Guinness Beef Stew has everything a Stew should have – heartiness, comfort, Guinness and potatoes! Straightforward ingredients come together to make this pot of gold. This recipe is for a basic yet delicious Stew. If you want to make a more involved Stew, scroll down to see how, under the ‘Flexibility with Ingredients’ section.
Irish Stew is typically made from lamb or mutton cooked in a beer based broth. This recipe exchanges the lamb with Beef. It can be cooked in an Instant Pot, slow cooker, or as I did, on the stovetop in a Dutch oven.
Low and slow is the approach to making Guinness Beef Stew. Rush it and boil the stew, the meat muscle fibers will shrink and become tough. Follow the recipe and you’ll be enjoying a nice bowl of tender Beef, with root vegetables in a rich stout broth.
Ingredients
- Stewing beef: top or bottom sirloin, or chuck, cut into chunks.
- Carrots.
- Potatoes.
- Onion: yellow.
- Shallots.
- Olive oil.
- Thyme: preferably fresh.
- Guinness: not pictured.
Instructions
Pour the oil into a large, deep skillet or a Dutch oven and heat it over a medium / high heat. When it is hot, add the beef chunks and stir.
While the beef is browning, peel and dice the onions. Peel and cut the shallots into chunks.
Once the beef has browned, add the onions first. Stir well into the beef and allow the onions to sauté in the oil.
While the onions are sautéing, peel and slice the carrots.
Add the shallots to the pot and stir well.
Then add the sliced carrots, salt, pepper and fresh thyme.
Pour in the Guinness.
Stir everything together, put the lid on and cook on a low to medium heat for 1.5 hours. If the contents of the pot start to boil, lower the heat so the food cooks on a simmer.
Potatoes can be peeled if desired, otherwise scrub the skins. Cut the potatoes into pieces.
Add the potatoes to the pot after 1.5 hours, stir them in with the rest of the ingredients and then replace the lid. Cook for 30 additional minutes until the meat is tender and vegetables are cooked.
Flexibility with Ingredients
There’s a lot of flexibility with this recipe:
- Additions such as mushrooms, red wine, parsley, fresh or dried bay leaves, rosemary, oregano, sage and garlic are welcome.
- Substitutions such as ground beef, lamb or mutton instead of beef chunks, mushroom or beef stock instead of Guinness, parsnips instead of carrots, butter instead of oil, oregano instead of thyme, are all worth considering.
- Deletions can also be made too, perhaps shallots, and thyme. Deleting Guinness will make this Beef Stew gluten free, make sure to add a gluten free beef stock to ensure the final product will be without gluten.
Uses for Guinness Beef Stew
Guinness Beef Stew is the quintessential comfort food in Ireland. Don’t just save this dish for cold winter months. I used to live in the Tropics and I still prepared and served Stew for dinner.
This can be a family meal or served when friends and family come over.
So, what should I serve with Beef Stew?:
- Food wise, serve breads such as Soda or Wheaten Bread, or a crusty white loaf. Irish butter needs to be on the table too. A green side salad is also a welcome addition.
- Beverage wise, serve more Guinness, chilled to 40 degrees F or if you prefer serve it at room temperature as was done pre 21st century. If you would like to serve wine, then I recommend a Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.
- For dessert, consider serving Banoffee Pie, a delicious banana – toffee pie popular in Ireland.
Storage
Guinness Beef Stew stores very well. I believe, and others too, that it tastes better the next day. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze Beef Stew for up to 6 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat Guinness Beef Stew to 165 degrees F. in a pot over a medium heat.
Beverage Pairing with Guinness Beef Stew
As mentioned above there are several options of beverage that will round out your meal:
- Serve more Guinness, chilled to 40 degrees F or at room temperature. This will further solidify the rich stout flavor in the Stew.
- Red wine, such as a Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.
- Tea, always a welcome beverage. Traditional Irish teas include Barry’s, Lyons and Thompson’s Punjana. Everyone has their own way of making tea. I would recommend using boiling hot water from a kettle, adding loose leaf or tea bags to a teapot. Allow the pot of tea to infuse (maybe 5 minutes) and then pour. A little milk can be added.
Similar Recipes to Guinness Beef Stew
Tender, mouth watering Braised Pot Roast, served with mashed potatoes, carrots, and parsnips.
Easy Cottage Pie, delicious savory beef in gravy, topped with creamy mashed potatoes and finished until golden brown in the oven.
A Tip From Me
Guinness Beef Stew is a typical stew in that it tastes better the following day. With this knowledge, make it a day ahead or better yet make a double batch!
Got Questions?
I’ve got answers – hopefully!
- How is this Stew different from Irish Stew? Irish Stew typically uses lamb or mutton as the meat of choice. This recipe uses stewing Beef.
- Why don’t you flour the Beef before searing it in oil? This step is not needed. The most important step with regard to the Beef, is the searing of the Beef cubes. The caramelized bits left in the bottom of the pot, after the Beef has been browned (these bits are called a ‘fond’), are then deglazed (means ‘unstuck’) with Guinness. This ‘fond’ adds great flavor to your stew. Some people prefer to dust their Beef cubes in seasoned flour before browning the Beef. They believe it gives more depth to the flavor and helps maintain the shape and integrity of the Beef. The presence of the flour will also thicken the gravy. I don’t believe this is needed but there is no harm in doing it!
- I want my stew to have a thick gravy, how can I do that with this recipe? First of all, you can add the potatoes into the pot at the same time as the carrots. That will give them longer to cook. They will fall apart and start to thicken the liquid. Another way to thicken your Stew is to use a tbsp of cornstarch, add cold water to make a slurry and pour it into the simmering liquid, stirring the Stew as you add it. If 1 tbsp of cornstarch is not enough, then continue to make and add more slurry until you receive the desired thickness
Guinness Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 lb stewing beef cut into chunks
- 10 oz carrots
- 10 oz potatoes
- 1 large onion
- 4 shallots
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme small bunch
- 11.2 oz Guinness 1 bottle
Instructions
- Pour the oil into a large, deep skillet or a Dutch oven and heat it over a medium / high heat. When it is hot, add the beef chunks and stir.
- While the beef is browning, peel and dice the onions. Peel and cut the shallots into chunks.
- Once the beef has browned, add the onions first. Stir well into the beef and allow the onions to sauté in the oil.
- While the onions are sautéing, peel and slice the carrots.
- Add the shallots to the pot and stir well.
- Then add the sliced carrots, salt, pepper and fresh thyme.
- Pour in the Guinness.
- Stir everything together, put the lid on and cook on a low to medium heat for 1.5 hours. If the contents of the pot start to boil, lower the heat so the food cooks on a simmer.
- Potatoes can be peeled if desired, otherwise scrub the skins. Cut the potatoes into pieces.
- Add the potatoes to the pot after 1.5 hours, stir them in with the rest of the ingredients and then replace the lid. Cook for 30 additional minutes until the meat is tender and vegetables are cooked.
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