Slow Cooker Beef and Guinness Stew

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This Slow Cooker Beef and Guinness Stew is the ultimate comfort food! Simmered all day, this easy beef stew recipe delivers fall-apart tender beef, perfectly cooked vegetables and thanks to Guinness Beer, a rich and hearty flavor that melts in your mouth straight from your crock pot.bowl of stew with bread

Slow Cooker Beef and Guinness Stew

When it comes to perfect crock pot comfort food, it gets no better than Slow Cooker Beef and Guinness Stew. I mean let’s break it down. Beef stew is AMAZING! Slow simmered tender beef and perfectly cooked vegetables in a rich stew sauce .. MMM!! But when you add Guinness Beer to your beef stew.. well .. we are taking everything delicious about basic beef stew and now we are kicking it up to the next level.

Guinness Beer brings such a hearty, robust flavor to this stew sauce that this is the simmered stew dish you will crave when the weather turns cold.. 

.. or you are under the weather … 

.. or it’s St. Patrick’s Day … 

… or it’s just the third Thursday of the month …

This is a classic stew recipe with a Guinness Irish twist to it. It is rich, hearty and will bring any celebration to life!

Seriously, this Irish Beef Stew recipe is so good, you will be making up reasons just to break out your soup pot!

Looking for more Irish inspired recipes? Check out my Irish Macaroni and Cheese, Irish Soda Bread and Chocolate Bourbon Maple Bacon Cupcakes.

Irish Beef and Guinness stew

What is Guinness?

This homemade stewed beef with vegetables recipe calls for Guinness Beer which may make you wonder … exactly what IS Guinness Beer?

Guinness is a very stout, very dark beer. It’s brewed with notes of coffee and chocolate and it has a rich roasted flavor thanks to the roasted unmalted barley.

It is a black full bodied beer with a bold flavor. Basically, it is the best thing that has ever happened to beef stew broth!

Best Beef and Guinness Stew

So why is this crock pot stewed beef recipe better than any of the other stew meat recipes you will find? Let me tell you.. !

  • This Beef and Guinness Stew is easy to make with just a few familiar ingredients .. nothing too exotic going on here!

  • Slow simmering this recipe all day in your slow cooker delivers melt-in-your-mouth tender chunks of beef and perfectly cooked veggies. Perfection!
  • Guinness Beer brings the best robust flavor and dark delicious stew sauce. This is the Cadillac of beef stew recipes.
  • Stew pot or slow cooker, this is hands down the easiest stew recipe to make. Simply throw everything in a pot and walk away for 8 hours.
  • Breaking out the homemade beef stew is the perfect way to feed a hungry crowd.
  • Nothing screams ultimate comfort food like a steaming bowl of slow cooker stew meat.

veggies for stew

Irish Stew Ingredients

  • Chuck roast – Melt in your mouth, perfect fall apart but still be hearty cut of beef.
  • All purpose flour – AP flour is your foundation thickening agent.
  • Olive oil – Must have for searing your meat before adding to your cooking pot.
  • Butter – Adds flavor and needed to create the roux for your stew.
  • Bacon  – um.. it’s bacon. No other justification needed.
  • Onion – Flavor and texture.
  • Potatoes – Starchy potato bites are the best.
  • Carrots – Gives the stew a bit of a soft crunch texture and sweetens with flavor.
  • Garlic – All good things start with garlic.
  • Tomato paste – Robust flavor.
  • Soy sauce – Saltiness and depth of flavor.
  • Worcestershire sauce – More flavor 😉
  • Beef stock – Adds more beef flavor to your stew.
  • Spices – All the good things!
  • Guinness Draught or Guinness Extra Stout – Adding Guinness brings a deep rich robust flavor to your stew.

How to Make Irish Stew

Start by heating a large stock pot over high heat on your stove top. Cut the chuck roast into 2 inch chunks or use pre-cut stew meat from your grocery store.

Add in olive oil and chuck roast chunks, working in 2 batches.

browned meat for stew

Brown all sides of beef, remove and repeat with 2nd batch. Remove the meat and set aside.

Lower heat of stock pot to medium and add in the bacon pieces. Cook until crisp and remove pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add butter to the bacon grease and then add in the flour, whisking constantly for 1 minute and then pour in the beef stock.

Add in tomato paste, seasonings, Worcestershire and stirring to combine, bring to a low boil.

seasonings in a small bowl

Transfer your stew broth to your slow cooker and pour in the Guinness beer.

adding Guinness to beef stew
Add onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots and the stew beef (including any juices).

ingredients for beef stew in a stock pot

Cover and cook for 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High.

bowl of stew with bread
Serve with crusty bread and parsley for garnish.

*I use my crock pot to make this stew recipe all the time but the process shots in this recipe post were done using a stock pot.  Either is fine to use for this recipe 🙂

Pro Tips for Perfect Guinness Beef Stew

  • Cut your chuck roast into 2 inch cubes or use pre-cut stew meat from your grocery store. You want big chunks of meat to stand up to the long cooking time and the long cooking time ensures tender fall-apart beef.
  • Grabbing a chuck roast is the perfect meat for this stew. You want meat that has a bit of fat (for flavor) and slow cooking it allows the meat time to tenderize.
  • Don’t skip searing the meat! Browning the meat gives the meat extra deep, rich flavor. 
  • Adding fresh herbs at the end of the stew cooking time adds a whole new layer of delicate flavor. Sprinkle on fresh parsley, thyme or rosemary before serving.
  • Guinness Beer is one of a kind and there are no substitutions. If you prefer not to add the beef, offset with 3 extra cups of beef stock instead.
  • By letting your beef stew simmer all day, you are guaranteed tender chunks of meat. Stop lifting the slow cooker lid, let the stew do it’s job!
  • Cook this Irish stew in either a slow cooker or a large stock pot. Either work perfectly for this recipe.
  • Potatoes are personal .. use whatever potatoes you like in this recipe. I prefer Yukon gold potatoes.
  • Feel free to make life easy and substitute ‘real’ bacon with pre-cook bacon pieces from the salad dressing aisle of your grocery store. 

More soup and stew recipes

Enjoy ♥ Heather

Irish Beef and Guinness stew

Slow Cooker Beef and Guinness Stew

bowl of stew with bread
This Slow Cooker Beef and Guinness Stew is the ultimate comfort food! Simmered all day, this easy beef stew recipe delivers fall-apart tender beef, perfectly cooked vegetables and thanks to Guinness Beer, a rich and hearty flavor that melts in your mouth straight from your crock pot.
Heather - A Wicked Whisk
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 20 minutes
Serving Size 6

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds chunk roast cut into 2 inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 ounces bacon cut into small pieces
  • 1 medium onion quartered
  • 4 large garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups beef stock
  • 5 ounces tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon worchestershire
  • 22 ounces Guinness Draught or Guinness Extra Stout Beer
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoons salt to taste
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
  • 4 large carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 4 cups Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
  • Parsley for garnish and good crusty bread

Instructions

  • Start by heating a large stock pot over high heat on your stove top. Cut the chuck roast into 2 inch chunks or use pre-cut stew meat from your grocery store.
  • Add in olive oil and chuck roast chunks, working in 2 batches. Brown all sides of beef, remove and repeat with 2nd batch. Remove the meat and set aside.
  • Lower heat of stock pot to medium and add in the bacon pieces. Cook until crisp and remove pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Add butter to the bacon grease and then add in the flour, whisking constantly for 1 minute and then pour in the beef stock. Add in tomato paste, seasonings, Worcestershire and stirring to combine, bring to a low boil.
  • Transfer your stew broth to your slow cooker and pour in the Guinness beer. Add onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots and stew meat (including any juices). Cover and lower heat so that it is just gently bubbling. cook for 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High. Serve with crusty bread and parsley for garnish

Notes

  • Pro Tips for Perfect Guinness Beef Stew

    • Cut your chuck roast into 2 inch cubes or use pre-cut stew meat from your grocery store. You want big chunks of meat to stand up to the long cooking time and the long cooking time ensures tender fall-apart beef.
    • Grabbing a chuck roast is the perfect meat for this stew. You want meat that has a bit of fat (for flavor) and slow cooking it allows the meat time to tenderize.
    • Don't skip searing the meat! Browning the meat gives the meat extra deep, rich flavor. 
    • Adding fresh herbs at the end of the stew cooking time adds a whole new layer of delicate flavor. Sprinkle on fresh parsley, thyme or rosemary before serving.
    • Guinness Beer is one of a kind and there are no substitutions. If you prefer not to add the beef, offset with 3 extra cups of beef stock instead.
    • By letting your beef stew simmer all day, you are guaranteed tender chunks of meat. Stop lifting the slow cooker lid, let the stew do it's job!
    • Cook this Irish stew in either a slow cooker or a large stock pot. Either work perfectly for this recipe.
    • Potatoes are personal .. use whatever potatoes you like in this recipe. I prefer Yukon gold potatoes.
    • Feel free to make life easy and substitute 'real' bacon with pre-cook bacon pieces from the salad dressing aisle of your grocery store. 

Nutrition

Serving: 10ea | Calories: 429.1kcal | Carbohydrates: 24.9g | Protein: 33.8g | Fat: 19.2g | Saturated Fat: 6.8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8.3g | Cholesterol: 98.3mg | Sodium: 749.3mg | Potassium: 833.38mg | Fiber: 3.7g | Sugar: 4.7g | Vitamin A: 1660IU | Vitamin C: 30.2mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 3.9mg

Update Notes: This post was originally published in March of 2017 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in March of 2024.

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16 Comments

  1. This sounds like a perfect dish for St. Patty. I do have a friend’s party to attend and this would be a perfect recipe to take. Love the mix of veggies, meat and of course beer 🙂

  2. Oh Heather! At least you posted Irish foods this year. I have none.
    It’s a good thing my children are out of the house because w/ everything I’ve had going on, we’re not getting much in the way of St Pat’s spirit here.

    This is a great recipe and I’m sharing it all over!

  3. I am always running behind during festival seasons and to top it off, we Indians have at least one festival every month. The stew looks so hearty and the flavors are definitely well defined when cooked in slow cooker.

  4. OHMYGOSH my family would think they were in heaven if I served this up!! Guinness adds SUCH an amazing flavor to beef. I mean – I LOVE to drink my Guinness (it has vitamins… um… it’s good for me?) but I could see me making this, for sure!

    I once visited the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, and they have a cafe there for after the tour – so many ways of using Guinness in food and drinks that I hadn’t imagined!

  5. You know the Irish are known for running late, so in their eyes, you’re just in time for this post. And I say, it’s never to late to share a hearty and delicious beef stew! This looks incredible and with all this snow we just got, right before St. Patricks day, I’d say the timing is just perfect! I could really go for a hearty bowl of this stew right now and drown my Winter sorrows!

  6. Heather, that Irish stew is simply gorgeous! Stew is tricky to cook properly, because it’s easy to cook one vegetable just right while the other is either under cooked or overcooked. From what I can see, you’ve managed to get them all timed just right. Beautiful dish!

  7. I love cooking stew with beer as it adds so much flavor to the meat and the overall taste is robust and yummy! This should often be made before, during and even after St. Patrick’s!! YUM!

  8. This is perfect timing actually – I have just made a Guinness cake tonight for my birthday and I have loads left. I’ve been fancying making a stew with it but hadn’t tested anything out – now I don’t have to! Thanks for the recipe 😀

  9. Well, I’m Italian so I really don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – but I’d gladly make your Irish Stew that evening. I’d have to go over to our son’s house to get the fancy beer — we drink wine. I’m sure he’d contribute if I told him I’d give him some stew for his kindness. Happy St. Paddy’s Day to you!! Please take pictures of your good time and post. 😉

  10. Beef stew is a classic comfort food at our house. I bet the addition of Guinness gives it a wonderful complex flavor. Since the temperature has dropped into the 20’s at our house, this is the perfect week to try this recipe with my family.

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