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!
Do you recommend preparing this in advance (like the day before) or is it just as good on the day you make it?
This was absolutely beautiful! 🙌
Another amazing recipe that the whole family enjoyed! The sauce was so rich and tasty, and you could cut the meat with a spoon
Absolutely delicious beef stew with a complexity of flavours Love your recipes.
Made this yesterday after I saw some Guinness at one of our local supermarket. Served it with mashed potatoes and a side of green beans and peas. Heaps of leftovers too so it was definitely worth it. Our toddler liked it too and hubby loved how tender the beef was in the end.
Another absolute winner from you! We had this delicious meal with crusty sourdough and a good SA Pinot Noir. Perfect for a Melbourne winter night! I used less beef and added potatoes (cooked via slow cooker method) and I added peas around 15 mins prior to serving time. So so good!
Delicious! Doubled the recipe and used Guinness Extra Stout. I made this in a large stock pot the day before, refrigerated it overnight and reheated on the stove the following night for a large family dinner. Served with fresh bread and froze the leftovers.
Hi Nagi, love your recipes & have tried quite a few of them but have to comment on the Guinness beer which is not a beer, its a stout to be sure etc
Well, while it is indeed stout, it’s also technically a beer.
Beers include the subcategories; Ale, Lager, Porter, Stout, Ale (Blonde, Brown, Pale, IP, Sour), Wheat, and Pilsner……to be sure.
Hi Paul, fair enough but i would not accept a beer with a guinness head on it ?
Even better than my own Irish Stew recipe and I grew up in Belfast. This has now replace mine in my recipe folder. Thanks Nagi x
Pressure cooked this one as per notes and it was perfection, especially with garlic mash. Everyone loved it. Glad there’s some leftovers too!
Nagi, your recipes that I cook brings so much joy to those around me and my belly too!
Do you think this could be put in a pie if it’s quite reduced?
Nagi, you are right on about Guinness and about the size of the beef chunks. If the chunks are too small, they fall apart during the long cooking. My only problem is with that picture of Guinness Draught! That stuff won’t work! You need the STOUT or EXTRA STOUT. Yours is one of the very best recipes for Guinness Beef Stew.
This has become a family favourite, fall apart beef, and an amazing rich sauce,
Thanks Nagi
Made this a few weeks ago in the slow cooker, while at the cold, cold footy… came home to the house smelling amazing & devoured this warm, tasty stew over mash, with a glass of wine… there was silence as we all scoffed it down! I fully followed this recipe except a minor change with onion & garlic due to not being able to eat lots (I left them whole during cooking & removed at the end so I got the flavour but didn’t actually eat the flesh)… *chef’s kiss*
This was sensational, I will definitely be making it regularly. Mine was a little watery even after cutting down the stock for the slow cooker. I’m assuming my slow cooker may be the culprit here? But it thickened on the stove as instructed and was perfect.
Just wow! Made it last night, and it was amazing! The Family all loved it..looking forward to leftovers for lunch today! I did have to make a cornflour slurry to thicken, but that is no hardship.. already getting requests to have this again..thanks Nagi xx
Thank you for this great recipe, Nagi!
The celery’s taste stands out a little bit too much in my opinion. But then again I do not really like celery stalks that much in the first place.
So, my personal advice (to anybody who does not like them either) would be to replace the celery stalks by celery roots. They round off the overall taste very well and dissolve completely. I think this might even make the stew thicker, so you do not have to add a lot more (corn-) flour.
I had visitors yesterday and I wanted something delicious but easy to serve, I made your beef and Guinness stew and it was delicious and so easy, thank you Nagi I love all your recipes.
Nagi san
This was sensational! I made it for Easter Sunday with the family and it was a huge hit.
The only thing was that I had to almost quadruple the amount of flour yet it remained the consistency of thick soup than stew… I’ll try again on a cold winter night!
Hi Riho – Glad you enjoyed it! Yes it’s possible you had more liquid left than me hence a thinner stew for a variety of reasons. What I do in that case is dissolve some cornflour in water, and stir it in bit by bit until it is the thickness I want. Cornflour won’t clump, unlike flour. – Nx
Love this recipe! It tasted so good. Mine was a bit mushy though, do you know why this could be?
Hi Kate, what do you mean by mushy? The meat? N x
Do you use a quick or natural release when cooked in the instant pot?
The best stew I have ever made. Stew is my favourite meal and this has now topped my list of the many different recipes I have tried. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Angel, usually quick release but you can do either here. N x