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 made this last week. Flavour is wonderful. I used Gluten Free flour in the recipe however found it did not thicken the liquid very much. The recipe says note 3 for gluten free, however there is no note regarding this. Should I have used more flour perhaps?
I’ve made it today and used both lamb and beef. So tasty with a mash of cauliflower and potato. I mash with sour cream and butter. The gravy is reasonably thick but runs off the spoon. A hearty meal with some green beans on the side.
We made tonight and love the flavour but the liquid is still very runny…any tips?
I’m Irish, certainly not offended. Much prefer beef too. Great recipe. Going to try this today as a surprise for my wife coming home from work. She loves guineas stew
Excellent flavour. I did find that in the oven it didn’t reduce enough so I cranked it to 190 for another 20 minutes. When I make it next time I’ll do the second stage of cooking at 190 (with the lid off).
This was not only the beef and Guinness stew I have ever eaten (and I just got back from a trip to Dublin and Belfast), this was the best beef stew EVER! Absolutely delicious!
OMG! Just made this for the first time tonight and W O W!!! The flavor was amazing!! My husband was thrilled!!! Thanks so much!! xoxo
its delish, stick to the recipe!
I went with lamb leg to keep it Irish, I don’t know why you’d sub it out, there’s something in lamb fat that just soothes your stomach and digestion, it’s a superfood man, I swear.
I added a little bit of bone broth to give it some punch.
Then about an hour before I was ready to eat I just wanted more out of the stew, my carrots and celery may have been a bit acidic.
I added 1 tablespn Brown Sugar and 2 tbs worcestershire (Holbrooks of course).
Sister bf is a chef, he went back for 3rds, everyone raved about it and the woman of the house has been struggling to “best” me ever since.
I literally LOVE cooking this and you can’t beat a meal cooked with quality produce from butcher cooked with LOVE.
This was delicious. I made it with Coopers Extra Stout, which is sharper than Guinness, and in the slow cooker. Served with polenta oven ‘fries’ and garden salad. My family loved it
Just stuck the stew in the oven. After 21/2 hrs do I remove the cover and then bake further?
Looking fwd to tasting this!
Absolutely divine! I’ll definitely be making this again, it was delicious!!
Hello Nagi,
This is a ripper stew!
Oh, and we now have 0% Guinness in Ontario, that’s Canada, eh!
Enjoy your recipes.
Cheers,
Inge
Delicious! A hit at our St. Patrick’s Day dinner!
This was so flavorful and tender, one of the best beef stews I’ve ever made. It’s a keeper! The browned beef/guinness gravy a bit thickened really made it a great stew. V delicious with mashed potatoes and peas.
I don’t leave comments but this stew is just too good not to give two thumbs way up to. YUM!!!!
Unreal. Didn’t change a thing. I got nervous about the bacon chunks (possible weird texture with the fatty chunks and bacon overpowering the stew), but the bacon fats end up melting into the broth and adds great depth of flavor without making it a “bacon soup.” I will absolutely be making this again.
Excellent! I used an oatmeal stout that is brewed nearby because our rural grocery stores don’t carry Guinness — the flavor the stout adds is amazing! As Nagi notes, it is an essential ingredient to differentiate this from regular stew. I love every Nagi recipe I’ve ever tried. I made the macaroni and cheese from her cookbook just last week. Also excellent! And knowing Dozer is by her side as she develops these recipes just makes me smile!
This was very tasty!! Subbed the following:
1) used a local dry Irish stout instead of Guinness (it’s what I had on hand) – worked out just fine (which is what I figured 🙂 )
2) Subbed 2 Tablespoons of Arrowroot Flour instead of “Flour” as it’s Gluten Free
3)Opted for Top Sirloin (a bit more expensive) and it was worth it over my regular stewing beef
All in all a very easy but extremely tasty recipe!!
2nd time making this recipe. This time I omitted the bacon (didn’t even notice it was in there last time) and added a small bag of mini potatoes, halved, when I removed the lid. I also added a small package of button mushrooms at the same time, and a slurry of 2 tbsp each cornstarch & water to further thicken it up toward the end. It was delicious yesterday and even better today! Can’t wait to try the oven baked and slow cooker versions.