Best Beef And Beer Stew

Beef carbonnade as it is sometimes called, is a delicious dish of beef steak cooked in beer which gives it a very tasty sauce or gravy.

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Carbonnade Flamande or Beef Carbonnade

This Beef Stew recipe is a delicious dish of beef steak cooked in dark beer which gives it a very tasty sauce or gravy. Another beautiful thing about this beef dish is that you can use your slow cooker for the stewing while you are at work and a Dutch oven works perfectly as a cooking vessel too.

❤️About This Recipe

A beautiful traditional beef stew recipe found in northern France although originally from Belgium, and is one of the most appetizing dishes you can make.

In France, it is called Carbonnade Flamande or Beef Carbonnade.

Often cheaper cuts of beef are used but it is much better made with skirt and cut into good-size pieces. Skirt steak is a long flat piece of meat from a cow that has very good flavor but tends to be tough. This makes it a perfect cut for a dish like this stew or for Crockpot Beef Stew With Gravy because the meat is marinated overnight and cooked long and slow before serving.

The traditional French dish Beef Bourguignon or Beef Burgandy are also a beef stew favorite that you will enjoy made with wine rather than beer.

It is a warming and satisfying meal and of course lovely with a glass of cold beer to wash it down for me, but if warm is your preference then go for it, as it should be consumed with great enjoyment and gusto the way you like best!

📸Ingredient Shot

📋Ingredient List

• beef skirt steak, flank steak, or a cheap cut
• olive oil
• onions
• garlic
• dark beer, an ale, is good, I ran out so in the ingredient photo I show a light beer
• bouquet garni, traditionally made of parsley, bay leaf, thyme, but we are adding celery to this one, then tied or as I always do placed in a nylon net bag (I save my onion or garlic bags from the grocery store) to keep the contents contained and easier to remove.)
• salt and pepper

For The Sauce

• white sugar
• red wine vinegar
• white all-purpose flour
• butter

See recipe card below for quantities.

🔢Instructions

1. Cut the beef into thick strips about 1½ to 2 inches long. You can easily skip this step by purchasing pre-cut meat.
2. Heat the oil or fat in a heavy-bottomed pan and seal the beef strips by searing for a few minutes on each side.
3. When all are sealed, place on a warm plate.

4. Soften the chopped onions in the pan for a few minutes without browning them and add the garlic 1 minute before the onions are done.
5. At this point, you can switch to a Dutch oven, or a slow cooker/crock pot, by moving the onions and fat over.

6. I like to use a synthetic bag for the bouquet garni (above on left) that grocers use to sell onions, garlic bulbs, and various other vegetables. Traditionally they are tied together before simmering in the stew, but I found they often broke apart and then I was left searching for the bay leaf and thyme sprig to fish them out before serving. But this way they are kept neatly together, with no fear of losing them in the pot, and it is much easier to stir when not afraid of disturbing the bouquet.
7. Put the seared meat back in the pot.
8. Add the beer and, if needed, add some water to cover the meat.
9. Season with salt and black pepper and add the bouquet garni. (See notes.)
10. Cover with a lid and bring to boiling point. At this stage, you can either reduce the heat and simmer for an hour on top of the stove (cooker) or place in a moderate oven for an hour until cooked.

How To Make The Sauce

1. Ten minutes before serving time, heat the vinegar with the sugar in a small saucepan until it bubbles and forms a dark caramel.
2. Stir in two tablespoons of boiling water.
3. Remove bouquet garni from stew.
4. Then add sauce to the pan, this gives it a good color and taste.
5. Add the butter to the stew and stir well.
6. If you want the stew thicker, massage the flour and butter together to make a roux then stir into the stew, and continue stirring 15-20 minutes. The roux will make it smoother and prevent lumps.

🍴Equipment

• heavy-bottomed pot
• slow-cooker
• sharp knife
• chopping block

❄️Storage?

The stew will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and 3 months in the freezer when tightly wrapped as recommended by the USFDA.

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❔FAQ

📖 Recipe

Beef And Beer Stew or Beef Carbonnade

Judith Coates

Beef carbonnade as it is sometimes called, is a delicious dish of beef steak cooked in beer which gives it a very tasty sauce or gravy.

Print Recipe Pin

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Course dinner

Cuisine French

Servings 6

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2½ lb 1.3kg beef skirt steak, flank steak, stewing meat (which is often already cut up into pieces, or any cheap cut
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 8 oz onions roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 clove of garlic
• ▢ half a pint dark beer a Guinness is good, I ran out so in the ingredient photo I show a light beer 🤭
• ▢ bouquet garni usually of parsley, bay leaf, thyme, but we are adding celery to this one
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt and pepper add more if you like

Sauce

• ▢ 2 tablespoon sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ▢ For Thickening Sauce Optional
• ▢ 1 tablespoon plain flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter

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Instructions

 

• Cut the beef into thick strips about 1½ to 2 inches long.
• Heat the oil or fat in a heavy bottomed pan and seal the beef strips by searing for a few minutes on each side.
• When all are sealed, place on a warm plate.
• Soften the onions in a pan for a few minutes without browning them.
• At this point you can switch to a Dutch oven or a slow cooker or crock pot, by moving the onions and fat over. 
• Put the meat in.
• Add the beer and, if needed, add some water to cover the meat.
• Season with salt and black pepper and add the bouquet garni. (See notes.)
• Cover with a lid and bring to boiling point. At this stage you can either reduce the heat and simmer for an hour on top of the stove (cooker) or place in a moderate oven for an hour until cooked.

How To Make The Sauce

• Ten minutes before serving time, heat the vinegar with the sugar in a small saucepan until it bubbles and forms a dark caramel.
• Stir in two tablespoons of boiling water.
• Remove bouquet garni from stew.
• Then add sauce to the pan, this gives it a good color and taste.
• Add the butter to the stew and stir well.
• If you want the stew thicker, massage the flour and butter together to make a roux by stirring into the stew, which will make it smoother.

Notes

What Is A Bouquet garni?  Traditionally made of parsley, bay leaf, and thyme, but we are adding celery to this one, then tied or as I always do place in a nylon net bag (I save my onion or garlic bags from the grocery store) to keep the contents contained and easier to remove.

What Is A Roux?  It is a combined ball of fat (often butter) and flour that will be added to the liquid of a recipe that is hot. Adding flour to thicken sauce on its own would result in lumpy results which would be difficult to smooth out. But, the fat combined with the flour to form a roux will prevent the starch in the flour from lumping and produce a lovely smooth sauce.

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👩🏻‍🔬 Food Safety

• Keep the meat in the fridge until ready to chop it and sear it right away to prevent the meat from spoiling.
• Cook the stew according to the directions given to ensure it is completely cooked before consuming.
• If you have leftovers, to prevent the stew from spoiling do not leave the stew to sit after cooking for longer than an hour before placing in the fridge.
• It is always safer to store large amounts of cooked food in smaller containers as the food in the center of the pot can begin to spoil before it becomes cold enough to store safely.

Enjoy this dish and please let us know!