Guinness Beef Stew Slow Cooker (Printer-Friendly Layout)

Beef, bacon, and vegetables bubble with Guinness, turning into a deep-flavored, super cozy Irish comfort for frosty days.

# Ingredients You'll Need:

→ Main Ingredients

01 - 227 g bacon, about 8 slices, cooked then crumbled up
02 - 907 g boneless beef chuck, sliced into 4 cm chunks and sprinkled with salt and pepper

→ Vegetables

03 - 355 g Yukon gold potatoes, diced into 2.5 cm cubes
04 - 2 big carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
05 - 3 onions, diced
06 - 2 large celery ribs, chopped
07 - 3 garlic cloves, chopped up

→ Liquids & Flavorings

08 - 66 g tomato paste
09 - 510 ml dark beer (something like Guinness works)
10 - 355 ml beef stock
11 - 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

→ Seasonings and Garnishes

12 - 0.5 teaspoon dried thyme
13 - 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
14 - 1 bay leaf
15 - 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
16 - 42 g plain flour
17 - 28 g bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

# Step-by-Step Instructions:

01 - Sprinkle salt and pepper onto the beef pieces you cut into 4 cm cubes, then keep them close by.
02 - Toss bacon slices in a Dutch oven on medium. Fry till they're crispy then lift out, crumble, and save for later. Keep the fat in the pot.
03 - Add the seasoned beef batches into the bacon fat and give them all a golden sear. As each batch gets brown, shift it over to your slow cooker insert.
04 - Whisk together the beef stock and tomato paste so they're smooth, then dump that into your slow cooker.
05 - Pile in onions, garlic, carrots, celery, spuds, Worcestershire, sugar, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf into the slow cooker. Pop back in the crumbled bacon too.
06 - Tip in the dark beer and scatter in the chopped chocolate. Give everything a gentle stir so it's mixed up.
07 - Put the lid on and let everything bubble on low for 8 hours. Meat will turn really tender, flavors come together nicely.
08 - Once time's up, take off the lid and spoon about 240 ml of hot liquid into a bowl. Add the flour, whisk until it’s smooth, then pour it back and mix in. Let it cook another 5 minutes so it gets thicker.
09 - Fish out the bay leaf and toss it. Taste and tweak salt or pepper if you want, then hand out big bowls while it’s hot.

# Extra Tips and Tricks:

01 - Chop your veggies the night before and leave them in cold water so they stay fresh, especially those potatoes—they won’t go brown.
02 - Dial back the thyme a bit for a softer herby taste.

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