I am lucky enough to be the daughter of an incredibly talented hunter. I am even luckier because this year he’s managed to bring home not only an elk, but an enormous buck! Which means so much game to fill my newly acquired chest freezer. Seriously, look how big it is!
Did you look?! That’s a lot of meat. Recently, he’s started using a lot of this game to make sausage. And Husband and I LOVE sausage. I am happy just grilling up that sausage and eating it with plenty of mustard for dinner. However, this stew is a lot more satisfying and warms me to my core during this awful weather.
Side note: if you aren’t in Portland, have you seen the terrible, news-making weather we’ve been having here?! So many landslides. So much rain. It’s really awful. Luckily Husband and I are safe and have largely been unaffected, but I can’t say the same for a lot of others here.
For those of you that aren’t lucky enough to have a dad like mine, beer sausages work best for this stew, but feel free to get creative! Throw in a mix of sausages, use a chicken sausage, or whatever floats your boat. I think a spicy sausage would be great, too.
This is a relatively easy dinner, which is great for this busy time of year. I highly recommend a garlicky baguette to go along with this, but it’s great on it’s own. Like most stews, a couple of days in the fridge only seem to make it better!
You can also view this recipe as a step-by-step web story here.
Get the Recipe:
Beer and Sausage Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 14 ounce package sausage of choice (beer brat recommended), cut into bite-size slices
- 1 onion, sliced into thin semi-circles
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground caraway seeds
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup lager, pale ale, or other relatively light beer
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed to bite-size pieces
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sliced sausage and allow the slices to caramelize and brown in the oil for about 4-5 minutes.
- Once the sausage is browned, add the sliced onions and stir. Allow the onions to caramelize with the sausage for another 5-10 minutes, until golden-brown and softened.
- When onions are caramelized, add the sliced cabbage, stir to combine, and allow the cabbage to soften for about 3-5 minutes.
- Once the cabbage is softened and golden, add in the black pepper, ground caraway seeds and salt.
- Add the garlic and once it becomes aromatic, add in the cup of lager, and stir the mixture to combine. Allow the beer to reduce for about 3 minutes.
- Add the cubed potatoes and the chicken stock. Allow the mixture to come to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low to simmer for about 40 minutes. Cover leaving a crack for steam with a lid.
- Finish the stew by stirring in the apple cider vinegar and parsley.
- Serve in large bowls with hearty bread and additional parsley to garnish.
Recipe adapted from The Cozy Apron.
