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Quick and Easy Beer-Broth Hamburger Stew

This is very (VERY) similar to the Hamburger Soup recipe on Beer and Iron. And, if you’re askin’ me...which you haven’t yet but I am sure you will...the “stew” version is my favorite between the two. I like a spoon full of “stuff” rather than a spoon full of broth. But, now that you mentioned it (and I know you will), there’s beer in that broth. Hummm...decisions! Decisions! Decisions! The one decision you ain’t gotta make is whether or not you are going to make this stew.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings: 6 People
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Calories: 342
Ingredients Equipment Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Bacon Strips about 3-4 inches long
  • 1 Onion Finely chopped medium onion
  • 12 Ounces Beer A non-sweet porter will do the trick
  • 1 Cup Beef Broth We may not need that much; just to top it all off with
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt To taste
  • 1 Teaspoon Pepper To taste
  • 1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning To taste
  • 8 Ounces Mushrooms Container of pre-cut mushrooms
  • 2 Carrots 2-4 Carrots peeled, quartered, and sliced (not all carrots are created equally in size)
  • 2 Stalks of Celery 2-4 Stalks of celery again, not all stalks of celery created equally in size
  • 1 Pound Ground beef Lean ground beef; we’re not going to drain this and your bacon will add the fat (see notes)
  • 2 Garlic 2-4 Cloves minced
  • 2 Tomatoes Cans of Fire Roasted Tomatoes or 2-3 Large Garden Tomatoes
  • 2 Cups Red Potatoes 6-10 Small Red Potatoes Halved or Quartered or cut up a large russet potato into ½ inch cubes
  • ½ Cup Corn Frozen Corn or Cut from the cob of one or two garden-grown corn
  • ½ Cup Green Beans ½ - 1 Cup of Frozen Cut Green Beans or Garden Green Beans
  • 1 Cup Bell Pepper Any color (the red ones really "bring it home")
  • ½ Cup Parsley A small batch of chopped fresh parsley to “bring it home" too.

Equipment

  • 5 quart cast iron Dutch oven (Inside Cooking)
  • 10 inch cast iron camp Dutch oven (Outside Cooking)
  • Spatula (Metal or Wooden)
  • Serving Spoon
  • Knife and Cutting Board

Method
 

  1. Place your bacon in the bottom of the cast iron pot and cook until the bacon has rendered its fat
  2. Add the onions and the garlic into the pot and sauté in the bacon grease
  3. Add the ground beef and start cooking
  4. Add the Italian seasoning, the pepper and all or just a bit of the salt once the ground beef has started cooking and you have everything spread about in the pot
  5. Cook until the ground beef is mostly cooked through
  6. Add the Bell Pepper, Carrots, Celery, Tomatoes, Potatoes
  7. Mix everything all about and smooth the top of the mixture down
  8. Pour in FIRST the room-temperature beer
  9. Second, pour in the beef broth just to the level of the smoothed mixture. The vegetables will “render” juices to the soup and we don’t want it getting too “soupy.”
  10. Cover and let this cook for about 5 minutes.
  11. After 5 minutes, lift the lid at an angle over the pot to let the condensation on the underside of the lid fall into the pot. Check the broth for saltiness.
  12. If it needs more salt, now is the time to add some salt. You can check again in another 5 minutes until you get it just right. This is that “per taste” part.
  13. Watch for the potatoes “doneness.” Once they start to soften up, add the Corn, Green Beans, and mushrooms. NOTE: Vegetables from the garden that have not been previously frozen may take longer to cook. If using garden-fresh vegetables, add them in step 6 with the other vegetables. Either way, add the mushrooms here.
  14. It’s done when the green beans AND carrots AND the potatoes are cooked. The cook-time will depend on how thick you cut these vegetables. TIP: Check the corn too and make sure it’s done. Don’t worry about the beef; it’s long-since been done.

Video

Notes

Note: If your ground beef is 85/15 (15% fat), my suggestion is to cook the beef first and let it drain a bit. We drain the beef and catch the drippings. Add those drippings to a Mason / Kerr jar (or other container) and refrigerate. The fat will rise to the top and solidify. You can use that fat to cook with later and the broth to add to a future stew or soup.
If you are using lean ground beef, just rock on! That little bit of fat will add to the flavor of the stew.
Serves 3-6 Folks depending on the appetites those folks bring to the table