This Piri Piri Beef Salad is the ultimate way to use up leftovers from your Sunday lunch that packs a punch of flavour.
I love beef. In fact I think it is my favourite meat, but sadly it’s the one animal that we don’t rear, or know any local farmer that rear that we can swap with. So whenever I buy a joint of beef it becomes an adventure, to make the most of every single morsel and not waste an iota of it. That said I am equally happy stood at the fridge door picking those crusty little bits off the edges and stuffing them in my mouth day or night. So just to rewind a little… I love roast beef, but for it to be utterly perfect it has to be fall apart tender. You know, where it just shreds as soon as you get a fork within a metre of it. And whilst it’s pretty easy to slow roast in the oven, this time I popped the joint into the slow cooker, naked, just to see what would happen. Well, I’m sold!
Obviously, the meat was beyond tender and even though I didn’t put any red wine or port in with it (Jonny wouldn’t share) there was a good inch or two of juices in the bottom of the dish by the time it had finished cooking. These I simply poured into a milk pan and added a little corn flour for instant, perfect gravy. Surprisingly you do still get a small amount of crusty bits on the meat above the tide line, not as much as if it had been oven roasted, but still enough to make my fridge picking worthwhile.
And now onto this salad. I was down to the dregs of the beefy leftovers so wanted to mark the occasion with something a little bit special so I whipped up a piri piri sauce. The base of the sauce is olive oil, but to add extra flavour I used the oil from a jar of sundried tomatoes which I love and always seem to have lots of!
Add in some garlic, chilli, lemon zest and a little white wine or apple cider vinegar and you’re good to go with one the simplest yet tastiest salad dressings around.
Do let me know what you think if you give the slow cooker beef or the piri piri beef salad a go, I’m pretty sure you’re going to like it :)
Janie x

- 4 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1-3 small red dried chilli's finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- Zest of half a lemon
- A pile of salad veggies
- A handful of shredded beef or more traditionally with this dressing, chicken
- Mix the dressing ingredients together in a glass or small bottle.
- Load of the salad & meat into bowls and top with a little dressing, Go steady at first if you're not keen on too much heat until you've worked out how hot your chilli's are.
Tracy Wood says
Sounds perfect Janie and an easy and delicious way to use leftovers. Great for the weather we’re having at the moment! xxT
Jane Sarchet says
Thanks Tracy, and yes I agree! Roll on summer :D
Janie x
Cherished By Me says
Mmmm my mouth is watering at the thought of this! Now to find some leftover beef!
Jane Sarchet says
Ha, hope you score some ;)
Janie x
Glamorous Glutton says
Sounds delicious. I seem to be doing quite well from my neighbours with lamb from the fields around us and beef from my sons Dexters, eggs from round the corner and honey from up the lane. I just need to persuade the Glam 20 Something to keep pigs! GG
Jane Sarchet says
Oh wow, you’ve almost got the whole farmyard covered GG! Aren’t Dexters the cutest?
Janie x
karen278 says
A BIG yes please from this greedy little piglet for a bowl of this Janie! LOVE piri-piri and also love salads, so it’s a match made in heaven!
recipesfromapantry says
I would sell all my shoes to get a bowl of this beef salad. :D