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!
Absolutely delicious, hearty and so very simple to make.
My go to beef cut for stews and roasts is rump roast. It always come out fantastic. This last time I made this I thought I had grabbed the rump roast and it was the best I had ever had. The meat just fell apart and the flavor was outstanding!! Well I had grabbed PORK shoulder, lol. So I’m just here to say that you’ve got to try this recipe with pork shoulder as well, it’s amazing!!
Love this. However, I can’t seem to get the meat to be tender… what am I doing wrong?
Should I only brown it a very short time?
Happened to me as well because the timing is off. The meat needs double the time to cook to become tender. So double the time for the stew to cook
Yes, I believe you should only be sealing the meat initially, also it could potentially be the cut of beef you’re getting 🙂
I’ve found that turning down the heat to even lower than a gentle bubble gives a tender meat – the cook time is long enough for the meat to cook but the low heat will ensure it doesn’t toughen.
Zee best! Yum!
Superb!
Thank you Nagi for this incredible recipe! Made this stew for a dinner party & it tasted amazing. One person said it was the best dinner he’s eaten this year! Definitely worth making a day in advance. The flavours & colour were richer the next day.
Sorry, didn’t like this at all, lacked flavour, tasted floury, did it in slow cooker
Opps, that flour tastes left behind is a common mistake caused by not cooking the flour longe enough BEFORE adding in the liquid. ( bern yhere done that) Saute the flour for at least a full minute in a LITTLE butter or Oil and stir frequently. That cooking the flour is KEY. Note direction that said ” if the pan is dry, add a little more oil” OH BTW make SURE your flour has NOT EXPIRED. You will not get sick if it has expired BUT it will add a noticeable OFF taste that cannot be fixed. It is alwayd best to lable the expiration date on your flour container ( must be air tight)
Made it according to the recipe and was probably the best stew I’ve ever made! The next time I make it though, I’ll add just a touch of heat and some green beans. Hats off to you Nagi!!!
Loved this recipe!
Made this a few times as well now. It’s easy to convert into a camping friendly meal too, on an open fire and a cast iron pot. Bubbles away all afternoon and tastes amazing in the evening
I strongly recommend going an extra step and putting a puff pastry lid on top. Turn this stunning stew into a pie.
Ladle off some of the excess liquid, give it a blend, and then you have incredible gravy.
I’ve made this 3 times. It is fantastic. I do deviate a little on the technique. After browning the meat, I turn the heat to low-medium and render down the bacon. Then I add the carrot, celery and onion. After 3-4 minutes I add the garlic and cooked for a minute. Then add the tomato paste for a minute, then the flour for a minute. I add half the Guinness (I use the NA kind and it’s amazing) and deglaze. Then add the rest of the Guinness and the broth, bay leaves, fresh thyme and rosemary. I add chopped Yukon Gold potatoes for the last half hour. It’s magic. Thank you so much for the recipe. I wanted something authentic and delicious when I came back from Ireland, and this is that…and then some!
I made a few small changes like less tomato paste. I put one heaped tablespoon instead and beef stock instead of chicken. It smelled lovely in the slow cooker and even my fussy husband loved it. It’s definitely on the have again list.
This is the best beef stew i’ve ever tasted.
I’ve made this a few times now the family loves it.
We’re having it for dinner tonight.
I was unsure that the meat would be tender after only cooking for the 2.5 hours, I should know never to doubt Nagi after I have seen the recipe process. It was delicious. I have kept the left over sauce for a pie next week.
Love recipe but have a question before cooking . Do u ever add mushrooms to this recipe ? If so when ?
I always add mushrooms! I feel like they make stews and soups richer. I just sauté them a little bit right before adding all the liquids in.
I would brown the bacon after browning the meat so you have more fat in the bottom. Then take the bacon out, sautee the mushrooms until they’ve given up all their moisture, then add the onions (and more oil if the mushrooms absorb too much of it). If you don’t cook off the moisture of the mushrooms before adding the broth and beer, I think you might wind up with a thinner sauce or have to reduce longer to get the consistency you want.
I’m making this for dinner tonight. I’m using Guinness tonight but I might also try Cooper’s Stout some other time to give it an Australian twist.
I didn’t think I liked this when I cooked it for the time specified, I found it a little bitter. I took others advice and added a little brown sugar, as well as worcester and soya sauce. I cooked it for an extra couple of hours to make the beef really tender. I was making it for the next day, so the flavors really came together. It was fantastic, we had it with fresh, warm bread and blue-cheese butter. Even better for lunch the day after!
Hi Lois, I have been making another version of a B&G stew for many, many years but this time I am using some of Nagi’s recipe as well. Like increasing the quantity of tomato paste and adding bacon. But one thing my other recipe has that I won’t be changing is to add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chopped prunes (rather than sugar). I assure you the prunes completely dissolve so noone will notice them but they add just enough sweetness and give the stew a lovely glossy appearance.
I have made several versions of Irish Stew, and without question, this is the best. Thickened it at the end. Perfect over mashed potatoes in a chilly night.
I love these recipes of yours, I have tried several of them, but irish stew appealed to me the most. Not only my wife and I liked it, but also my beloved children. But some ingredients are expensive for us and I think anyone who has a family understands how important it is to shop wisely. We often have to buy from current flyers, for example, I found beef for this recipe in Freshco flyer a few days ago https://foxeca.com/freshco
Made this 2 days ahead for St. Patrick’s day. It was spectacular. I added peas and butter sauteed baby bello mushrooms before serving. Served it with champ and purchased soda bread. Husband drank Guinness and my guest and I drank prosecco (because why not). Recipe is a keeper and I do recommend preparing it a day or two ahead of serving.