Guinness Beef Stew
This Guinness Beef Stew recipe is rich and hearty, with a robust gravy-like sauce that is flavored by Guinness. A must for St. Patrick’s Day!
We have a couple of weeks until St. Patrick’s Day and I kicked things off a little early last week with my grasshopper chocolate bark, and today I want to share with you this absolute favorite stew of mine.
This Guinness beef stew hails from Cook’s Country magazine; it’s incredibly easy to prepare, and nearly all of the cooking time is hands-off. The meat is exceptionally tender, there are tons of potatoes and carrots, and it’s all drowning in a perfectly smooth and rich Guinness-spiked gravy. Absolutely delicious!
One of the best parts of this stew is that, unlike most stew recipes, you don’t have to brown the meat first – WIN! Instead of browning the meat, it is stirred into the sauce and then the whole pot is transferred to the oven and cooked, uncovered. By using this method, the uncovered meat browns and caramelizes, and the sauce thickens up perfectly. I have to admit that when I stirred the stew part way through cooking, I thought the sauce seemed a little on the thin side. I was completely amazed at how perfectly rich and thick it was once it was ready to serve. Magic!
I use my favorite Dutch oven to make this stew, and I’ve had some people ask if it’s possible to make it a slow cooker. While I’ve never done so, I’ve received feedback from some who have, and their assessment is that the stew is fine in a slow cooker, but nowhere close to as good as it is in a Dutch oven made as directed.
My husband isn’t the biggest fan of stew so I sort of gave him a heads up when I made this, but he couldn’t stop eating it… he said it was the best stew he’d ever had. I, on the other hand, have always loved stew (my hearty beef stew with a nice piece of crusty bread to soak up that fabulous sauce is total comfort food for me!), and I can confidently say that this Guinness beef stew is absolutely the best, ever.
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Guinness Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3.5 to 4 pound (1.6 to 1.8 kg) boneless beef chuck-eye roast, pulled apart at seams, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup (31.25 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 cups (720 ml) chicken stock
- 1¼ cups (287.5 ml) Guinness Draught, divided
- 4½ teaspoons (4.5 teaspoons) dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- 1½ pounds (680.39 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound (453.59 g) carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat to 325 degrees F.
- Season the beef with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the onions and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for an additional 1 minute.
- Whisk in the chicken stock, ¾ cup of the Guinness, brown sugar and thyme, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the beef and return to a simmer.
- Transfer the pot to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 90 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
- Stir in the potatoes and carrots and continue cooking until the beef and vegetables are tender, about 1 hour, stirring halfway through cooking. Remove the pot from the oven and stir in the remaining ½ cup of Guinness and the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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This stew is amazing. It’s so nice and thick and rich and just perfect for these cold winter days. I love the caramelization of the meat, too; so different than other recipes where you brown the meat first. Thank you for this recipe :-D
I use this recipe with venison, it comes out awesome. I coat the meat with brown sugar, salt,pepper, and garlick. Put in a bowl and let it soak in Guinness for a couple hours ( helps get rid of the gamie taste).Than I do everything else. This stew is always a hit. The meat comes out super tender with plenty of flavor.
Hi, when you made stew with venison meat, what cut of meat did you use. Did you try doing this recipe in crockpot with venison? I was thinking of using butterfly cuts of venison to make this, when husband gets meat butchered we don’t get roasts. Had some excellent pepperoni, hot dogs made with it. Like that butcher has good ideas for processing. Have good day.
Hi,
I’ve just one question. Once the stew’s finished and there’s some left…..can i freeze that as it is? I mean with the Guinness in it and all. We’re a household of only 2 people and i love to have some diners like this in my freezer for busy weeknights. I hope you’ll answer me.
Have a great Tuesday and till next time.
Lovely greetings from the Netherlands ( YES, i’m a proud Dutch girl),
Marja
Yes, this will freeze wonderfully! Enjoy!
I have tried other Irish Stews from Pinterest but this is by far the best! This is the only way I make stew anymore. Thanks for the recipe.
This is by far the best Guinness Stew on Pinterest! I have made just about all of them and now I will only use this one!
I have started doubling the liquids because I love the sauce. I sometimes omit potatoes and serve it over mashed potatoes Yummy
So delicious! Thank you for consistent recipes that are always great.
Made this last night and it turned out wonderful. The carrots and potatoes could have been done a bit more. We’ll definitely be making this again!
My Dad loves beef stew and I haven’t found a really good recipe til now – can’t wait to make this for him. I like what others have suggested to add pearl onions and peas – I keep trying to up the veg amount in his food. I am wondering why your, and others, recipe uses chicken stock in a beef recipe instead of beef stock? Thanks Michelle.
Hi Ellen, I’ve read in a few different places that the quality of store-bought beef broth is really, really inferior to chicken broth or stock, so you get a much richer flavor if you use chicken.
Looks so yum!! A great dish for cold weather days. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I made this tonight. Great flavor and worth the time and effort. Didn’t add potatoes but put a small bag of frozen peas is at the end as suggested by another reviewer. My can of Guinness was 1/2 cup more than the recipe called for, and the extra was added at the end as the stew was very thick. Might use 2 cans of chicken broth next time instead of measuring 3 cups.
Made this on Saturday the 18th so I could babysit the pot and stir during the afternoon. I cooked it much longer (extra 90 minutes) than the stated recipe, mostly because I wanted the complex flavors of long, slow cooking and making sure the vegetables softened. It came out great. I used beef stock instead of chicken – because beef! Peeled the potatoes. Used someone’s suggestion of adding pearl onions near the end. Everything else the same. I liked that the beef browned as it cooked and made sure plenty of pieces were always poking out – BUT – I still love the crock-pot beef stews that you don’t have to stir in between. So this was a great stew for company and will make again and the crock-pot is still my go-to for easy weekday stews that don’t need watching. We had with Irish coffee cupcakes from Donal Skehan’s recipe and it was a great dinner.
Hi BEB, I made the stew last night for St. Patty’s Day dinner. It was delicious! I only wish we had more leftovers which we would have if we hadn’t had seconds! Thank you!!!
This looks delicious! What size dutch oven would you suggest for this? There are sales on le creuset now and if I need a larger pot I’d better get it soon.
Hi Caron, I used a 7.25-quart Dutch oven, but I think it would work with one size smaller (5.5-quart).
Thanks Michelle. Now I don’t need to go shopping!
St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year…during Lent!! I was going to make this, but maybe I’ll do it on Thursday?
I’ve been a follower for quite a while but lately the postings I get are hit and miss. Some weeks I get every posting and some weeks I may not get any. Are there any problems with the website? I love your blog and don’t really want to miss any. Thank you!
I’ve been experiencing the same issues, too, Shannon!
Hi Shannon, I’m so sorry, I’ve been having an awful time with my email delivery service. It seems every couple of months it has issues; I’m working on switching to a better service. My apologies for the inconvenience :(
This looks so good! x
Izzy |http://www.pinchofdelight.com
I have made this stew several times and it is a WINNER! It has a rich taste and is simply delicious. It is one of my husbands favorite “comfort” meals. I will be making it again this year for St. Patrick’s Day.
Instead of the Dutch oven, can I use a crock pot? What are the times for the crock pot?
Hi Allyson, There are some comments above from folks who have used a crock pot (I have not personally) and it definitely creates a different texture/flavor. If you wish to do it, I would recommend low for 8 to 10 hours.
Many people have asked about doing this in a crockpot. I’ve made this stew as written many times (love it!) and tried recently to adapt it to the crockpot. Knowing it wouldn’t cook down the same, I tossed the beef cubes in flour and browned them first. I sautéed the onions, added the tomato paste and flour, and then slowly added the the broth to get the thickened stock. In the crockpot I layered the vegetables on top of the beef, added remaining ingredients and broth, and cooked for about 8-9 hours on low (as I would beef stew). It was okay, my family liked it. I won’t do it this way again. It lacked the depth of flavor the original recipe has from oven cooking. I wasn’t surprised. I’ve found certain things do just fine in the crockpot while others really do much better in the Dutch oven in the oven. They have a depth of flavor you don’t get from the crockpot. This is certainly just one persons opinion, and as I said the stew wasn’t bad from the crockpot, however I won’t make it that way again. Cheers!
I also put a kabob skewer under the crockpot lid the last hour to let the stew cook down some, trying to mimick the oven cooking.
Find it a bit sweet for my taste. I’m sure kids love it.
Do you put the beef in the stew when it is raw? Or do you brown it with the onions? Thanks!!
Hi Tracy, Yes, you put the beef in raw, you do not brown it with the onions.
I am trying to decide between this recipe and your hearty beef stew….do you have a preference? Has anyone out there made both….if so which one would you recommend I try first?
Hi Rita, They are both so good and I love them both, but I think the Guinness stew probably has a little bit more flavor. Enjoy!
This was on your most recent 115 must have recipes and deservedly so. I tried this last year for St Pat’s and it was so delicious we wanted to lick the bowls. Oh, it will come out again. Thank you for your wonderful blog.
can i make this stew in a slow cooker? i don’t have a dutch oven and I also prefer to use less energy and watch time to cook this. looks amazing.
Hi Carol, Sure, I think this would work well in a slow cooker!
Fantastic! I doubled the recipe and added a lb of finely sliced sautéed mushrooms toward the end. I transferred from my Dutch to an oversized casserole before transferring to oven. I also used some sort of tiny potatoes I found at Whole Foods and the whole meal was a great success. Definitely did not miss browning batches of meat. Really exceptional flavor.
Hi. I just put the dutch oven in the oven and I have two questions. 1) the recipe cooking time doesn’t add up to 2.5 hours. It says 90 minutes, then it says 1 hour. I’m missing an hour somewhere – where? 2) the recipe Guinness amounts don’t add up to 12 ounces. It says 3/4 cup, then 1/2 cup. I’m missing two ounces somewhere. I worry because the stew already seemed really thick before I put it in the oven.
Hi Corinne, 1) The cook time includes the time cooking on the stove as well as in the oven. 2) It should be 1.25 cups total. This is a thick stew.
Hey there! Love your site and absolutely this recipe is easily my favorite on here. Have made it before and it is delicious. I was going to make it for my dad and sister for their birthday dinner and we’re going to have quite a few people. If I’m doubling the recipe, would you recommend two dutch ovens? Or pile it all into one? And how would you adjust the cooking time? Thanks so much!
Hi Cristine, You could do two Dutch ovens and keep the cook time the same; if you double in one Dutch oven you would need to increase the cooking time quite substantially.
Thank you so much for the recipe! I had never made a stew before and decided to make this for one of my husband’s hunting weekends…and he loves Guinness. It turned out great! I asked for honest reviews from his buddies, and they really enjoyed it. I did add about 1/2 tbs Better than Bouillon beef stock to give it a meatier, heartier flavor. I think I’ll have to brown the beef beforehand next time because mine didn’t brown in the oven. I might add a little bit mor flour since it didn’t really thicken up as much as I would’ve liked. Overall, however, it was a very easy recipe with great flavor!!! Thank you again! I love your recipes! Your site is my go-to for recipes. I especially love your Guinness recipes since I always have some on hand.
Can this be done in the slow cooker…
what are the timings…do you think the same rules as above but for a 8 hour cook period would do the trick?
I have just seen previous comment..thank you…
I’ve made this several times and it’s a cold season treat at our house. This weekend I made it again, with a few changes. I couldn’t find a decent cheapish cut of beef but beef cheeks were on special so I got around 2kg worth and I only had beef broth in the cupboard. I cooked the whole thing longer, about 3 hours before adding the veggies and about 90 minutes after. The result was silly and luscious, with melt-in-your-mouth meat and a thick, richly flavored sauce to die for. Will definitely repeat this many times!