10 Recipes With Beer That Are Worth Opening a Bottle For

Beer isn’t only for drinking. Used in cooking, it can add maltiness, bitterness, sweetness and depth to everything from slow-cooked beef to crisp batter, sticky chicken and even chocolate cake.

It’s also one of those ingredients that’s particularly handy when you have half a bottle or can left over. Rather than pouring it away, a relatively small amount can transform a sauce, gravy, batter or stew.

The type of beer matters, though. A dark stout behaves very differently in a recipe from a crisp lager or a fruity pale ale. Dark beers generally suit rich meat dishes, gravies and chocolate desserts, while lighter beers work particularly well in batters, chicken dishes and bread.

If you’re wondering what to cook with beer, these ten recipes are a good place to start.

1. Beef and Ale Stew

Few combinations make quite as much sense as beef and ale. Long, slow cooking mellows the beer while concentrating its malty flavour, producing a wonderfully rich gravy.

Ingredients

800g stewing beef, cut into chunks
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500ml brown ale
300ml beef stock
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 160°C fan.

Season the beef and toss it in the flour. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish and brown the beef in batches, transferring it to a plate as you go.

Lower the heat and cook the onions, carrots and celery for around 8 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the garlic and tomato purée and cook for another minute.

Pour in the ale, scraping any caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, herbs and beef.

Cover and cook in the oven for around 2½ hours, or until the beef is tender and the sauce has become thick and glossy.

Serve with buttery mashed potato and something green.

2. Crispy Beer-Battered Fish

The carbonation in beer helps create a light, crisp batter, making this one of the most useful ways to cook with lager.

Ingredients

4 skinless white fish fillets
150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50g cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
250ml very cold lager
Salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
Lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Mix the flour, cornflour and baking powder in a bowl. Gradually whisk in the cold lager until you have a smooth batter. Don’t overmix it.

Pat the fish completely dry, season and lightly dust with flour.

Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-based pan to approximately 180°C. Dip each piece of fish into the batter, allow the excess to drip away and carefully lower it into the oil.

Fry until deeply golden and crisp and the fish is cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper and season immediately.

Serve with thick-cut chips, mushy peas and plenty of lemon.

3. Sticky Beer and Honey Chicken

Beer also makes an excellent base for a sticky glaze. Here it is reduced with honey, mustard and garlic to coat golden chicken thighs.

Ingredients

8 boneless chicken thighs
1 tbsp olive oil
250ml lager or pale ale
3 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
Black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 190°C fan.

Mix the beer, honey, mustard, garlic, soy sauce and paprika.

Brown the chicken thighs in an ovenproof frying pan with the olive oil. Pour over the beer mixture and bring it to a simmer.

Transfer to the oven for around 25 minutes, turning the chicken once or twice.

Return the pan to the hob if necessary and bubble the sauce for a few minutes until reduced to a glossy glaze.

This is particularly good with roast potatoes, rice or a crunchy slaw.

4. Beer-Braised Sausages and Onions

This is uncomplicated comfort food and a particularly good option for an autumn or winter dinner.

Ingredients

8 good-quality pork sausages
1 tbsp oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
330ml amber or brown ale
200ml chicken or beef stock
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Fresh thyme
Black pepper

Method

Brown the sausages in a large frying pan, then remove them and set aside.

Add the onions and cook slowly for 10–15 minutes until soft and golden. Stir in the sugar and flour and cook for another minute.

Gradually add the ale followed by the stock, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and thyme.

Return the sausages to the pan and simmer gently for approximately 25 minutes until cooked through and surrounded by a rich onion gravy.

Pile onto creamy mash for maximum comfort-food effect.

5. Cheddar and Beer Bread

You don’t need to make a complicated yeasted loaf to cook with beer. This quick beer bread uses the beer both for flavour and to help create its texture.

Ingredients

350g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp mustard powder
150g mature cheddar, grated
330ml beer
30g melted butter

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C fan and grease or line a loaf tin.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, mustard powder and most of the cheese.

Pour in the beer and gently mix until no dry patches remain. Avoid beating the mixture.

Spoon into the loaf tin, scatter over the remaining cheese and drizzle with the melted butter.

Bake for approximately 45–50 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Leave it to cool slightly before slicing. It’s excellent while still warm with salted butter and makes a brilliant accompaniment to soup.

6. Beer-Braised Pulled Pork

A bottle of beer can provide much of the cooking liquid needed for meltingly tender pulled pork without making the finished dish taste overwhelmingly of beer.

Ingredients

1.5kg boneless pork shoulder
1 tbsp oil
330ml lager or amber ale
250ml chicken stock
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic granules
Salt and black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 150°C fan.

Mix the paprika, cumin and garlic granules with plenty of seasoning and rub over the pork.

Brown the meat in oil in a large casserole dish.

Add the beer, stock, sugar, tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce. Cover tightly and cook for approximately 4 hours, turning the pork halfway through, until it falls apart easily with two forks.

Remove the pork and shred it. Skim excess fat from the cooking liquid before reducing it on the hob until slightly thickened.

Stir the pork back through the sauce.

Serve in brioche buns, stuffed into tacos or alongside homemade slaw.

7. Stout and Caramelised Onion Gravy

If your roast dinner gravy needs rescuing from blandness, stout is an extremely effective addition.

Ingredients

2 onions, finely sliced
25g butter
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
200ml stout
400ml beef stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
Black pepper

Method

Melt the butter and cook the onions over a low heat for 15–20 minutes until deeply golden and soft.

Add the sugar and cook for another minute before stirring in the flour.

Gradually pour in the stout, stirring continuously, followed by the stock. Add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard.

Simmer until reduced to your preferred consistency.

It’s excellent with roast beef, sausages, steak and mash, or a proper homemade pie.

8. Beer and Cheese Dip

Think of this as somewhere between a warm cheese sauce and pub-style dipping cheese. It’s made for chips, pretzels and crusty bread.

Ingredients

25g butter
25g plain flour
200ml lager
100ml whole milk
200g mature cheddar, grated
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp smoked paprika
A few drops of hot sauce, optional
Black pepper

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook for a minute.

Gradually whisk in the lager followed by the milk, keeping the mixture smooth.

Simmer gently until thickened before lowering the heat and adding the cheese a handful at a time.

Stir in the mustard, paprika, hot sauce if using, and plenty of black pepper.

Serve immediately while it’s hot, smooth and gloriously cheesy.

9. Stout Chocolate Cake

Stout and chocolate are surprisingly good partners. The roasted, slightly bitter character of a dark beer intensifies the cocoa rather than making the cake taste like a pint.

Ingredients

250ml stout
250g unsalted butter
75g cocoa powder
350g caster sugar
2 large eggs
150ml soured cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

Heat the oven to 160°C fan and line a 23cm cake tin.

Warm the stout and butter together in a saucepan until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa and sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, soured cream and vanilla together. Add this to the stout mixture.

Fold in the flour and bicarbonate of soda until combined.

Pour into the tin and bake for approximately 45–55 minutes, checking the centre with a skewer.

Allow it to cool completely before adding your favourite chocolate or cream cheese frosting.

10. Beer-Battered Onion Rings

If you’ve already opened a bottle for fish batter, save some for these. The same carbonation that helps make fish batter crisp works beautifully with onion rings.

Ingredients

2 large onions
150g plain flour
50g cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
250ml cold lager
Extra flour, for dusting
Vegetable oil, for frying
Sea salt

Method

Peel the onions, slice them into thick rings and separate the layers.

Combine the flour, cornflour, baking powder and paprika. Whisk in enough cold lager to produce a smooth batter.

Dust the onion rings lightly in flour before dipping them into the batter.

Fry in oil heated to approximately 180°C for a few minutes, turning as necessary, until crisp and golden.

Drain well and season with sea salt while they’re still hot.

Which Beer Is Best for Cooking?

You don’t need an expensive craft beer to cook successfully with beer. In fact, strongly flavoured beers can sometimes overpower a dish.

As a general rule:

Lager works well for batters, bread and lighter chicken recipes.
Pale ale adds more hoppy character and suits chicken, pork and some marinades.
Amber and brown ales work particularly well with sausages, beef and slow-cooked dishes.
Stout and porter suit beef, rich gravies and chocolate desserts.

Very bitter or heavily hopped beers need a little more caution. Cooking reduces liquid and concentrates flavours, which means excessive bitterness can become more noticeable rather than disappearing.

Does Alcohol Cook Out of Food?

Not necessarily all of it.

Although cooking reduces the amount of alcohol in a dish, the amount remaining depends on factors including cooking time, temperature, the cooking method and how much alcohol was added in the first place. A briefly reduced beer sauce is therefore different from a stew that has cooked for several hours.

If you’re cooking for somebody who needs to avoid alcohol completely, don’t assume that a beer-based dish is alcohol-free simply because it has been cooked. Use an appropriate alcohol-free alternative instead.

Can You Cook With Alcohol-Free Beer?

Yes. Alcohol-free beer can work in many recipes where beer is being used primarily for its malt flavour, liquid and carbonation.

It’s particularly useful in beer batter, bread, sausage dishes and some stews. As with regular beer, choose a style that complements the other ingredients.

What Can You Do With Leftover Beer?

If you’ve opened a bottle for a recipe and only used part of it, don’t automatically pour the remainder away.

Depending on the style, leftover beer can be used in gravy, batter, marinades, bread, cheese sauces, chilli and slow-cooked meat dishes. Even a relatively small quantity can be useful for deglazing a pan after cooking sausages or steak.

Once beer has gone flat, it might not be particularly appealing to drink, but that doesn’t necessarily make it useless in the kitchen. For recipes where carbonation isn’t important, such as a stew or gravy, flat beer can still work perfectly well.

Cooking With Beer: More Useful Than You Might Think

Beer is one of those ingredients that’s easy to overlook until you start cooking with it. You don’t need specialist varieties or complicated recipes, either.

Keep lighter beer for crisp batters, breads and chicken, bring out the darker ales when you’re cooking beef and sausages, and save stout for those intensely rich gravies and chocolate desserts.

And if there’s still some left in the bottle after dinner, I’m sure you’ll think of something.

Looking for a lifestyle magazine UK readers trust? Explore more stories at Crave Magazine.