Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Irish Beef and Guinness Stew Recipe
There’s no larger consolation meals than a hearty stew. And Irish Beef and Guinness Stew may be the king of all of them! Guinness provides the sauce an unimaginable wealthy, deep flavour, and the meat is fall-apart tender. Range, oven, sluggish cooker or strain cooker – instructions offered for all.
It is a reader-favourite recipe included by widespread demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
It is a reader-favourite recipe included by widespread demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Irish Stew could be the mom of all stews. I imply, you realize that something simmered for hours goes to be a great factor. However this…. that is the stew of your desires. Arguably probably the most deeply flavourful sauce of all stews, with a wealthy darkish brown flavour, that is the better of one of the best.
THIS is the stew I make for firm after I need to impress!
With it’s deeply flavoured wealthy sauce, Guinness Beef Stew is THE stew you make while you need to impress!
The not-so-secret ingredient that goes into Guinness Stew that offers the sauce the deep flavour and color is Guinness Beer.
Guinness Beer is so darkish it’s nearly black and it’s why the gravy of the stew is such a gorgeous deep brown color. Guinness can also be a lot richer than most beers, which you’ll see simply by wanting on the thick creamy head (the froth) that Guinness is famed for.
It’s fairly broadly out there today – right here in Australia, you’ll discover it at most liquor shops.
Historically, Guinness Stew is made with lamb. However in lots of elements of the world together with right here in Australia and North America, Guinness Stew is extra generally made with beef.
I hope the Irish aren’t offended! 🙂 I’ve made it with lamb and to be sincere, I do choose it with beef.
Tip: Use huge chunky hunks of beef. Don’t even consider using tiny cubes of beef. It must be chunky items so it may be cooked for a looooong time to get all that flavour into the sauce! If the items of beef are too small, they may cook dinner too shortly and disintegrate within the stew earlier than it’s had sufficient time to develop the deep flavours.
Along with chuck beef and Guinness Beer, listed below are the opposite components in Irish Stew.
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Garlic and onion – necessities
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Bacon – provides additional flavour! Will be skipped, or sub with pancetta or speck
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Carrot and celery – potatoes may be added
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Flour and tomato paste – to thicken sauce and the tomato paste additionally provides some flavour;
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Guinness Beer and broth/liquid inventory – the braising liquids. I choose utilizing chicken moderately than beef broth as a result of it permits the flavour from the Guinness beer to return by higher. Don’t fear, it doesn’t style like beer in any respect, it transforms right into a deep savoury sauce! Additionally, all of the alcohol is cooked out.
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Thyme and bay leaves – so as to add a touch of flavour the sauce.
Although this Irish Beef and Guinness Stew takes time to cook dinner, it is rather easy. The steps are not any totally different to normal stews like basic Beef Stew:
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Brown the meat – brown them nicely, that is key to flavour. It’s not simply the browned beef itself, additionally the brown bits left on the underside of the pot (fond) provides additional flavour to the sauce;
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Sauté flavour base – onion, garlic, bacon (speck or pancetta), carrot and celery;
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Prepare dinner off flour and tomato paste;
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Add liquids – beer, broth and herbs;
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Simmer coated for two hours till the meat is fairly tender, then simmer for an extra half-hour uncovered to let the sauce scale back a bit and for the meat to change into “disintegrate tender”.
Sure it takes hours however your endurance is rewarded with beef so tender you possibly can eat it with a spoon!
The one factor I do in a different way to most Guinness Beef Stew recipes, together with very conventional Irish recipes, is to thicken the sauce barely with flour. For those who don’t do that step, the sauce is sort of skinny and watery, and whereas the flavour remains to be beautiful, I actually choose the sauce to be extra like a skinny gravy.
Serve Beef and Guinness Stew over mashed potato or cauliflower mash for a low carb possibility. And what about some heat crusty Irish Soda Bread to mop your bowl clear??
I’m so glad I’ve a bathtub of this within the freezer. I cooked a lot of the day however gave all of it away. The minute I hit Publish on this submit, I’m going to get cracking reheating a few of this Irish Stew for dinner tonight! – Johnsat x
This recipe options in my debut cookbook Dinner. The e-book is generally new recipes, however this can be a reader favorite included by widespread demand!
This recipe options in my debut cookbook Dinner. The e-book is generally new recipes, however this can be a reader favorite included by widespread demand!
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!!
Notes
1. Guinness Beer is a dark coloured rich Irish beer and it is the key flavouring for the sauce of this stew. You CANNOT taste it in the finished dish, it just melds into an amazing sauce. In Australia you can get Guinness at all major liquor stores.
There is no non alcoholic substitute unfortunately. If you cannot consume alcohol, substitute the Guinness with 2 cups water + 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce + 2 beef bouillon cubes crumbled. This will make it a classic beef stew. Taste FAB, it just isn’t Irish Guinness Stew!
2. Other cooking methods:
– OVEN: Cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours at 160C / 320F. Remove then cook for a further 30 – 45 minutes to reduce sauce, per recipe.– 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.
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