Guinness Beef Stew

As someone who is half Irish (and spent a summer in Ireland), Irish recipes are near and dear to my heart. This robust and flavorful Guinness Beef Stew is one on regular rotation in my home.

Many people know me because of my Irish Soda Bread recipe that has gone a bit crazy over the years. Tens of thousands of people have made it (which makes me happy).

Recently I shared a video for Colcannon aka Irish Mashed Potatoes, that went a bit viral, in that video you could see the Guinness Stew I made to serve along side of it. Since so many are asking, here is the Guinness Beef Stew Recipe.

Why you should make this Guinness Stew Recipe

• Irish stew dates back to the turn of the 18th century and was made with mutton. These days its bad with either beef or more traditionally lamb. It's not difficult to make, has great flavor and uses an more inexpensive cut of beef.
• You can make a big batch and have dinner for more than one night.
• Sure it's a festive Saint Patrick's Day recipe! However, this Irish stew is pure comfort food and can be made anytime in spring, fall or winter.

What are the ingredients to make it

• Bacon
• Beef (chuck) or lamb shoulder
• Onions, carrots, celery, garlic
• Flour
• Guinness
• Beef Stock
• Flour, salt and pepper
• Frozen peas
• Thyme, scallons or chives
• Parsley (optional)

How to make it

Start my getting all of your ingredients chopped, prepped and ready to go. Cook your bacon. Season & brown your meat in the bacon drippings, remove and sauté your vegetables. add in the flour, cook it off. From there you'll add in your liquids and then add the rest of the ingredients (adding your meat back in). Simmer for awhile on low, taste and adjust, pull from the heat. Add in bacon, scallions or chives and if you wish garnish with parsley. Serve over colcannon or mashed potatoes and enjoy. See recipe card below for full measurements and step by step instructions.

Tips for a great Irish Stew

• Don't try to rush this, slow and low on the stove is the way to go for maximum flavor and tenderness.
• If flour is an issue for you, you can leave it out. It will still taste delicious, just less thick.
• As far as the carrots, I like to dice some for the initial flavor build with the celery, leeks and garlic. I also like to add additional sliced carrots when I add in the beef broth for enjoying as part of the dish. Same goes for carrots, you can add an extra sliced onion when you add the extra carrots so they hold up and you can enjoy them.
• I serve this with Colcannon aka Irish Mashed Potatoes, however if you are not, feel free to add chunks of gold potatoes or roaster potatoes to this when you add in the beef broth and Guinness.
• Biggest tip is: This beef stew recipe is an easy recipe to change up. Add as many root vegetables as you wish, cut the veggies as big or as small as you want. Make it as thick or as thin as you wish, etc. This is a super forgiving recipe and easy to change up to make your own.

Variations

• Feel free to add in small mushrooms (see photo below), rutabaga (swede's), parsnips or any other root vegetable you enjoy to extend the stew.
• Feel free to swap the beef for lamb shoulder which is also lovely! If you want to be fancy, you can use boneless short ribs as well.
• Because I also made Colcannon and had an extra ¼ head of cabbage, I shredded it and added that in to what you see here. Added in when I added the vegetables to sauté as to not let it go to waste. Optional but delish!

What to serve with Irish Stew

I love to pair it with Colcannon however regular mashed potatoes work as well. You can also choose to serve this beef stew with bread for dipping, an Irish Brown Bread , hot from the oven would be lovely.

Irish Recipes To Try