Guinness Beef Stew

A classic with a twist, this Guinness Beef Stew recipe features rich Guinness beer for a subtle flavor boost that complements the tender beef and hearty vegetables so well. A simple trick makes this stew recipe so luxe and thick!

It's soup/stew season and my offering this winter is Guinness beef stew.

Delicious freshly-made and maybe even better the next day, soups and stews also have the designations of freezing well and being fairly easy to make. Cold weather MVPs all around.

While Guinness beef stew doesn't have the element of supersized orzo going for it like my favorite vegetable beef soup, it sure has a lot of pluses, too. Namely an excellent "mmm, what's that?" flavor, a rich and thick texture, and a new-to-me trick for perfectly thickening stews that works like a charm.

Reasons to Love This Recipe

• Adding a can/bottle of Guinness adds a special background note that doesn't overwhelm or become too pronounced. It just makes this recipe taste like really good beef stew.
• An unlikely dried spice blend complements these flavors so well.
• Using the right cut of beef, the right potatoes, and adding the ingredients at the right times ensures tender meat and vegetables that don't mush up into nothing.
• Combining butter and flour into beurre manié is an EASY game-changer in thickening beef stew just to your liking. There's no messing around with dredging the meat in flour or cornstarch slurries, etc.

Recipe Ingredients

• Stew Meat: For convenience I love to use pre-sliced stew beef, but if you'd rather cut it yourself, go for a boneless chuck roast. The kind of packaged stew beef I buy is from Butcher Box (not sponsored) and always comes out perfectly tender no matter the recipe.
• Oil: This is for searing the meat. Choose a neutral-flavored, high-heat cooking oil such as canola, vegetable, or avocado.
• Guinness: Either standard bottles or slightly larger cans (around 14.9-ounces) are fine to use. I tested this recipe with the basic Guinness Draught stout variety.
• Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes are a great option for stews as they're hardier and don't break down as easily as Russet potatoes do.
• Carrots: Cut these into larger chunks so they hold up well to the simmer.
• Butter/Flour: These are combined together to form beurre manié. It's whisked into the stew near the end of the cook time to thicken it.
• Herbes de Provence: This spice blend may seem a bit out of place in a slightly Irish-inspired recipe, but I love the flavor it brings to this Guinness beef stew. It's big on thyme and rosemary, with a lovely mix of punchy herbs and even dried lavender.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Sear the meat. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat the canola oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat, then add about half of the meat. Sear until nicely browned, around 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, then repeat for the remaining meat.

2. Saute vegetables. Add more oil to the pan and cook the onion and carrots for 6 minutes, then add the garlic. Add the tomato paste and mush it into the vegetables. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Deglaze. Pour a little bit of the Guinness into the pan and scrape up the burnt bits from the bottom as it bubbles up. Continue until the bottom is clean then pour in the rest of the Guinness.

4. Simmer. Add the beef broth, water, browned meat, Herbes de Provence, and bay leaf and give everything a big stir. Cover the pot (leaving the lid open a crack for steam to escape) and simmer for 45 minutes.

5. Add the potatoes. At the 45 minute mark, add the chopped potatoes. Cover again and simmer this Guinness beef stew for another 15 minutes.

5. Make beurre manié. Add softened butter and flour to a small bowl and mix it together until an even paste develops. Shape it into a rough ball.

6. Thicken the soup. Once the stew has been simmering for one hour, remove the bay leaf and skim any surface fat if desired. Add half of the beurre manié to the pot and whisk in as it melts. Simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes as the soup thickens, stirring in the frozen peas during the last several minutes of cook time.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Sear in batches. You don't want to crowd the pan when browning the stew meat as that'll lead to more of a steaming situation. Sear it in two (or more) batches so each piece gets a chance to brown nicely.
• Don't skip deglazing. All that burnt stuff on the bottom of the pan is delicious. It's called fond and provides a ton of flavor to this Guinness beef stew.
• Cover the pot, then don't. Once simmering, cover the pot (leave it open a crack so steam can escape) to keep the heat in. This helps cook the meat and prevents the liquid from evaporating. The stew will cook uncovered toward the end to help thicken it up.
• Think about timing. Stew recipes have wiggle room and don't need to be precise down to the minute. That said, the potatoes are added partway through the simmer time so they don't overcook and break down.
• Don't waste tomato paste. You'll likely have some leftover - did you know it's so easy to freeze tomato paste? It extends the longevity months.

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