Guinness Beef Stew
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☘️ Why we love this recipe
I love beef stew any old way it comes (looking at you, coconut beef stew 😍) but this Irish girl has a special place in her heart for this beef stew that has been cooked slowly and lovingly all afternoon in a simmering bath of Guinness draught.
Tender beef with lots of veggies and a sauce that will bring you right back to the old country, even if you have never been there.
The key to this Irish beef stew is, you guessed it, Guinness Stout, which is an Irish beer that has been around since the 1700’s and is pretty easy to find right in with all the other beers, especially if you are making this recipe in the month of March. ☘️
🍺 Ingredients you need
Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
- Beef Chuck: You can either buy a chuck roast and cut it up into chunks, or you can buy it pre-cut (sometimes packaged as stew meat). One way or the other, this is the cut of beef you want for this recipe.
- Guinness: This is the best beer to use for this recipe, but you can swap in a different dark beer if you like.
- Potatoes: You can either use baby potatoes (halved if they are more teenagers than babies 😊) or regular potatoes cut into bite-sized chunks.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 325.
STEP 2: heat some canola oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat and add some chopped onions. Stir until they are starting to get tender, about five minutes. Scoop them out and set aside.
STEP 3: Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and stir until it is nice and mixed in with the onions. Stir in a quarter cup of flour, and then whisk in 3 cups of beef broth, 3/4 cup of Guinness, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and a teaspoon of thyme. Simmer this glorious concoction for 3 minutes.
STEP 4: Season some cubed chuck steak with salt and pepper. Add it to the pot and give it all a stir. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook uncovered for 90 minutes.
STEP 5: Add a pound and a half of cut up Yukon Gold potatoes (or baby potatoes) and one pound of peeled and sliced carrots to the pot, stir and continue cooking in the oven until the meat and veggies are tender, another 60 minutes.
Add the remaining Guinness, stir and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve on warmed plates, garnished with parsley for some green if you like!
All that time in the oven will concentrate all the beer and broth and other wonderful ingredients down to a flavorful perfect sauce, and although there are potatoes in this dish, if you need some bread on the side to make sure you get every scrumptious drop, I totally understand.
Recipe FAQs
NO!!! Okay, yes, if you really can’t find Guinness…another kind of stout or dark beer will be best.
If you are using Yukon Golds (sometimes known as butter potatoes) you don’t have to peel them – their skin is very thin. Just scrub them up well before you cut them. If you can’t find Yukons and need to use Idaho or russet potatoes, I would peel them.
Yep! Prepare steps 1 through 3 on this stovetop, then transfer everything (including the carrots and potatoes) to your slow cooker, cover and cook for 8 hours on low.
Pop your question in the Comments section below the recipe card and I will answer pronto!
Happy St. Pat’s to you and yours!
Equipment we used for this recipe 🥣
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
- Dutch Oven: This sturdy all-purpose pot is spendy, but we literally use it so much that it never leaves our stovetop.
- Food Scale: We use this for measuring everything from pasta to meat to flour.
- Ladle: We love this perfectly shaped one for scooping out soup or stew.
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
What to serve with this recipe 🍽️
Even though this stew comes complete with meat and veggies, we still have room for some Irish brown bread or soda bread on the side.
And for desserts, we’ll choose between cream scones and trifle. (We might have to have both 🤫)
Other Irish recipes we love! 🥰
We want to know what you think! 🤔
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.
Guinness Beef Stew
Beef stew gets a touch of the Irish when it is slowly simmered in Guinness in this easy and delicious recipe!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Irish
- Diet: Low Lactose
Ingredients
- 3–4 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1 inch chunks
- Salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 sweet onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 1/4 cups Guinness Draught Stout
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme.
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces (or baby potatoes)
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (or you can use baby carrots)
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat and add onions. Stir until they are starting to get tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and stir until well-combined. Stir in flour, and then whisk in broth, 3/4 cup Guinness, sugar and thyme. Simmer for 3 minutes.
- Season beef with salt and pepper. Add beef and stir. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook uncovered for 90 minutes.
- Add potatoes and carrots to the pot, stir and continue cooking until the meat and veggies are tender, another 60 minutes.
- Add remaining Guinness, stir and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve on warmed plates, garnished with parsley.
Notes
-
- Beef Chuck: You can either buy a chuck roast and cut it up into chunks, or you can buy it pre-cut (sometimes packaged as stew meat). One way or the other, this is the cut of beef you want for this recipe.
-
- Guinness: This is the best beer to use for this recipe, but you can swap in a different dark beer if you like.
-
- Potatoes: You can either use baby potatoes (halved if they are more teenagers than babies 😊) or regular potatoes cut into bite-sized chunks.
Love this easy recipe beef strew! We love an Irish twist for St Pattys (or all year long really!)
St Patrick’s Day all year long is a great plan!!