SLOW COOKER GUINNESS BEEF STEW

This slow cooker guinness beef stew is SO GOOD! Is the perfect comfort food, with fall-apart tender meat, big chunks of potatoes and carrots that have soaked up all the incredibly rich flavour, and a thick gravy... I promise you will absolutely love it!
This recipe contains gluten - it was published before I completely swap to GF!

Smelling a stew takes me back to childhood instantly. Is that kind of mummy homemade meal that is incredibly rich in flavour and gosh, it tastes so good you can never get enough! Probably part of the intense flavour comes from the love that goes into it...

THIS SLOW COOKER GUINNESS BEEF STEW IS EASY TO PREPARE

This stew is a traditional Irish meal, but myself (Spaniard) learnt it at my house thanks to the amazing cook my dad is (gracias papi). You might already know my recipe of the best chicken coconut curry, which is another super-yummy recipe from my dad.

At first glance it might look like this kind of hearty meal is hard to prepare, but the truth is amigos, it actually isn't! It might take a while to cook, yes, but it's not hard, AT ALL! All you need is to put together a bunch of ingredients, and spend 30 minutes preparing with some love and following these simple steps:

PREPARE THE INGREDIENTS

1) Finely dice the onions & garlic.

2) Cut the leek lengthwise and thinly slice through the curly part.

3) Peel the potatoes and cut in 4 pieces if they are medium size, and in 6 pieces if they are big. You want to end with big potato chunks.

4) Peel the carrots and cut in 1 cm pieces. If the carrots are too thick in diameter, cut the chunks in two semi-circles.

5) Prepare the beef. You can buy diced beef or a big chunk of meat and cut it yourself into approx. 4cm pieces. This recipe calls for a cheaper cut of beef (like chuck). Since it's going to cook for hours, the meat will become very tender. Put the meat pieces in a large mixing bowl, add salt & pepper to taste, a tablespoon of flour (I use buckwheat but you can use regular flour), and combine with the hands until each piece of meat is covered in the mix.

6) Mix 250ml of hot water with 1 beef stock cube, stir well until the cube is dissolved.

COOK THE INGREDIENTS (See video at bottom of the post)

1) Start by searing the meat in batches in a large pan in high heat with olive oil. Ensure each meat piece is seared all over. Approx. 1 minute per side.

2) In the same pan add more olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Stir for approx. 7 minutes until the onion starts to become soft and transparent. Add the leeks and stir for another 10 minutes until all the veggies are soft and the onion is browned.

3) Add the potatoes & carrots to the slow cooker, add the meat pieces, the leeks & onions. Pour the beef stock, guinness and add thyme leaves on top. Cook on low heat for 7 hours.

4) Mix 2 tbsp of tapioca flour or cornstarch with a bit of the liquid from the stew. Stir well until the flour is dissolved and pour back into the slow cooker. Cook on high heat for one hour.

ENJOY THIS INCREDIBLY TASTY, FALL-APART MEAT STEW!

TIPS & STORAGE FOR THIS RECIPE

Don't skip searing the meat! This is my biggest tip! While it might be tempting to throw all the ingredients raw in the slow cooker to save time, searing the meat is an essential step. It is where the deep & rich flavours start to build up.

No slow cooker? No problem! You can cook this stew with a regular pot. Follow the same steps but cook in low heat in a regular pot with lid for 2 hours. Add the tapioca or cornstarch slurry and cook for another 30 minutes.

The flavours deepen as this stew rests, which means it will be even tastier a day or few days after you finished cooking!

Store in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to 5 days.

It is suitable for freezing, but without the potatoes! So if you're planning on freezing, I recommend thinking ahead how many potatoes you will eat, and adjust the quantity to suit.

LOVE THIS RECIPE? LET’S STAY CONNECTED!

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