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Your family is going to love this hearty Guinness beef stew! This traditional Irish meal is filled with rich, meaty flavor, tender vegetables, and melt-in-your-mouth beef!
Stews are the best way to warm you up from the inside out. Not to mention, they taste amazing! Hungarian stew, slow cooker beef stew, and Tuscan vegetable chicken stew are a few more tasty recipes you’ve got to try!
Irish Guinness Beef Stew Recipe
Just in time for St. Patrick’s day, here’s an amazing dish for you to try! This classic Irish meal has a lot of variations, but here’s mine! It’s traditionally made with lamb, but today I’m using tender pieces of chuck roast! The beef is simmered to perfection in a hearty beef broth, with, of course, Guinness beer added for a rich, deep flavor. I absolutely love how this came together! My family couldn’t get enough!
The beef is SO soft and flavorful. It just falls apart in your mouth. Paired with tender carrots and potatoes, you can’t go wrong! It’s the perfect dish to make on cool nights while we transition to spring. You can serve it as-is or over mashed potatoes to complete the meal. Guinness stew is absolutely delicious and your family is going to love it! And if you need more homemade stew recipes in your life, find my full list here!
Everything You’ll Need to Make It
Step one is to gather everything you need together! I know it may look like a lot of ingredients, but trust me, you probably already have a lot of them in your pantry! You’re going to love the flavor that each of these ingredients creates. Guinness beef stew is the best! Measurements for all of the ingredients below can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Olive Oil: Used to sear the beef and saute vegetables.
- Boneless Chuck Roast: I love using chuck roast because it’s hearty and gets so incredibly tender and flaky when simmered in broth. You can swap this out for lamb if you’re wanting a more traditional version of Guinness stew!
- Kosher Salt and Cracked Black Pepper: Works as your foundation of seasonings.
Stew Base
- Yellow Onion: Yellow onion adds a hint of sharp flavor throughout your Guinness stew.
- Minced Garlic: Minced garlic is a must to add savory flavor.
- Large Carrots: I like using large carrots to create bigger chunks. The heartier the better!
- Yukon Potatoes: Yukon potatoes are soft and buttery when cooked in broth. You’ll love them!
- Flour: Added to thicken up your broth.
- Beef Broth: This is the base of your stew broth.
- Guinness Beer: The star of the show! This Irish beer has a strong, deep flavor that really makes the stew shine.
- Tomato Paste: Adds thickness and a caramelized flavor.
- Worcestershire Sauce: I love adding Worcestershire sauce because it’s sweet, savory, with a bit of tang!
- Italian Seasoning: You can buy storebought Italian seasoning, but I love making it at home to customize my blend! Find my full recipe here. Nothing like fresh herbs to enhance a stew!
- Bay Leaves: Adds an aromatic flavor.
- Kosher Salt and Pepper: Add both to taste!
- Fresh Parsley: The perfect aromatic garnish.
How to Make Irish Guinness Stew
The key to making the best Guinness stew is fresh ingredients and cooking low and slow. Follow these simple instructions and you’ll have a hearty stew that the whole family will love!
- Prepare Beef: First, prepare the beef by cutting it into 1 1/2-inch chunks. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Generously salt and pepper the beef
- Sear: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add the beef to the pot and sear on each side for about 3 minutes. There is no need to cook it through, just give it a nice golden sear. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
- Sauté Vegetables: In the same pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the diced onion and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent and golden. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, until a paste forms. If the paste is too dry, you can drizzle in more olive oil if needed.
- Add Remaining Ingredients: Pour in the Guinness and use a whisk to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the beef stock, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, and bay leaves.
- Simmer: Add in the cooked beef, cover the pot, and simmer on low for 1 1/2 hours. Occasionally stir the stew, and cook until the beef is tender and the potatoes and carrots are soft.
- Season and Serve: Discard the bay leaves. Season with salt, pepper, and more Italian seasoning if needed. Garnish with fresh parsley, and serve with crusty artisan bread!
Tips and Tricks for Making Your Stew
Here are a few tips and variations for making this Irish stew as tasty as possible! It’s definitely one of my favorites!
- Balance Flavors: Some find the flavor of Guinness stew to be too bitter. If this is the case, add a tablespoon of brown sugar at a time until you’ve reached your desired flavor.
- Don’t Skip Searing: Searing your beef before adding it to your stew is so important, don’t skip it! It helps to lock in flavors and add a tasty caramelized flavor.
- Adding Other Vegetables: Throw in your favorite veggies here! In addition to carrots and potatoes, sometimes I’ll add in things like chopped celery, mushrooms, or peas.
- Use a Slow Cooker: You can use a slow cooker to cook your Guinness beef stew. Simply throw all of your ingredients together and cook on low heat for 8 hours, or high for 6.
- Serve With: I love serving my stew with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, and bread for dipping. Rolls, baguettes, and sourdough are all great options!
Storing Leftover Guinness Stew
The great thing about stews is that they’re super easy to store and enjoy later! This Guinness beef stew tastes just as good, if not better, the next day!
- In the Refrigerator: Store your stew in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Reheating: If a thick layer has formed on top of your stew, discard it before reheating. I like to reheat my Guinness beef stew over the stove on medium heat until warmed through.
More Delicious Soups and Stews
Switch up dinner this week with these tasty soup recipes! They’re all so satisfying and full of flavor. I know your family will love them as much as mine does! They’re so easy to make, perfect for busy weeknights. I’ve also thrown in some slow cooker recipes that you’ll love coming home to at the end of the day!
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Guinness Beef Stew
Ingredients
Beef
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 lbs boneless chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
Stew
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- 3 large carrots, peeled, chopped into 2-inch pieces
- 1 lb baby Yukon potatoes with skin on (cut in half)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 cups beef broth
- 12 oz bottle Guinness beer
- 1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp kosher salt (more to taste if needed)
- 1 tsp pepper (more to taste if needed)
- fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the beef by cutting it into 1 1/2-inch chunks. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Generously salt and pepper the beef
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add the beef to the pot and sear on each side for about 3 minutes. There is no need to cook it through, just give it a nice golden sear. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
- In the same pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the diced onion and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent and golden. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, until a paste forms. If the paste is too dry, you can drizzle in more olive oil if needed.
- Pour in the Guinness and use a whisk to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the beef stock, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, and bay leaves.
- Add in the cooked beef, cover the pot, and simmer on low for 1 1/2 hours. Occasionally stir the stew, and cook until the beef is tender and the potatoes and carrots are soft.
- Discard the bay leaves. Season with salt, pepper, and more Italian seasoning if needed. Garnish with fresh parsley, and serve with crusty artisan bread!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ummm, YUM! Delicious. This is a keeper! Nice change from traditional stews. Thanks for sharing. Scrumptious!
I chop and oven roast my vegetables (organic parsnips, carrots, potatoes and seasoning drizzled with olive oil until tender and add the veggies to the straw toward the end. They retain more flavor this way. The taste is fresher and richer.
If anyone did this in a slow cooker/crock pot…how long did you do it?!
Is the nutritional value per serving or per recipe? Thanks, this looks fantastic!
The nutritional value is estimated per serving!
Can this be made in the Instant Pot??
What can I replace the beer with? Should I just add more beef stock?
The beer is a key ingredient to this particular stew. If you don’t want to use it then I would try out this recipe instead! Best Ever Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Does this recipe have a beer flavor when it’s completed? I don’t think the family would eat it if there is a “beer” taste.
You can’t taste the beer in the finished stew! It just helps achieve a delicious flavor, and it is sweetened by the other ingredients. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
I made it in crockpot it was so delicious the broth was so rich and good. I used beef stew meat and use dark Guinness beer. I thicken the broth with cornstarch. 🙌👍
How long do you cook it in the crockpot
Is it possible to finish this in the oven instead of the stovetop? If so, what temperature & how long would you recommend? Thank you
I haven’t tried that before with this recipe!
Can you freeze this?
Yes! After it cools, place it in an airtight container and label it with the date. It will last about 1-2 months. When you are ready to eat it, then let it thaw in your fridge and you can reheat it on the stove. The sauce will be thicker so add some water if you want to thin that out.
Loved the recipe! Thank you for sharing this! Personally I’m in favour of salty and sour flavours. I found some ingredients on Tesco, and few from https://dietly.co
Let me know if you have fav place, like local shops!