Perfect for chilly nights, this easy peasy Beef and Ale Stew with Dumplings is a total comfort food classic – the edible equivalent of a great big hug!
What is your number one comfort food? For me there are few dishes that are as comforting and warming as a Beef and Ale Stew with Dumplings.
The weather outside might be frightful, you might have had just the worst day, but get a bowlful of this inside you and the world suddenly feels alright!
This is a meal I have been having, off and on and in various forms since I was a child, and it is one I always come back to every winter for its sheer comfort value.
Despite beef and ale stew being a total British classic, there are quite a few times when I have had a bad beef stew. It makes me so sad, as it is such a simple thing to make good and so worth it when you get it right. So here are a few simple tips to make sure yours is the best it can be…
Top Tips for Beef Stew
- First the beef – make sure you choose something in the shops that is described as stewing steak or stewing beef, or ask the butcher what he recommends. Stewing beef is generally much cheaper than regular steak cuts such as rump, fillet or sirloin, and will give you a much better melt in the mouth texture. As a bonus, you can often find it pre-chopped into bite-sized pieces, so one less job to do!
- Second, ensure you give the beef a good long cook – I find a good beef stew takes about 3 hours in the oven at about 160C. This way you will get the most amazing, melt in the mouth texture. If you cook the beef for anything less than 3 hours you are likely to get tough and chewy beef.
- Third, Don’t add the veggies at the start. Whilst beef likes a long slow cook, most veggies do not – veggies like carrots, swede, or turnips will be like mush if you cook them for anything more than an hour, so throw them in a little later. I like to add mine in about 40 minutes before the end of cooking to ensure they are the right texture.
- Fourth, if you are going to add mushrooms to the stew, make sure you fry them first. In my opinion sloppy, slimy boiled mushrooms are just bleaurch! A quick fry up in a hot pan and a little olive oil before popping them in the stew will ensure they have a much better flavour and texture. In fact almost all veggies will benefit from a quick fry before popping them in – veggies like parsnips, swede and carrot especially as it gives them an extra caramelised dimension to their flavour – well worth doing.
I realise I might sound like a right fusspot, but the difference between a stew of chewy beef, slimy mushrooms and mushy carrots and one where the beef is meltingly tender and the veggies perfectly cooked is like night and day and the extra effort is minimal!
If you are veggie, I have made this stew on numerous occasions without meat – simply add in a few extra veggies (e.g. leeks, parsnips, turnips), use vegetable stock rather than beef and make sure you use veggie suet in your dumplings.
If you don’t want to use alcohol, then simply use extra beef stock instead of ale and if you don’t fancy dumplings, then serve this stew with mashed or baked potato or brown rice. Alternatively, if you are looking to reduce your carbs, just serve this stew with a big portion of green veg instead.
The most obvious match for this stew is a good British ale – preferably the same one as you put in the stew (I went for Arundel Sussex Gold, which is local to me and just lovely – both in and with this stew), but if you don’t like drinking ale, a hearty red wine such as Cotes du Rhone, Rioja or Argentinian Malbec would be just perfect.
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Beef and Ale Stew with Dumplings
Ingredients
Beef and Ale Stew
- 2 medium onions sliced
- 600 g stewing beef cubed
- 250 ml ale (I used Sussex Gold)
- 250 ml beef stock (I used a Kallo Organic cube and boiling water)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 100 g mushrooms chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 medium carrots peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- ½ a small swede (rutabaga) peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Dumplings
- 150 g Self-raising Flour
- 75 g Suet (I use Atora)
- Small pinch of salt
- Cold water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160C / 140C fan / gas mark 3 / 325F.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large ovenproof saucepan or cast iron casserole dish. Add the onions and cook on a gentle heat, with the lid on, for about 3 minutes, until the onions are softened but not brown.
- Turn up the heat, add the beef and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the beef is lightly browned.
- Next add the ale and beef stock, thyme and bay leaves, plus salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, then put the stew into your preheated oven for 2 hours 20 minutes.
- After the stew has been in the oven for just over 2 hours heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan and add the mushrooms, swede and carrots. Fry on a medium-high heat until lightly browned then add to the stew. Put the stew back in the oven for a further 20 minutes.
- Next make the dumplings: place the flour, suet and salt in a bowl and mix together. Add cold water a drop at a time until the mixture comes together into a dough. Divide the dough into 12 and roll each piece into a ball.
- After the stew has been in the oven for a total of 2 hours 40 minutes, remove the stew from the oven and place the dumplings on top of the stew – try to spread them out evenly. Replace the lid and then cook the stew for a final 20 minutes (3 hours in total).
- Serve just as it is or with green veg and either ale or red wine. Enjoy!
Notes
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Monika Dabrowski says
There is no better time to enjoy a hearty comforting stew than now! I love great comfort food that is also nutritious, such as this lovely dish! And I love the dumplings in it!
Eb Gargano says
I definitely agree with you there! Its fffffreezing out there at the moment (literally!). Thanks for your kind comments 🙂 Eb x
Cliona Keane says
Oh YUM! I haven’t had dumplings in forever and this looks beautiful. It’s exactly the kind of dish that my grandma used to serve up on cold days in Ireland when we’d all huddle around the stove after a (freezing) swim in the sea! Great for warming up, full of nutrients and going to fill you up for hours and hours…perfect! I’ve not made a stew in forever so I think it’s about time I did it again! Cliona x
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Cliona – so pleased my stew has brought back such happy memories – stew is one of those kind of dishes really, isn’t it? It instantly takes you back to childhood. We ate stew a lot when I was young…usually on a Tuesday, for some reason (last of the roast dinner leftovers maybe?) and I remember coming home from school, looking forward to dinner a lot on Tuesdays!! Eb x
Jenny Paulin says
I love beef and ale stew – so tasty and full of flavour. I always do mine in my slow cooker because it does all the hard work for me! I would love to add mushrooms to mine, but sadly no none but me likes them in my house 🙁
I have not made dumplings for a long time – yours looks so comforting and good!
Eb Gargano says
Isn’t it just? Yes I can imagine doing this in the slow cooker would work well too. Must get myself a slow cooker one of these days!! Eb x
Mandy says
What a perfect winter meal! I sometimes make a veggie dish a bit like this with red wine instead of ale but I’ve stopped making it recently as I find the ingredients in veggie suet a little dubious. Need to work on an alternative way to make dumplings! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Mandy 🙂 You can make dumplings with butter – though I know you are reducing your dairy, so maybe that’s not the way you’d like to go. I wonder if coconut oil would work? Or even olive oil? Worth experimenting – as a life without dumplings would be a sad one IMHO!! 😀 Eb x
Corina @ Searching for Spice says
This definitely sounds like a meal from my childhood too! My mum used to make homemade dumplings and although I make stews a lot in winter, I normally serve them with potatoes instead! I do like the idea of this, especially as it’s all in one pot and so saves on washing up too! Thank you so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Corina 🙂 You know how much I like one pot dishes!! I do also serve stew with potatoes sometimes – either mashed or baked potatoes (which means less washing up) Eb x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oh my Eb! We love a good hearty stew here and have got in on my meal plan for Sunday! This looks and sounds so good with the added ale x #CookBlogShare
Eb Gargano says
Hearty stews are what is needed at the moment with this weather! Thanks for your kind comments. Hope you guys love it as much as us!! Eb x
Chloe says
Hi,
This is the perfect dish to be enjoying on a cold winters evening. I’m not keen on dumplings so will give it a try with mash instead. Thanks for sharing, Chloe #FreeFromFridays
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Chloe 🙂 This is delicious with mash too – or baked potatoes if you want an easier option! Eb x
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
It has definitely been stew weather! Your dumplings look so fluffy and delicious. I haven’t made dumplings for ages, but have a fab GF recipe that I blogged in my early blog days…… MUST make them before the weather warms! xx
Eb Gargano says
Hasn’t it just? Mind you – I don’t need much of an excuse for stew – I eat it all year round!! Oooh glad to hear you can make GF dumplings – yes you should make them soon – much warmer this week…I would say spring is in the air, but that will probably guarantee it will snow next week!! Thanks for your kind comments 🙂 Eb x
Jan says
Have you ever tried making dumplings with grated butter instead of suet? I live in Helsinki and cannot get suet here. I’ve seen a recipe for using butter instead but want fluffy dumplings not stones!
Eb Gargano says
Hi Jan, I’ve never actually tried using butter in dumplings, I always use suet. However I believe you CAN make good dumplings with butter. I found this recipe from Jamie Oliver: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/uncategorised-recipes/dumplings/ which seems really similar to mine, but with butter. I would be well worth a try. I love Jamie’s recipes and usually find they turn out well. Alternatively, if you find the butter version doesn’t work out well, you should be able to get suet from a butcher, even if it is not normally something they sell! Do let me know how you get on – I’d love to know if your butter dumplings turn out well or if you manage to track down some suet!! Eb 🙂