Chicken and Guinness Stout Stew
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Beer makes everything better. Including soup. And with all the cold we’ve been having I’ve been eating soup non-stop. I usually crack a can of some edible and “pretty well passes for soup” Healthy Choice soup for lunch (don’t judge me, Weight Watchers here!), but as of late – I’ve needed more. More chunks of meat and vegg, thicker gravy-like stew, and that warm sensation as it heats you from the inside out.
Me and soup have a thing going on. And I don’t care who knows it. And if it is served with a slice of baguette to wipe up all the left-behind, you’ve got my heart.
As a Christmas present from the future in laws, I received a subscription to Eating Well magazine. And I love it. No, really. It’s amazing. This isn’t a “yeah, my in-laws gave it to me and it’s nice” – it’s fantastic! It’s not a magazine over brimming on a tangent of organic-everything, overtly-in-you-face hippie magazine, but one that highlights healthy living in a realistic and everyday way.
My absolute favorite part of the magazines is that it easily decodes the recipes into categories including, high fiber, low weight, healthy heart, gluten free, budget entree and “ready in 45 or less”. The six icons are included at the beginning of each recipe and in the front of each edition in the recipe index. It’s laid out so plainly and simply you can’t help but follow it.
So, go make this immediately and revel in the healthy, high-fiber, healthy-weight glory.


Chicken and Guinness Stout Stew
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 7 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is a healthy, hearty, high-fiber stew filled with chicken and vegetables and flavored with dark Stout beer. A perfect choice for a chilly winter night!
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
- 6 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 3 pieces bacon, chopped
- 1 2/3 cups Guinness beer or other stout (14-ounce can)
- 1 pound whole baby carrots or large carrots cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 8-ounce package cremini or button mushrooms, halved if large
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 4 Red Potatoes, skin on, cut into 1/8ths
- 1 (14oz) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together 6 Tbsp flour with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Dredge chicken thighs into the flour and set aside.
- Heat 4 Tbsp oil into a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Add half of the dredged chicken thighs, cooking until browned, 2-4 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and put into slow cooker.
- Add in remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil and cook the remaining half of the chicken thighs. Place remaining into slow cooker.
- Add chopped bacon to skillet and allow to brown until cooked.
- With bacon still in the pan, cover with 1/2 cup of flour and stir frequently until all the oil is absorbed. Pour can of Stout beer over the flour/bacon mixture and stir any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Allow to reach a slight boil.
- Pour beer/bacon mixture over the chicken thighs in the slow cooker.
- Add diced carrots, halved mushrooms, onion, garlic and thyme, distributing evenly over the chicken. Pour broth over the top.
- Cover and cook until the chicken falls apart, 4 hours on High or 7 to 8 hours on Low. Season with the remaining salt and pepper.
Beer DOES make everything better! Including my dance-moves! I like the sound of this!
I can’t say I am much of a beer person (I don’t know what’s wrong with me!) but your chicken recipe looks great! Happy February!
They look delicious..Bookmarked
Aarthi
http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/
I’m SO with you–I could eat soup every day of my life…even though I live where it is usually warm. I just love soup. And I’m not at all ashamed to say it. 🙂
Due to our insanely on-the-go lifestyle, I also LOVE to use my crockpot, and I struggle to find good recipes with chicken for it. Can’t wait to try this one!
Thanks!
I’m a huge fan of those hippie magazines, but Eating Well sounds like a pretty good read now, too. I do love the website. Oh, and I love beer and soup. I can only imagine that they’re perfect together!
yum. i’ll take a bowl
I’ve cruised the Eating Well website before but haven’t heard of anyone road testing their dishes. I’m so glad to hear this one turned out well. Especially since we definitely have an ancient can of Guinness that needs to find new life in a stew. Coincidence? I think not.
Megan, I’m with you; place in front of me a hearty, rustic soup or stew with a chunk of good bread, and I’m in heaven- a full, happy girl! Love the idea of using stout in a substantial stew like this- perfect for us gals AND our meat n’ potato loving husbands! Sounds delish…
Soup and booze….hell-to-the-yes! I am HUGE fan of Guinness and never, ever thought of putting it into a soup! Can’t wait to try the recipe.
I am considering making this recipe this week and wondered about the potatoes in the picture of the soup, they are not in the ingredients. Can I just add them?
Hi Melisa! I’m so sorry I didn’t realize I missed the potatoes in the recipe!! I added in 4 red potatoes that were in thick chunks. I’ll add that into the recipe so you can print it and have it at the ready for your week. Thanks for catching that!! Happy eating. 🙂 ~Megan
It seems strange to not mix the ingredients in the crock pot. Confirming everything should be layered, and not mixed?
Thanks, Scott. You can layer them in, and as it cooks things will reduce down and start to meld together. You can also mix it as well. Take your pick.