There’s no greater comfort food than a hearty stew. And Irish Beef and Guinness Stew might be the king of them all! Guinness gives the sauce an incredible rich, deep flavour, and the beef is fall-apart tender. Stove, oven, slow cooker or pressure cooker – directions provided for all.
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Irish Beef and Guinness Stew
Irish Stew may well be the mother of all stews. I mean, you know that anything simmered for hours is going to be a good thing. But this…. this is the stew of your dreams. Arguably the most deeply flavourful sauce of all stews, with a rich dark brown flavour, this is the best of the best.
THIS is the stew I make for company when I want to impress!
With it’s deeply flavoured rich sauce, Guinness Beef Stew is THE stew you make when you want to impress!
What kind of beer goes in Guinness Stew?
The not-so-secret ingredient that goes into Guinness Stew that gives the sauce the deep flavour and colour is Guinness Beer.
Guinness Beer is so dark it is almost black and it’s why the gravy of the stew is such a beautiful deep brown colour. Guinness is also much richer than most beers, which you can see just by looking at the thick creamy head (the foam) that Guinness is famed for.
It’s pretty widely available these days – here in Australia, you’ll find it at most liquor stores.
Meat in Guinness Stew – beef OR lamb
Traditionally, Guinness Stew is made with lamb. But in many parts of the world including here in Australia and North America, Guinness Stew is more commonly made with beef.
I hope the Irish aren’t offended! 🙂 I’ve made it with lamb and to be honest, I do prefer it with beef.
Tip: Use big chunky hunks of beef. Don’t even think about using tiny cubes of beef. It needs to be chunky pieces so it can be cooked for a looooong time to get all that flavour into the sauce! If the pieces of beef are too small, they will cook too quickly and fall apart in the stew before it’s had enough time to develop the deep flavours.
Ingredients in Guinness Beef Stew
In addition to chuck beef and Guinness Beer, here are the other ingredients in Irish Stew.
Garlic and onion – essentials
Bacon – adds extra flavour! Can be skipped, or sub with pancetta or speck
Carrot and celery – potatoes could also be added
Flour and tomato paste – to thicken sauce and the tomato paste also adds some flavour;
Guinness Beer and broth/liquid stock – the braising liquids. I prefer using chicken rather than beef broth because it allows the flavour from the Guinness beer to come through better. Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like beer at all, it transforms into a deep savoury sauce! Also, all the alcohol is cooked out.
Thyme and bay leaves – to add a hint of flavour the sauce.
How to make Irish Beef and Guinness Stew
Though this Irish Beef and Guinness Stew takes time to cook, it is very straightforward. The steps are no different to usual stews like classic Beef Stew:
Brown the beef – brown them well, this is key to flavour. It’s not just the browned beef itself, also the brown bits left on the bottom of the pot (fond) adds extra flavour to the sauce;
Sauté flavour base – onion, garlic, bacon (speck or pancetta), carrot and celery;
Cook off flour and tomato paste;
Add liquids – beer, broth and herbs;
Simmer covered for 2 hours until the beef is pretty tender, then simmer for a further 30 minutes uncovered to let the sauce reduce a bit and for the beef to become “fall apart tender”.
Yes it takes hours but your patience is rewarded with beef so tender you can eat it with a spoon!
The one thing I do differently to most Guinness Beef Stew recipes, including very traditional Irish recipes, is to thicken the sauce slightly with flour. If you don’t do this step, the sauce is quite thin and watery, and while the flavour is still lovely, I really prefer the sauce to be more like a thin gravy.
What to serve with Irish Stew
Serve Beef and Guinness Stew over mashed potato or cauliflower mash for a low carb option. And what about some warm crusty Irish Soda Bread to mop your bowl clean??
I am so glad I have a tub of this in the freezer. I cooked most of the day but gave it all away. The minute I hit Publish on this post, I’m going to get cracking reheating some of this Irish Stew for dinner tonight! – Nagi x
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Beef and Guinness Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2.5 lb / 1.25 kg beef chuck , boneless short rib or any other slow cooking beef (no bone)
- 3/4 tsp each salt and black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 onions , chopped (brown, white or yellow)
- 6 oz / 180g bacon , speck or pancetta, diced
- 3 tbsp flour (all purpose/plain, Note 3 for GF)
- 440ml / 14.9 oz Guinness Beer (Note 1)
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 cups (750 ml) chicken stock/broth (or beef broth – Note 4)
- 3 carrots , peeled and cut into 1.25 cm / 1/2″ thick pieces
- 2 large celery stalks , cut into 2cm / 1″ pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs thyme (or sub with 1 tsp dried thyme leaves)
Instructions
- Cut the beef into 5cm/2″ chunks. Pat dry then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a heavy based pot over high heat. Add beef in batches and brown well all over. Remove onto plate. Repeat with remaining beef.
- Lower heat to medium. If the pot is looking dry, add oil.
- Cook garlic and onion for 3 minutes until softening, then add bacon.
- Cook until bacon is browned, then stir through carrot and celery.
- Add flour, and stir for 1 minute to cook off the flour.
- Add Guinness, chicken broth/stock and tomato paste. Mix well (to ensure flour dissolves well), add bay leaves and thyme.
- Return beef into the pot (including any juices). Liquid level should just cover – see video or photos.
- Cover, lower heat so it is bubbling gently. Cook for 2 hours – the beef should be pretty tender by now. Remove lid then simmer for a further 30 – 45 minutes or until the beef falls apart at a touch, the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly.
- Skim off fat on surface, if desired. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaves and thyme.
- Serve with creamy mashed potatoes!!
Recipe Notes:
– SLOW COOKER: Reduce chicken broth by 1 cup. After you add the Guinness and broth/stock into the pot, bring to simmer and ensure you scrape the bottom of the pot well. Transfer everything into slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients per recipe. Cook on low for 8 hours. If sauce needs more thickening, simmer with slow cooker lid off (if you have that function), to ladle some of the sauce into a separate saucepan and reduce on stove.
– PRESSURE COOKER: Follow slow cooker instructions, cook on HIGH for 40 minutes (this might seem longer than most but we’re using chuck here which needs to be cooked for a long time until tender and also the pieces are large). 3. FLOUR: I prefer my stew sauce a bit thick, not watery, so I always add flour to slightly thicken the sauce. Some recipes say to dust beef with flour before browning – I prefer not to use this method because the flour burns then this permeates throughout the whole stew. 4. Beef vs Chicken Broth – I use chicken broth because the flavour is slightly more mild which lets the guinness flavour come through more. But beef broth works just as well and you can definitely still taste the Guinness!! 5. Nutrition per serving, excluding mashed potato. This nutrition is overstated because it does not take into account the fat that is skimmed off the surface.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2016, updated with new video and step photos. No change to recipe.
More slow cooked fall-apart beef recipes
Slow Cooked Chicken Stew and Faster Chicken Stew – when you need a rich stew on the table in under an hour!
Browse Winter Warmer recipes and see more Stews!
Life of Dozer
Sulking because he didn’t score any Irish Stew.
Let’s not feel badly for him though. He lives a very cushy life!
Made this for dinner tonight! My husband loves Guinness Stew and he said this was the best he had ever had! I served it with homemade biscuits. Thank you for making a cold Pennsylvania night more bearable ( 8 degrees).
Woah what a great compliment, thanks so much Kris! Stay warm!!!
This recipe had become a favorite for fall and winter. The flavor from the stout is so complex and satisfying. Here in the U.S. I can find Guinness only in 330 ml (11.2 ounce) bottles, so I use two. Since it’s such a perfect comfort food for winter weather and we have a small storm coming in tomorrow, I’ll be making a batch of this wonderful stew while watching the snow fall!
Not sure about yours, but my Target has the cans in a 4-pack.
Sounds divine Jeffery, I’m sweltering over here in 90F heat!
My elderly father (and retired chef) lives with my family and I. He loves this recipe and wants me to make it about once a month.
Oh that’s just lovely Mary ❤️
Adding stars
Thanks Geri!
I have an Instant Pot multicooker which functions as a slowcooker. It has a Sauté function. Couldn’t I brown the beef, remove it, sauté the veggies,bacon,and Guinness , add the beef back and continue with the slowcooker function? I LOVE your recipes!!!!! And your directions are great! Thanks so much Nagi😊
Hi Geri – you sure could!
I make this monthly. Fantastic!
Woah! Great stuff!
Awesome recipe. I’ve made several beef stews and this is by far my favorite. I’ve done it with Guiness and subbed another time with another stout when imported wasn’t available. This is my go to recipe.
I’m so glad you love it Kay!
This recipe is delicious! I am not a big stew fan but saw it and decided to try it, so glad I did. I will make it again, great recipe!
Thanks you for the recipe, Nagi! I’ve made this dish twice now and my guests absolutely loved it both times!
My mother has even requested me to make it for Christmas, as an alternative to the more traditional recipes, so I’m heading over there now to make it.
Thank you for this great recipe and happy holidays!
Greetings from The Netherlands,
Sebastiaan
Oh. My. Gosh. This is the only beef stew/roast recipe I will ever use again! SO GOOD! Thank you for posting!
Hi Nagi
Tried the Guinness Stew but with short ribs and a couple of teaspoons of Marmite, amazing, another great recipe x😊
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Mellie! N x
I did this in a crock pot and it turned out deliciously. However, if I make it again, I’ll either use WAY less broth or use a stock pot. The crock pot doesn’t allow any evaporation so it’s very soupy.
Love love love this recipe. I changed nothing … except that I’m not a big celery fan so took the suggestion to add peas near the end of cooking time. It seemed like a lot of onions, but they cook way down and add a great flavor. We made this on Saturday for Sunday supper to let the flavors build overnight. Delicious.
One trick to get the addition of the undertones of celery is to add a few very large pieces that you can fish out at the end. You wouldn’t be able to taste the celery on its own, but adding it would contribute to the overall flavor. My brother-in-law despises celery, and this is the trick my sister uses. He never knows the difference.
That’s so clever Connie! Thanks for sharing that! N x
Great to hear you enjoyed this JA!! 🙂 N x
Use potatoes to thicken the stew not flour. And it is beef not lamb 🙂
Hello Nagi!
Thank you for the recipe – it’s delicious! I follow your steps, nothing was changed and result was fantastic! Can I ask you a question, didn’t understand from your comment, sorry, but can I froze it? like ready made stew cool down and freeze?
YES you can freeze it! Perfect for freezgin!! N x
Does the broth have to be low sodium? it doesn’t same so i’m assuming it’s not?
Thanks
Hi, I can’t wait to try this recipe out! Any suggestions on how to adjust the additional ingredients if I’m going to use 4lbs of beef? Thanks!
Hi Janells! Click on Servings then SLIDE until the beef weight changes, it will change all the ingredients for you!
As opposed to indicating that there’s no non alcoholic substitution you should make folks aware that there’s no actual alcohol remaining after the cooking process. In any event this stew is an absolute delicacy. I used a slow cooker and ladled out the bulk of the liquid near the end to effectively remove the oil on top, brought it back to a boil and whisked in some starch to further thicken as I too like a gravy consistency. I make all my own stocks and used chicken. I like peas in an Irish stew and those as well near the end of the cooking process. You know something is a hit when a family of four can devour a huge pot of it. Thank you!
Hi Al! That’s a good point, thank you! I actually meant more from a flavour perspective – nothing can replace Guinness!
There won’t be any alcohol left in the juices after that long cooking time – the alcohol evaporates with the first steam and will be gone within 20 minutes or so. So fear not! This is a great recipe and the results are delicious. It also freezes well.
I haven been making this recipie for a couple years now. It’s so divine and decadent. Easy to make but so flavorful. Thank you for sharing such a gem of a recipe.
Glad to hear you enjoyed this Jackie! Thanks for letting me know – N x