Guinness Beef Stew

This Guinness Beef Stew is filled with tender chuck roast, veggies, and a rich broth that sings with this dish’s signature ingredient: Guinness Draught.

If you’re looking to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with an Irish-inspired dish (and you’re not looking to make some Corned Beef & Cabbage), this Guinness Beef Stew is for you.

Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day recipe ideas? Try this:

• Irish Soda Bread

Guinness Beef Stew Ingredients

Here’s everything you’ll need for this fall-apart dish:

Chuck roast: A beautifully tender cut, chuck is the perfect beef because it completely melts in your mouth once its been simmering low and slow for hours.

Guinness Draught: The star of the show.

Bacon: You can omit, but this brings a smoky depth to the stew.

Carrots, onions, garlic and celery: Your classic stew staples.

Beef broth: I use a combination of water and beef bouillon powder because #convenience.

Flour: To help thicken the stew.

Worcestershire: For flavor.

Tomato paste: For richness.

Herbs: We’ll be using fresh thyme, parsley and dried bay leaves.

*Note that you aren’t seeing potatoes here. That’s because I’m serving this stew over mashed potatoes. If you want to make this stew a full dish, you should chop your potatoes and add them in to the last hour of cooking.

How to Make Guinness Beef Stew

This rich, luxurious stew will be cooked low and slow for several hours until the meat is beautifully tender.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Salt your chuck roast overnight.

I actually start thinking about this stew a day ahead of time — and that’s because I want to salt my meat overnight.

Something I learned while watching ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat‘ on Netflix is the power of salt. Since then, every time I bring home red meat (that’s I’m going to be cooking within a day or two), I immediately take it out of its package, generously salt it and then let it sit in the fridge in a ziplock bag. SO, get your chuck roast, trim and generously salt it. And then leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

Step 2: Prep everything.

OK, now it’s time for prep. Remove the chuck and bacon from the fridge. I first cut my chuck into cubes, salt and pepper generously, and then I cut my bacon into cubes and set both aside so they can come to room temperate while I’m prepping the rest.

Next, chop up the celery, carrots, garlic and onion. Measure out your flour, tomato paste, beef broth and get the herbs together. Crack open one Guinness for the stew — and another one for you 😉

Step 3: Crisp the bacon.

In a dutch oven over medium-high heat, crisp up the bacon. Once crisp, use a slotted spoon to remove to a plate.

*Note: I pour off most of the bacon grease and reserve it in a mason jar for future use. Leave a TBS in the pot though.

Step 3: Brown the beef.

Now brown the chuck until each side has a beautiful color (not grey!). I do these in 2–3 batches so that I don’t crowd the dutch oven. Once done, add to a plate and set aside.

Step 4: Cook the veggies.

Now add a touch of olive oil and the carrots, onion and celery to the pot. Let cook until softened (about 6 minutes). Then add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about one minute).

Step 5: Make the stew.

Now, add the flour to the veggies and stir, making sure that any raw white flour bits get stirred in to the veggies. Cook for about one minute, and then add the tomato paste. Stir to break up the paste and cook for 2–3 minutes, or until the tomato paste starts to take on a deeper color.

Deglaze with the Guinness, making sure to scrap up any brown, stuck on bits at the bottom of the pot. Pour in the beef stock, splash in the worcestershire and add the herbs. Stir, and then add the beef and bacon back to the pot.

Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer and let cook, covered, for about 3 hours. At the 3 hour mark, bring the heat up just a tad, and continue to cook, partially covered, for about another hour or until the beef is tender and the stew is at your preferred consistency.