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!
I too will be trying this. Decided against doing the usual corned beef and cabbage that I grew up on for St Paddy’s Day. Going to add baby red potatoes, halved,towards end. I’m sure it will be fantastic….love the looks of the broth/gravy. Just the right texture I’m looking for. Making some Irish brown bread as well….while washing it all down with Guinness and Smithwicks lol
Oooh! I hope you love it Keith! I have a big soft spot for this recipe! 🙂 N xx
How many litres is the size of the pot you cooked this in?? Can’t wait to give it a try for St. Patrick’s Day!
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth! I’m sorry I don’t know but it’s about 28cm wide 🙂
Hi Nagi!
Looking forward to making this dish tomorrow. My daughter is allergic to chicken – could i substitie the chicken broth with vegetable broth or would you suggest beef broth instead?
Thank you!
Hi Steph! Either will be fine – I think beef would be better! 🙂
OOOOH! I’m so happy to hear that Lesa, thank you for letting me know! N xx
I bought some Guinness for another receipt (extra stout, no less) so I had 5 remaining bottles I had to do something with. I’ve made this twice already and am making it for my daughter and her fiance this Sunday. This is a delicious keeper of a recipe. Thank you so much for publishing it.
I’m so glad you enjoy my recipe Karen, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
Nagi, I started the New Year with the goal of making a ‘stand out from the crowd’ Guinness stew…. I searched 5 or 6 different recipes online before choosing yours; it just looked right and the ingredients made sense… It was fantastic! I will continue to make this recipe, especially during our harsh Canadian winters… I made two small adjustments; I continued with the root vegetable theme and added parsnip along withe carrots; I also used my mom’s secret ingredient when making gravy, instead of topping up the stew with regular tap water as suggested, I cut up a peeled turnip and boiled it until about 7-8 ounces of condensed liquid was left, then added this to the stew… It gives a bit of body and earthiness that I find works well in rustic dishes… I will definitely key keep an eye on your site when looking for some inspiration… Cheers, Dave from Saskatoon Saskatchewan…
Ohhh! I love hearing your mom’s secret ingredient!! I’m glad you enjoyed my recipe, thank you for letting me know! N xx
I have a quick question. My husband has an allergy to onions what do you suggest on a replacement for them in this recipe?
Hi Cynthia! I’m assuming eschallots / French onions are also no good? In which case, scallions/shallots, white part only 🙂 Use a whole bunch, chop finely like dicing onion. N x
Made this last night. It was soooooooo good! Thanks for sharing. Plan to make a second batch this week for lunches.
Nagi, I have been following your website for about 6 months now and have made quite of few of your recipes. My two favorites are the Irish Beef and Guinness and the Char Siu Pork. Both are absolutely superb!! Any thought of doing a youtube video? You’d be great!!
Hi Carol! Actually, quite of a few of my latest recipes have videos 🙂 Most of them! Except they are just tutorial style i.e. I’m not in them. 🙂 Maybe one day, thanks for the compliment! N x
I made this 2 nights ago. The flavor was FABULOUS!!! For some reason most of the meat was super tender, but some of them were tough, which is weird, since all the meat came from a single roast. I will definately make this again! Thank you so much!
Hi Cheryl! That really IS odd ? Certainly if you cooked it long enough that some was super tender then all of it should, how WEIRD?? So glad you loved the flavour though!! N xx
I’ve made this before and it is dee-licious! The only thing I do differently is mix garlic powder, salt and pepper into flour and roll the meat in this before browning. I find doing that makes the stew flavor pop even more and then you get those wonderfully tasty nuggets of browned meaty crust to thicken the broth as well. Yum! I want to make this right now!
Oooh thanks for your tips! That would make it even more amazing!!! 🙂 N xx
Just put everything in the crock pot as today is christmas dinner cooking day (ugh) but tonight on this cold rainy california night we will enjoy this stew over polenta as over the next few days I will see more mashed potatoes than I will care to thanks can’t wait to have this then try it with lamb next time yum (hubby is a full blooded Irish-American )
Hope you love it Kim! 🙂
Finally made this wonderful stew today, and it is DELICIOUS! Hubby prepped it all while I was at work, and he did a great job. Forget to get the tomato paste, so subbed some crushed tomato we had open and left over from another recipe. Ours didn’t look as dark in color as your photos, Nagi – but still tasted AMAZING!
Oh, and in earlier posts I saw people questioning why it was served with mashed potatoes instead of having potatoes in the stew (like we’re used to having here in US). Don’t just take my word for it, but make it the way Nagi says – serving it with a dollop of mashed potatoes in the same bowl. The mashed potatoes made it even so much better that it was straight from the crock pot – added both a creaminess and a thickness along with yummy potato flavor. Genius!
We have a get together at the Oregon coast with about a dozen friends in January, and I’m thinking of making this for Friday night, when everyone is arriving at different times. I figure I can just keep the stew on warm in one crock pot, and the mashed potatoes on warm in another crock pot, and with a salad and rolls (or Irish Soda bread?) on the side, everyone can just help themselves to dinner whenever they arrive. And since January is usually cold and blustery on the Oregon coast, it should be very much appreciated!
Thank you for another great recipe!
Hi Penny – thank you so much for your comprehensive feedback! I am SO glad you enjoyed it – and that you enjoyed it WITH mash!!! I hope you are staying warm Penny – N xx
It was a big success! Thank you, Nagi!
HIGH FIVE!
-25° F in Minneapolis tomorrow, so I was looking for a Guinness stew recipe to fight the cold. This will do great, thanks for posting!
No worries! Hope you love it Drew! N x
This is bubbling away on the stove now and I can’t wait to taste it! My whole house smells delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Ooh! Hope you love it Jenna! N xx
I don’t eat bacon. Will the stew be just as good without it?
Hi Ashley! Can you sub with ham bits or turkey bacon? Little pops of salt helps with flavour 🙂
Was wondering how come I wasn’t getting your Recipes. OOPS ….forgot to e-mail you my new e-mail
which is amigadem@sbcglobal.net . Have enjoyed your recipes very much. Keep them coming.
Thanks
Hi Ester! If you pop your email here then you will start getting the emails again! http://eepurl.com/4kKKD
This was a perfect stew on a cold winter night. A new favorite! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Jennifer! I’m so glad you enjoyed this, and thank you for taking the time to let me know! N x
Really nice stew! I made it for my colleagues. And i believe they enjoyed it.
Will definitely make it again!
Hi Jurga! I’m so glad you and your colleagues enjoyed this, and thank you for taking the time to let me know! N x