Meal Prep Beef Cheek and Guinness Stew
Stews are a great hands off way to cook a large amount of food without much hassle! And beef cheeks are a great low-fat alternative to chuck or short rib. I make my stew even more efficient in terms of energy and effort, by taking advantage of a vacuum pot.
Servings: 5
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef cheeks
- 2 medium onions
- Several cloves of garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Better than Bouillon
- 500 ml stout beer
- 3 small potatoes
- 5 medium carrots
- 1 kg frozen peas
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cube, season and sear the beef in batches. Reserve the seared meat in the vacuum cooker’s pot. Prepare onions and garlic while waiting for beef to sear.
- Sauté onions, garlic and tomato paste in the same pan. Once fragrant, add to the vacuum pot. Rinse out the contents of the pan into the pot as well.
- Pour most of a can of stout into the pan, plus enough water to barely cover the beef. Add bay leaves and Better than Bouillon, stir to combine, and bring to a boil.
- Cover the pot and place in vacuum cooker. After 15 minutes, take the pot out and bring it back to a boil again, then place in cooker again.
- Re-boil the vacuum pot every hour or two, for the next 4-5 hours.
- An hour before serving, wash and cut the potatoes and carrots.
- Check to make sure the beef is tender. Add potatoes and carrots, simmering uncovered until vegetables are done.
- Add frozen peas to stew. Simmer and stir until peas are thawed.
- Assemble and serve.
Notes
I have a vacuum pot, but if you want to do this with a normal pot you can simmer on the stove or braise in a low oven for 2-3 hours.