Beef Carbonnade is a tender, melt-in-your-mouth dish with beef, mustard, and onions slow cooked in beer. This is my kind of comfort food!
Mmmmmm.....beef ribs.....mustard.....beer.....all ingredients in my recipe for Beef Carbonnade. For those of you that are wondering "what is beef carbonnade?", it's a slow braised beef stew with beer and onions that is popular in Belgium. All the yummy stuff in one big pot, just add a side of potatoes and you're good to go. Dinner is done.
We are BIG fans of slow cooked dishes in this house - even in summer! I just love the extra flavour you get from long slow cooking.
Ingredients you will need for this recipe
- beef short ribs
- olive oil
- plain/all purpose flour
- carrot
- mushrooms
- speck (can substitute bacon)
- wholegrain mustard
- fresh garlic
- tomato paste
- fresh thyme
- fresh rosemary
- beer (I used lager)
- beef stock
- salt and pepper
*Please see the recipe card below for exact quantities and detailed instructions
How to make beef carbonnade
- Dust ribs in plain and fry until brown and then set aside.
- Add carrot, onions, mushrooms and speck and cook until starting to soften.
- Add in garlic and tomato paste.
- Then add beer and allow to reduce.
- Add in wholegrain mustard, rosemary and thyme.
- Add back beef, top with beef stock and bake.
My top tips for making this recipe
- When you are browning the ribs at the start of this recipe, colour means flavour! You want to brown the ribs really well, plus the yummy bits of colour that build up on the base of the pot are flavour too so don't waste them!
- The weight of the ribs may seem a lot, but this weight includes the bones.
- You could substitute bacon for the speck.
- I used lager, but you could use any kind of beer you enjoy.
- If the beef isn't tender after the 2 hours cooking time, place it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- If you would like a thicker consistency to the sauce once the dish is cooked, just remove the ribs from the sauce and simmer the sauce on the stove for a few minutes to thicken slightly.
What to serve with beef carbonnade
- potatoes - mashed, baked, fried - just name a potato dish!
Mashed potato suggestions:
Mustard Butter Mashed Potatoes - rich, fluffy, creamy mashed potatoes swirled with a decadent ribbon of garlic & mustard butter.
Spinach Mashed Potato - creamy mashed potatoes loaded with baby spinach, herbs and feta - the complete side dish.
Baked potato suggestions:
Best Ever Crispy Roast Potatoes - crispy and crunchy baked potatoes, glass-like on the outside and fluffy in the middle.
Parmentier Potatoes - little golden nuggets of cubed potato, oven baked until they are crispy then sprinkled with a rosemary and lemon salt.
Other recipes you may enjoy
Osso Buco - melt in the mouth, slow-cooked veal osso buco with an rich mushroom sauce.
Lamb Stifado - a meltingly tender, slow-cooked stew of lamb shoulder with onions in a sauce spiced with cinnamon and cloves.
Beef Carbonnade
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg beef short ribs - trimmed 3.3lbs (see notes)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup plain/all purpose flour
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 brown onions sliced
- 300 g button mushrooms if small leave whole, or thickly sliced
- 150 g speck diced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 fresh garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 350 ml beer (see my notes)
- 500 ml beef stock
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160c / 320f.
- Cut beef into individual ribs, then dust ribs in plain/all purpose (¼ cup) flour.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large flameproof casserole dish/dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Fry ribs in batches until well browned all over (adding extra oil if needed) and then remove to a plate.
- Add carrot (1 - diced), brown onion (2 - sliced,) mushrooms (300g - whole or thickly sliced) and speck (150g - diced) to pot and fry until the vegetables start to soften.
- Add tomato paste (2 tbsp) and garlic cloves (2 - crushed) to vegetable mixture and continue to cook for 30 seconds.
- Add beer and bring to a simmer.
- Add wholegrain mustard (2 tbsp), fresh thyme leaves (1 tbsp) and fresh rosemary (1 tbsp - finely chopped) and stir to combine & scrape any flavour spots from the base of the pot.
- Add beef stock (500ml) and return beef ribs (along with any resting juices) to the pot then bring to a simmer.
- Cover & bake for 2 hours or until beef is tender (see my notes), add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
- When you are browning the ribs at the start of this recipe, colour means flavour! You want to brown the ribs really well, plus the yummy bits of colour that build up on the base of the pot are flavour too so don't waste them!
- The weight of the ribs may seem a lot, but this weight includes the bones.
- You could substitute bacon for the speck.
- I used lager, but you could use any kind of beer you enjoy.
- If the beef isn't tender after the 2 hours cooking time, place it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- If you would like a thicker consistency to the sauce once the dish is cooked, just remove the ribs from the sauce and simmer the sauce on the stove for a few minutes to thicken slightly.
