Crockpot Guinness Beef Stew Recipe

A rich, hearty bowl of Guinness beef stew is absolutely comforting. One thing I love about this recipe is that it makes perfect comfort food for a cozy evening in any time of the year. It's also a perfect dish to make around St. Patrick's Day.

Slow-simmered with tender beef, root vegetables, and the deep, malty flavor of Guinness stout, this stew is pure comfort in a bowl. It’s the kind of meal that fills your kitchen with mouthwatering aromas and brings everyone to the table. I’ve made this stew countless times, and it never fails to satisfy—so grab a pint (for the pot and maybe for yourself), and let’s get cooking!

There are countless adaptations of beef stew around the world. But I think that one of the best tasting classic beef stews is an Irish take. Added to their classic beef stew recipe is a classic Irish ingredient, Guinness. Adding Guinness to a slow-simmered beef stew creates a mouthwatering dark, rich, bold, unforgettable finishing sauce. So, break out your crockpot, and let’s cook our Crockpot Guinness Beef Stew recipe.

Irish Guinness Beef Stew is Amazing Because:

• Dark, Rich, Bold, Unforgettable Flavor – It’s worth repeating! Once you’ve tasted this Guinness beef stew recipe, you might just compare all other recipes to this one. The Guinness adds such an amazing undertone of Irish flavors that you’ll think you have been whisked to the shores of the Emerald Isle.  And as they say, “Guinness isn’t beer, it's dessert!”
  
  
• Fun and exotic to make – Come on! Adding beer to anything is totally fun! But adding a dark, rich Guinness stout to help flavor and tenderize your stew beef borders on the exotic. How much fun to pop the top off the Guinness, pour it into your crockpot, and watch it surround the luscious ingredients, adding its unique, bold Irish essence.
  
  
• The anticipation will grow – The Guinness beef stew will need to cook for at least 4 hours in your crockpot. What’s the upside of having to wait this long to tuck into your stew? It’s walking around the house, constantly enveloped in the remarkable aroma that fills the entire house with the cooking Guinness beef stew. The good news is that you have the other bottles of Guinness hanging around : ).
  
  
• Let the crockpot do all the heavy lifting – Once you’ve prepared all the ingredients and added them to the crockpot, the rest is easy. Just let the crockpot do all the work. That’s the beauty of cooking your Guinness beef stew in a crockpot instead of a stew pot on top of your stove. Literally, “set it and forget it!”

Notes for Cooking Your Guinness Beef Stew

• What cut of beef should I use? – You want to use a cut of beef with a ton of connective tissue that will break down and become tender after hours of slow cooking. The most common cuts of beef that fill this bill are chuck roast, round roast, short ribs, and brisket.
  
  There are two pieces of good news here. All these cuts of beef are readily available at your grocery store, and they are very inexpensive!
  

• Be sure to cut the beef and vegetables into larger chunks – Unlike cooking a soup in a crockpot like our Crockpot Bean Soup With Ham Bone, where the vegetables are cut smaller so they will basically dissolve and disappear while cooking, with our Guinness beef stew recipe the beef and vegetables need to be cut larger. This way, they are chunky and robust when finished, contributing to a big mouthful of luscious stew ingredients.
  

• Be careful not to add too much liquid to the Guinness beef stew – Again, unlike a soup, your Guinness beef stew should not be runny or watery when it is finished. The texture should be thick and gravy-like. Add just enough Guinness and beef stock to barely cover the ingredients in your Crock pot.

• Worcestershire sauce brings out the flavor of the beef – Adding Worcestershire sauce, a favorite condiment ingredient in Irish meat cooking hijacked from Great Britain, really “beefs up” the flavor of meat. So be sure to add it not only to your Guinness beef stew, but to any other beef dishes you cook in the future.
  

• Add salt and pepper to taste at the end of cooking – Everyone’s tolerance and preference for salt and pepper in a dish is different and varies enormously. So, adjust the addition of salt and pepper at the end of the cooking to suit your own desires and taste. Remember, you can always add more salt and pepper, but you can’t remove it once it’s been put in.

Ingredients for Irish Guinness Beef Stew

For the meat

• 2 to 3 pounds stew meat, cut into 2” chunks
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ½ cup flour, and ¼ cup flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper

Vegetables

• 2 cups onion, large chop
• 2 tablespoons garlic, fine chop
• 2 cups carrots, large chop
• 2 cups celery, large chop
• 2 cups whole button mushroom, quartered
• 2 cups red potatoes, quartered

Herbs and spices

• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• TIME SAVER HINT: You can easily use a packet or two of Lipton Onion Recipe Soup & Dip Mix instead of the above. Just tear open the packet and pour into your slow cooker!

Liquids & Last Additions

• 2 cups beef stock or broth
• 1 bottle Guinness. I prefer the base Guinness (which is a stout), but any of your favorite type will do.
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste 8 ounces frozen peas

Instructions on how to make Guinness Beef Stew

See the printable menu lower on this page if you want to print this out. But for now, here are the basics on how to make this recipe (and it's pretty basic to make!).

Step 1. Coat the beef pieces – Place the ½ cup of flour and salt and pepper into a one-gallon plastic bag. Place the beef pieces in the plastic bag, close the bag, and vigorously shake the bag until all the beef pieces are coated in flour.

Step 2. Sear the beef - Pour the olive oil into a large skillet. Sear the beef pieces in two batches in the olive until they are a deep golden brown on both sides, approximately 5 minutes a side. Using kitchen tongs, place the beef pieces in the crockpot, leaving the olive oil and beef dripping in the skillet.

Step 3. Sauté the onion and garlic – Add the onion, garlic, and ¼ cup of flour to the beef drippings in skillet and stir and sauté until the vegetables are slightly charred. With a spatula, scrape the sauteed onion and garlic into the crockpot.

Step 4. Add the dry ingredients to the crockpot – Add all the vegetables, herbs, and spices to the crockpot. With a large spoon, thoroughly stir all the ingredients in the crockpot together.

Step 5. Add the wet ingredients to the crockpot – Add the Guinness, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and tomato paste to the crockpot. Be sure not to add too much liquid. The liquids should just cover the ingredients in the crockpot. With a large spoon, thoroughly stir all the ingredients in the crockpot together.

5. How long to cook the Guinness beef stew – Cook the Guinness beef stew in the crockpot for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. The beef should be fork-tender and very easy to cut. If the meat is still a bit tough, let the stew cook a little longer.

6. Add the frozen peas – When the Guinness beef stew is finished cooking, stir the frozen peas into the crockpot. They will thaw and cook immediately.

Notes, Tips, and Tricks

• Using more flour - Flour is the thickening agent for your Guinness beef stew that creates a thick, rich gravy at the end of the cooking. Adding more flour while searing the meat and sautéing the vegetables will help thicken the Guinness beef stew, and in no way harm it.

• In a hurry? Substitute this! – Instead of gathering all the herbs and spices, simply tear open a packet or two of Lipton Onion Recipe Soup & Dip Mix and add it to your stew.

• This is a GREAT tip! – If your Guinness beef stew is too runny or thin, create a “slurry” by combining 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and mix into the stew. Repeat if necessary to reach your desired thickness.

• MASHED POTATOES!! – I’m not sure this needs mentioning, but buttery (and garlicky?) mashed potatoes are a must-have side dish with your Guinness beef stew.
  
  Try this Garlic Mashed Potato recipe!