Slow Cooker Beef and Ale Stew – tender beef and vegetables in a rich and flavorful gravy. This easy stew is sure to become your favorite comfort food.
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Beef and ale stew reminds me of pub lunches in front of a roaring fire = pure comfort. Luckily you can recreate the comfort in your slow cooker!
Stews and casseroles are perfectly suited to the slow cooker. They are fuss free and low effort and yield amazing drool-worthy results.
Even better, they use cheaper cuts of meat that require long cooking to transform into melt-in-the-mouth tender morsels. I used braising steak (a.k.a chuck steak) but beef shin or any type of stewing beef can be used.
Serve your beef and ale stew over mashed potatoes or with roast potatoes and a glass of ale of course!
What type of ale to use for Beef and Ale Stew
I usually use Newcastle Brown Ale, Old Speckled Hen or Whitstable Bay which is a pale ale. You can also use an alcohol-free ale although you don’t need to worry about the alcohol content, it burns off during the cooking.
How to thicken your stew
Slow cookers trap the heat and moisture so you need to add less liquid that you would if cooking on the hob or the oven.
Adding a little xanthan gum will thicken your stew nicely and it is also suitable for those following a Keto or low carb diet. You can find it among the baking products in the supermarket.
You can also use cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken your stew. Dilute the cornflour in cold water to make a slurry and stir into the stew at the end of cooking.
How to make Slow Cooker Beef and Ale Stew
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
Season the beef cubes with a few turns of the salt and pepper mill. Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the beef, in batches until nicely colored. Set aside.
Add all the vegetables in your slow cooker and then mix in the crushed beef cubes, garlic granules, salt, pepper, mustard, tomato purée and sugar. Add the xanthan gum or cornflour slurry.
Add the browned beef, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce and ale. Stir to combine, cover and cook 8 hours on LOW or 5-6 hours on HIGH setting.
Discard the bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Serve over mashed potatoes or cauliflower mash and sprinkle with the parsley.
Serving suggestions
- Goose Fat Roast Potatoes
- Lazy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Braised Red Cabbage
- Perfectly Fluffy Dinner Rolls
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Slow Cooker Beef and Ale Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper
- 900 g (2 lbs) stewing or braising beef, cubed
- 6 shallots or 1 large onion , diced
- 2 celery stalks , finely diced
- 3 carrots , sliced
- 1 leek , white parts only, chopped
- 2 beef stock cubes , crumbled
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or Sukrin Gold sweetener
- 1 tsp xanthan gum or 2 tsp cornflour diluted in 1 tbsp cold water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 240 ml (1 cup) ale I used Newcastle Brown Ale
- Chopped parsley , to garnish
Instructions
- Season the beef cubes with a few turns of the salt and pepper mill.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the beef, in batches until nicely coloured. Set aside.
- Add all the vegetables in your slow cooker and then mix in the crushed beef cubes, garlic granules, salt, pepper, mustard, tomato purée and sugar. Add the xanthan gum or cornflour slurry.
- Add the browned beef, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce and ale. Stir to combine, cover and cook 8 hours on LOW or 5-6 hours on HIGH setting.
- Discard the bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Serve over mashed potatoes or cauliflower mash and sprinkle with the parsley.
S says
Trying this recipe now for my first slow cooker meal! Can’t wait to report back.