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!
This has become one of our fast favorites, favorite especially camping for something different
I noticed this recipe uses significantly less flour than your traditional beef stew (3tbsp vs 1/3c). Is it better to have a less thick broth for this version or does the beer change the consistency to not need as much flour?
Also wondering if it would still be as tasty if I omitted the bacon? I feel like I am basically asking if I can sub the red wine for the guinness in your traditional beef stew recipe lol.
Made this today and it’s delicious! I tossed the beef in some season salt before browning, used gold potatoes instead of celery and I added a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce to the pot during cooking. The result was super rich and flavorful. Definitely saving this recipe for future use.
Oh my gosh! I’ve been searching for a really good Guiness stew recipe and after a few other trials, this is it! Followed the recipe almost to a T, I just used 4 oz bacon and Pam instead of olive oil to save a few calories. I still can’t believe how tender the beef was, and the carrots so sweet. Perfection! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Made this tonight and served it over some creamy herb-y mashed potatoes and it was PHENOMENAL. The things I did differently is I browned the bacon first thing, THEN browned the meat in the bacon grease and a teeny bit of added oil. I added a little slurry of corn starch and hot water towards the end to thicken the stew to go over the mashed potatoes a little better. I also used extra stout Guinness because that’s just what they had at the store. This turned out so so rich and stick-to-your-bones hearty. Thank you so much!
I love how you give a non-alcohol substitute always!
How big of a crockpot os needed for this recipe?
As we New Englanders brace ourselves for the long winter, soups and stews are our best defense against the doldrums. This Guinness recipe makes the stew other stews want to be when they grow up. Many thanks…
Hi! I wanted to use up my leftover medium rare prime rib roast, gravy, peas, roast potatoes from Christmas dinner, to make Guiness pot pies.. thoughts on adding these to the base veggies and sauce ingredients? How long should I cook it, so the meat is tender and delicious?
Thanks!
There is a non alcoholic substitute it just might be hard to find
So bloody good
People who wish to have non-alcohol in stew. Guinness now have a zero alcohol version available. It is Guinness 0.0 imported in the 440ml cans.
(Nice drop, same taste and colour as the original)
Came here to say this too
Guiness 0%
Even made in Ireland
This is the first recipe I’ve ever commented on and that’s because it is so good. I’ve only taken two bites and don’t even have the brown bread out of the oven, but I had to comment!
I’ve been cooking this a few times per year, usually in winter, since I found your recipe in 2021 and I love it so much. I follow the recipe with varying quantities so I don’t waste anything if I have extra, but it’s always delicious and so comforting.
I usually cook it for at least 3-4 hours, but I find the longer I cook it, the tastier it gets.
Thank you!
Rating 5
Re Guinness stew; Guiness now make cans of dealcohilized Guiness Stout so those people who wish to avoid alcohol can enjoy Guiness stew without concern. However, any alcohol used in cooking evapourates anyway.
I’m Irish and definitely prefer beef over lamb in this totally agree. A firm favourite recipe in our house. My wife loves when I start to cook It as a surprise.
Perfection. 🙂
Your Irish stew recipe ;
In the beginning you state that you CANNOT taste the Guinness
At the end you say you CAN taste the Guinness
Which one is corrrect?
Great recipe, my Irish partner approved! We added baby potatoes in the last hour of cooking & it was perfect.
This stew was delectably delicious, and the recipe did exactly what it says on the tin. A luscious rich sauce with melting beef chunks – I made the oven version using beef stock. I’m going to try chicken stock and the alcohol free guiness which many commentors have recommended next time and post again.
I have tons left over – only two of us – and the fussy adult eater wants a pie! 🙂 The rest can go into the freezer, and I can use it for friends – puff pastry topped in mini ramekins.
Thank you so much Nagi and huge congratulations on your ‘Dinner’ release – I’m off to K-Mart today! xx