Two delicious Irish classics together for St. Patrick's Day or a cozy weekend dinner. Guinness Pot Roast is an easy slow cooker meal, and pairs perfectly with mashed potato and cabbage Colcannon.
Have ready a slow cooker. Place 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into the bottom of the slow cooker and spread to coat the bottom. Place the chuck roast in the pan.
Peel the onion, slice it into chunks, and then separate the pieces. Scatter the onion pieces around the chuck roast in the slow cooker pan.
Pour the Guinness beer and the stock over the beef.
Sprinkle in the minced garlic, thyme, brown sugar, the 2 teaspoons of salt and the 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
Cover the slow cooker and set the heat to low. Cook the pot roast for about 8 hours until the beef is very tender. A few times during the cooking, scoop cooking liquid over the top of the roast.
45 minutes before the beef is done, prepare the veggies:
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a large baking sheet with foil or with parchment paper.
Slice the green cabbage into strips and place them on half of the baking sheet.
Pour some of the olive oil over the cabbage; use your fingers to stir and coat the cabbage with oil. (Or you can combine them in a bowl with a spoon, if you'd rather.)
Scrub and peel the potatoes, and cut them into chunks about 1½ inches big.
Place the cut potatoes on the other half of the baking sheet. Pour the rest of the olive oil over the potatoes and use your fingers to stir and coat them in oil. Sprinkle the 1 teaspoon of salt and the ½ teaspoon black pepper over the potatoes and cabbage.
Roast and mash:
Place the baking sheet in the oven to roast the potatoes and cabbage until they're tender: about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the oven when the potatoes are tender and the cabbage is wilted and lightly browned.
Transfer the potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and ½ cup of half and half to the warm potatoes.
Mash the potatoes until they are relatively smooth—add more half-and-half if the potatoes seem dry.
Add the roasted cabbage into the potatoes. Mix the cabbage throughout the mashed potatoes.
Make the gravy:
When the roast is finished, remove it and the onions from the slow cooker to a cutting board. Transfer the cooking liquid to a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat.
Mash the 4 tablespoons of butter and of flour together in a small bowl using a fork or your fingers.
Once the liquid comes to a boil, whisk in the flour-butter paste. Reduce the heat to medium; whisk the gravy constantly as it simmers until it has thickened, 3-4 minutes.
Serve:
Use a sharp knife to slice the pot roast into thin slices.
Put a serving of colcannon, about 1½ cups, into the center of each dinner plate. Sprinkle a few pieces of chopped scallion over the colcannon.
Add slices of pot roast and sliced onions to each plate, then ladle gravy over the meat and colcannon. Serve your Guinness pot roast with colcannon immediately.
To make the Guinness Pot Roast in an Instant Pot:
Put the oil, chuck roast, and sliced onions into the Instant pot. Reduce the Guinness Stout to ½ cup and the beef stock to ¼ cup. Add in the garlic, spices, and brown sugar.
Secure the lid, and program the pot to cook for 50-60 minutes. Release the steam. The beef should be fall apart tender, and ready to serve.
Notes
Tips:
Roast the potatoes just until they're fork-tender and still moist. If roasted too long they will be too dry.
This recipe works beautifully in an Instant Pot. Adjust the amount of liquid and add it to the pot with the beef and seasonings. The cook time an Instant Pot is about 50-60 minutes, and you can prepare the colcannon while it cooks. See the recipe card for the Instant Pot option.