This rich and hearty Irish Guinness Beef Stew is wonderful comfort food on a cold day. Great for St. Patrick’s Day or any other day of the year!
Is there anything more comforting than beef stew on a cold day? I love a good hearty beef stew, and I think a really good beef stew should have tender beef, a rich sauce, and tons of flavor. I shared a Red Wine Beef Stew last year, but with Saint Patrick’s Day coming up I wanted to try one with the most Irish of beers, Guinness.
Of course many Americans think of Corned Beef and Cabbage as the dinner of St. Patrick’s Day. But to be honest, in my Irish American family, we always had beef stew on St. Patrick’s Day. I didn’t even make corned beef and cabbage for the first time until I was well into adulthood. But it doesn’t have to be St. Patrick’s Day to enjoy this Irish Guinness Beef Stew! This is a big bowl of hearty comfort food that can be enjoyed anytime of year, especially on cold and dark winter days.
Serve with some Irish Guinness Brown Bread and maybe even enjoy and Irish Mule or two for the ultimate St. Patrick’s Day!
Irish Guinness Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3 ½ pounds beef chuck cut into 1 and 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 onions finely diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 1/4 cups Guinness beer divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 pound carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
- fresh parsley
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- After cutting the beef into chunks, season it with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Heat the oil in an oven safe dutch oven over medium-medium high heat. Add the onions, season with salt and sauté until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat as needed to avoid burning the onions.
- When onions are golden, add the tomato paste and garlic, stir until combined and a "fond" (the brown bits) is starting to develop on the bottom of the pot. Add the flour and stir until flour is mixed in, making a roux. It will look lumpy and weird at this point, that is OK!
- Slowly whisk in the beef broth until the flour roux is mixed in and the broth is smooth. Add 1/2 a cup of the Guinness, the brown sugar, and the fresh thyme. Whisk to combine.
- Add the beef to the pot and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, remove from oven and add the carrots and potatoes. Stir to arrange the beef so that different parts of it are sticking out of the stew - that way they can brown in the oven. Return stew to the oven for one more hour.
- Remove stew from oven. If beef is not as tender as you would like, you can continue to roast for another half hour. When finished cooking, stir in the remaining 3/4 cup of Guinness and fresh chopped parsley. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Kim says
I only have a 4qt Dutch oven. Can I slow cook on the top of the stove instead of putting in the oven?
Meghan says
Hi Kim – the stew get browned in the oven and adds a ton of flavor so that is an important step.
Martha says
Just double checking: this is done in the oven uncovered for the entire time? Even after veggies added?
My other question is whether you have done this completely on the stovetop? Oh and have you made it with lamb?
Meghan says
Hi Martha – yes, it is uncovered the entire time. This would not be the same if made on the stovetop because cooking it uncovered in the oven is what browns the meat and deepens the flavor. I have tried it with lamb and it didn’t turn out as well. I am still working on perfecting the recipe with lamb and will share when I do! Lamb doesn’t need to be cooked as long.
Kimberly says
Can this be done over a campfire and in a regular stew pot. We are going camping St. Patrick’s Day weekend and would love to make this?
Meghan says
Hi Kimberly, I have never tried it but I think it would work! I’m not sure about the differences in time, you would probably need to just keep an eye on it as the heat from the campfire will vary.
Kristen says
Hi!
Would like to make a vegetarian version- thinking of adding in portabello instead of beef. Any suggestions on timing/amount differences?
Thanks!!
Meghan says
Hi Kristen – I haven’t tried this so I can’t be sure! I would say it will take less time because the beef is what needs the long cooking time. Also the beef adds quite a bit of fat which is important for the flavor, so you will probably want to add something to make up for that. Let me know how it works out!
Lauren says
Would there be a good substitute for the beer in this recipe?
Meghan says
Hi Lauren,
Are you looking for something non alcoholic? You can just use all beef broth if you want. The beer really adds some nice flavor, but I don’t think there is really something you can substitute for the beer. If you aren’t worried about the alcohol, wine is a very nice addition as well.
John says
Just curious about the size of the Dutch oven I should use. Plan on making this recipe tomorrow night. I don’t own a Dutch oven yet😃 . Thanks John
Meghan says
Hi John – I use a 6 quart here!
SarAh says
I’m making this tonight for dinner since i had to work last night. It smells amazing can’t wait for it to finish cooking so we can try it.
Meghan says
Glad to hear it Sarah, I hope you enjoyed it!
Lauren reilly says
Perfect st paddys day fare. I made last night and we ate tonite. Meat was so tender and the taste was amazing. Thanks for sharing.🍀🍀🍀🍀
Meghan says
So happy you loved it, Lauren! Happy St. Paddy’s day!
Elizabeth says
This sounds amazing, but curious if I can make it in the crock pot instead? Thanks!
Meghan says
Hi Elizabeth, I haven’t made it in the crockpot yet, but I think it would work with a few modifications. I would start it by browning the beef first – in this recipe we don’t brown the beef because it browns in the oven. Since the beef will be cooked in the crock pot it would be better to brown it first, then add it to the crockpot. Then saute the onions and add the tomato paste, adding the flour as instructed. Whisk in enough liquid to dissolve the flour. Add everything to the crockpot and continue the recipe as instructed. Again, I want to reiterate that I have not yet tested it in the crockpot so I can’t be 100% sure of the results. Let me know how it turns out!
Laura says
Oh. My. Word. this was the most amazing beef stew I have ever had! Like better than the beef stew I had on my honeymoon in Ireland! Thank you so much for sharing this! I tried to speed things up and brown it first, but the meat was still tough. I should have just followed your directions. Duh. Mine also dried out from cooking during the two hour time. I added an additional tablespoon of tomato paste, a tbsp of butter and a tbsp of flour and three cups of beef broth. Then put it in with the carrots and potatoes for the other hour. It was just perfect. I cant put into words how great this recipe was!
Meghan says
Hi Laura, I’m so glad you loved it, thank you! I find that with this cut of meat the longer you cook it the more tender it gets. So if it was tough after 2 hours, it probably just needed more time. I find that about 3.5 hours is usually the best cooking time. Low and slow is the key! So happy it was a hit for you!
Karly says
St. Pat’s day is coming in hot, and so are all of my favorite Irish recipes!! This looks SO good- definitely need to try it out soon!
Meghan says
Thank you so much Karly!