The Food Gene

Beef & Ale Stew with Herb Dumplings

A deep, rich British stew with soft, fluffy dumplings on top.

By The Food Gene · https://thefoodgene.com/recipe/beef-ale-stew/

Prep
25 mins
Cook
3 hrs
Serves
6
Level
Confident

Stew

  • 1 kg braising beef, cut into large chunks
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 3 carrots, in chunks
  • 500 ml dark ale
  • 400 ml beef stock
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 bay leaves

Dumplings

  • 150 g self-raising flour
  • 75 g suet (or grated cold butter)
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • A pinch of salt
  • 7 tbsp cold water
  1. Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan).
  2. Brown the beef. Toss the beef in the flour with salt and pepper. Brown in batches in the oil in a large ovenproof casserole for about 10 minutes. Set aside. (10:00)
  3. Soften the vegetables. Cook the onions and carrots for 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée. (8:00)
  4. Braise. Return the beef, add the ale, stock and bay. Cover and cook in the oven for 2½ hours. (2:30:00)
  5. Make the dumplings. Mix the flour, suet, parsley and salt. Add the water to make a soft dough and shape into 12 balls.
  6. Add the dumplings. Remove the bay leaves. If the stew looks dry, add a splash of water. Sit the dumplings on top, cover, and return to the oven for 25 minutes until risen and fluffy. (25:00)
  7. Serve. Taste the gravy and add salt and pepper if needed.

Chef’s tip

Brown the beef in small batches. A crowded pan steams the meat instead of browning it.

Storage

The stew (without dumplings) keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen.

Swap it

Use red wine instead of ale, or add mushrooms with the onions. For no alcohol, use alcohol-free ale.

Nutrition

Approximate values per serving
Energy 554 kcal 2,318 kJ
Fat 30 g
of which saturates 12.2 g
Carbohydrate 31.1 g
of which sugars 6.4 g
Fibre 2.6 g
Protein 38.6 g
Salt 1.45 g