Although St. Patricks day was earlier this month, I was still in the mood for some Irish food. What better than Guinness Beef Stew!
I’m not a beer drinker at all, but I do love the flavor it lends when you cook with it. Beer batter fried fish is probably my favorite way to cook with beer, but I just may have found another recipe with this beef stew. It’s hearty and delicious..with a definite taste of Guinness.
If there’s one thing I would do differently in my preparation of the stew is that, I wouldn’t use extra stout, cos it’s extra bitter. But, I’m pretty clueless when it comes to picking beers and so I didn’t know the difference before. As you’ll see in my recipe below I specify not to use extra stout, although all my pictures show Guinness Extra Stout. Take my word for it. We still ate all the stew and it was delicious, but it left a little bitter after-taste that regular Guinness doesn’t leave.
Do give this recipe a try if you’re a stew fan…or a beer fan for that matter, you won’t regret it!
- 2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 sticks celery
- 10-12 mushrooms
- 2 cups diced pototoes
- 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas & carrots
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried thyme/ or fresh sprigs
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 cups guinness (not extra stout)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp flour dissolved in water
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- handful of chopped parsley
- 1 pack of puff pastry
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
- – Start with the prep work. Roughly dice the onion & mince the garlic cloves.
- – Slice your celery into small pieces and either half or quarter (for bigger mushrooms) the mushrooms.
- – Generously season your beef pieces with salt and pepper.
- – Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a hot dutch oven/ large pot.
- – Brown the beef pieces on all sides in a small batch and once they’re browned well, remove them with a slotted spoon and set them aside on a plate. Repeat until the beef is browned.
- – Then add the diced onions to the same pot and sautee them for a couple minutes until they turn soft and translucent.
- – Add the garlic and sautee it for 2 minutes with the onions.
- – Add the chopped celery and mushrooms to the pot and sautee them for a couple minutes.
- – Next, add the tomato paste, thyme and rosemary. Also season the veggies with some salt. – Give everything a good stir then add the beef back into the pot along with all those juices.
- – Pour in the Guinness stout and beef broth and bring the stew to a boil.
- – Measure in the brown sugar and add a bay leaf to the stew then turn the heat down to a low simmer, cover the pot and let the stew slowly cook for about an hour.
- – After about an hour (or earlier if you dice your potatoes big), add the potatoes to the stew. I used one bite honey gold potatoes and still cut them in halves. They normally take only 15-20 minutes to boil, but since I’m cooking my stew on low heat, I estimated they’d take about 30 minutes to cook. Put the lid back on and give the stew another 30 minutes.
- – So after an hour and half of simmering the stew. Mix 2 tablespoons of flour in just enough water to dissolve it and stir it well to make sure there are no lumps.
- – Bring the stew up to a rapid boil and slowly pour in the flour mix while stirring. It will start to thicken almost instantly.
- – Once the stew has reached the consistency you like, turn the heat off, add the frozen peas and carrots and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. (You want the peas and carrots, tender and not overcooked and mushy, so they’re going to finish cooking in the oven when make our pot pies.)
- – You can simply eat the Guinness beef stew as it, or you can take it a step further and make an Irish pot pie out of it. Pre-heat the oven to 400F and thaw the puff pastry packet according to the instructions on the pack.
- – Roll out the pastry to get rid of the fold creases. Measure out the dishes you’re going to use and cut the pastry. I used 2 double-serving rectangular casserole dishes.
- – Fill the dishes with the stew and place a cut pastry on top of each dish. Stretch the pastry gently and pinch it around the lip of the dish to prevent shrinkage during cooking.
- – Brush the pastry lightly with egg wash (1 egg whisked with one tablespoon of water). Pop the pot pies in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry turns golden and crispy.
- – After removing the pot pies from the oven, let them rest for 15-20 minutes before serving them, allowing the stew to cool a little. Eat and Enjoy!
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Hi Noreen…The recipe looks sooo yummmy…iam sure it will taste divine too..i have to give a try….provided uncle is willing to spare his guinness !! You are n have become a fantastic chef…keep up the good work my girl…All the best.
Regards
Anita
Just made this for dinner tonight with leftover roast! It’s cooking in the oven right now, but I sampled the stew (and Guiness) while cooking it and it’s delicious!
Thanks for sharing! Really enjoyed it 🙂
This is spectacular!!! The entire family loved it.
This dish is truly spectacular! My entire family loved it. 🙂
Great recipe!! I made a couple changes/additions. I tossed the beef with flour and seasonings before browning. And after I deglazed and added the liquid, I added a few strips of orange peel to balance the earthiness, grated some nutmeg, and at the end, instead of the flour water mixture, I made a roux… With softened butter and an equal amount of flour. The roux adds some richness and won’t clump. As I tasted, I added a splash of sherry vinegar because it just needed some brightness. I also am quite a “heat freak” so I added a little cayenne and chipotle powder to compliment the smoky notes in the Guinness! I made a cheddar/stout pie crust for the top. Excellent recipe! I looked up quite a few and this was, by far, the best I came across. Cheers!
Hi there! Would LOVE to make this recipe, however I was just wondering if I could substitute or just simply leave out the Guinness? I can’t purchase it around where I live. Thank you!
Could you please clarify what “original” Guiness refers to? Every place I look I find that “Extra Stout” is the “original” Guiness. Also there is no Guiness Stout – it is all Guiness Extra Stout. What specifically do you recommend for this recipe. Thank you.
By Original I mean Guinness Draught or where it specifically says Guinness Original on the bottle. The Extra stout variety is darker and had more bitterness to it. See the first beer in this list https://www.guinness.com/en-us/our-beers/. You can also use a lager instead. Hope this helps
Perfect for a cold, rainy night. Dad and I both loved it and it was much easier than I expected. Thanks!
Can I make this exact recipe ahead and freeze it? Will it keep three days in the freezer and still be tasty?