Hearty, rich, and filling, Guinness Irish stew is a staple pub comfort food across Ireland. While traditional Irish stew dates back hundreds of years, this modern twist on the classic is hugely popular and it’s easy to see why. Slowly cooked, super tender meat with softened root vegetables are combined with a rich, thickened sauce while the Guinness adds a malty note that truly makes this stew an Irish original.
I love cooking with Guinness, I find it adds a unique flavor to both sweet and savory applications, such as in my popular Guinness-braised pulled pork. Guinness is great at adding a toasted, malty flavor, with hints of coffee and chocolate. In Irish stew, Guinness adds those same notes without any boozy taste and darkens the sauce, giving the stew an even richer look and gloss. A wonderful comfort food, Guinness Irish stew goes great with some Irish soda bread to mop it up.

Guinness Irish Stew Origins
Considering ovens weren’t common in Ireland, even throughout the 1800s, stewing was a popular cooking method since all you needed was a cauldron over an open fire or directly on hot coals. Originally made with goat and root vegetables, potatoes were added sometime in the 16th century when they were introduced to Europe from South America.
The classic Irish stew dates to the early 1800s and mainly consisted of lamb or mutton, onions, potatoes, and water. Sometimes other root vegetables would be added like carrots, parsnips, and turnips if you could get them. Because the meat used was typically tough and harder to eat, stewing was the perfect way to slowly cook it for hours until it became nice and tender.
While the modern Irish stew has more ingredients, especially the Guinness pub and restaurant fare, the base recipe hasn’t changed all that much. Originally a recipe of necessity to feed people with only a few, cheap ingredients, modern Irish stew is a hearty comfort food perfect on a chilly day.
Ingredients for Guinness Irish Stew
There’s a few variations and options you can add or subtract from this stew. I’ll go over some variations in the descriptions of each category below.
Meat – While traditionally and still commonly made with lamb or mutton, beef is also a popular option. Beef tends to be cheaper and more widely available in the US and is what I used here. A cheap, well marbled cut with a decent amount of connective tissue is best for stewing. The fat and connective tissue breaks down during a long cooking time, adding to the flavor of the stew and leaving the meat fork tender, where a leaner cut would become tough.
Here I use chuck roast. It isn’t very expensive and is usually sold between 2-3lbs, so comes in just the right amount. I prefer whole chuck roasts to pre-cut “stew meat” as that can sometimes be cut too small. You’ll want to cut it into roughly 2” cubes so that it holds up to the long stewing time. Some recipes also include bacon.
Vegetables – In this recipe I use onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and potatoes. Feel free to remove some of those or add in options like parsnips, mushrooms, turnips, etc. Chop the vegetables how you prefer, but typically the onions are a large dice and the carrots and celery are roughly chopped at least 1-2” long. If you prefer smaller bites, feel free to dice smaller.
Potatoes – I mentioned potatoes above, but also wanted to mention a few options. Yukon gold or red potatoes are great options, and you can chop them into large chunks. Here I use small golden potatoes and cut the larger ones in half and leave the rest whole. Another option is to actually leave the potatoes out of the stew itself, and serve the stew over mashed potatoes.
Tomato Paste – A decent amount of tomato paste, fried off before adding the liquid gives a nice, deep flavor without making the sauce taste like a tomato sauce.
Flour – A little all-purpose flour helps to thicken the final sauce.
Guinness – This famous Irish stout beer adds a great flavor to the stew. Feel free to use another stout if you prefer, and if you’re really concerned about using alcohol, you can replace with more stock or water instead. Guinness does also make a Guinness Zero now if you want the flavor of the stout without the alcohol. I prefer the canned Guinness Draught Stout, but Guinness Extra Stout in the bottle is good too.
Stock/Broth – A few cups of beef broth is used to cook everything together. Depending on the broth you use and the amount of sodium in it, this will change the amount of salt you’ll want to add.
Seasoning/Herbs – Keeping things simple, this stew is made with only a few sprigs of thyme and some bay leaves, seasoned with salt and pepper. Feel free to toss in things like rosemary or some fresh parsley near the end if you prefer.
How to make Guinness Irish Beef Stew
Start by preparing the meat and vegetables. Placing the meat in the freezer for 10-15 minutes will make it easier to cut. Chop the onions into a large dice, mince the garlic, and the other vegetables can be rough chopped into 1-2” chunks. Set the uncut potatoes aside until later. Cut and trim the beef into roughly 2” pieces, some will naturally end up smaller, but try to keep bigger than an inch.
Heat some oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add some salt and pepper to the meat and sear it on all sides in batches and set aside.
Turn the heat down a little and add the onion and a little more oil if needed. Sauté about 5 minutes, then add the carrots and celery, some salt and pepper, and sauté for another 5-7 minutes longer. Make a small well and add the garlic, cooking and stirring for about 1 minute until fragrant. Now add the tomato paste and fry it off for another minute or two, stirring frequently.
Once the tomato paste has had a chance to cook up, add the flour and stir frequently until there’s no pockets of dry flour visible. Turn the heat back up and add the Guinness, deglazing the bottom of the pot until the beer begins to boil. Now add in the seared beef, the beef broth, the thyme and bay leaves, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
After two hours, cut the potatoes, uncover the pot and add them in. Check the taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Continue to simmer for another hour uncovered. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves before serving. Enjoy with some fresh Irish soda bread.
Other Cooking Methods & Storing Guinness Irish Stew
Slow-Cooker
Follow the recipe up until adding the stock into the pot. Transfer everything into your slow cooker, adding the beef, stock, herbs, and potatoes as well. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
If the sauce seems a little thin, add a cornstarch slurry to thicken the finished stew.
Instant Pot
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté setting, add some oil and sear the beef on all sides and set aside. Add the vegetables, other than the potatoes, and cook for 6-7 minutes. Pour in the Guinness and deglaze the bottom. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well to combine.
Turn off the Instant Pot close the lid. Set the valve to “Sealing” and press the “Stew” button. It will probably take 20 minutes or so to build the proper pressure and begin cooking for another 30-40 minutes.
Once it is cooked, turn it off and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, then manually release any remaining steam according to directions.
Because it is being pressure cooked and the sauce doesn’t really reduce, add a corn starch slurry to thicken the finished stew.
Storing
Once cooled, you can refrigerate Guinness Irish stew for 3-4 days. It tastes even better the next day after the flavors have melded that much more. You can reheat it on the stove or in the microwave.
You can also freeze it in an airtight container for 2-3 months.
📋 Recipe
Guinness Irish Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil, and more as needed
- 2-3 pounds beef chuck roast, see notes
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped into large dice
- 3 medium carrots, chopped into 1-2” chunks
- 2 ribs celery, chopped into 1-2” chunks
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 can Guinness Draught Stout
- 3 cups low-sodium beef broth/stock
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon table salt, plus more for sautéing
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more for sautéing
- 8 oz small golden potatoes, see notes
Directions
- Start by preparing the meat and vegetables. Placing the meat in the freezer for 10-15 minutes will make it easier to cut. Chop the onions into a large dice, mince the garlic, and the other vegetables can be rough chopped into 1-2” chunks. Set the uncut potatoes aside until later. Cut and trim the beef into roughly 2” pieces, some will naturally end up smaller, but try to keep bigger than an inch.
- Heat some oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add some salt and pepper to the meat and sear it on all sides in batches and set aside.
- Turn the heat down a little and add the onion and a little more oil if needed. Sauté about 5 minutes, then add the carrots and celery, some salt and pepper, and sauté for another 5-7 minutes longer. Make a small well and add the garlic, cooking and stirring for about 1 minute until fragrant. Now add the 4 tablespoons of tomato paste and fry it off for another minute or two, stirring frequently.
- Once the tomato paste has had a chance to cook up, add 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and stir frequently until there’s no pockets of dry flour visible. Turn the heat back up and add the can/bottle of Guinness, deglazing the bottom of the pot until the beer begins to boil. Now add in the seared beef, 3 cups of beef broth, 3 sprigs of thyme and 2 bay leaves, and a teaspoon of table salt and ground black pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- After two hours, cut the potatoes, uncover the pot and add them in. Check the taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Continue to simmer for another hour uncovered. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves before serving. Enjoy with some fresh Irish soda bread.
Nathanaelle Yoshimura says
I made this for dinner tonight, holy smokes, so delicious!! Thanks for including instructions for the crockpot, I did 10 hours on low and it was so tender!
Chris Pezzana says
So glad to hear you and your family enjoyed it. Glad the gluten-free option worked out too with the cup and half of coffee and teaspoon of cocoa powder in place of the Guinness. I'll be sure to add that to the recipe when I do an update.