sauce
• 250ml (1 cup) passata
• 1 cup beef cheeks braising liquid
• 2 red wine-braised beef cheeks (see recipe), shredded

Guacamole

• 2 ripe avocados, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• 1 long green chilli, finely chopped
• juice of 2-3 limes

To serve

• 12 flour tortillas (12-15cm diameter)
• 150g cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
• quick-pickled red onion (see recipe intro)
• shaved cabbage, sour cream, lime wedges, coriander sprigs and hot sauce

METHOD

1. Heat 1½ tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, coriander, cumin and paprika, then stir until fragrant for about 1 minute.
2. Pour in the chipotle in adobo, adobo sauce, passata, braising liquid and 125ml water. Bring to a simmer and let it cook down until thick and reduced for 10-15 minutes. Stir in the shredded beef cheeks and simmer until warmed through for 4-5 minutes. Season to taste.
3. For the guacamole, coarsely mash the avocado in a medium bowl. Add the garlic, chilli, the juice of 2 limes and 1 teaspoon of sea salt, then mash together. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes to allow the flavours to develop, then taste again and adjust the seasoning with lime juice and chilli if required.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line two baking trays with baking paper.
5. Place six of the tortillas on a work surface and scatter with half the cheese. Spread the beef cheek mixture evenly on top, then scatter with the remaining cheese. Sandwich with the remaining tortillas.
6. Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, add a tortilla stack to the pan and cook until golden brown, then turn and cook the other side. Transfer to one of the prepared trays, then transfer to the oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining quesadillas.
7. Serve the quesadillas with guacamole, pickled onion, shaved cabbage, sour cream, lime wedges, coriander and hot sauce.

Serves 4