Guinness Beef Stew

In honor of St. Patty’s Day, I made a Guinness Beef Stew that has quickly jumped to the top of my stew favorites! Sorry Julia Child and your Beef bourguignon, this recipe crushes. I did take tips and technique tricks I learned from Julia and incorporated them into this recipe… don’t worry, I’ll be sharing them with you!

I have been making stews for a couple of years now on the regular. I love the way they make my house smell as they cook, the comforting texture and flavor always brighten up a winter’s day, and well they just taste amazing! The combo of veggies and browned beef coming together in a bath of wine or beer and flavored with fresh herbs is mouth-watering even thinking about it.

This is not a quick 30 min meal; however, it is worth the wait and is super easy to prepare. All you have to do is summon up the patience and wait for the finished product! 30 minutes of prep and the stew goes in the oven to bake for a couple of hours until the meat is tender. The good news is this then leaves your hands free for other tasks as your meal cooks. Weekend meal for the win! Serve with biscuits or dunk in some crusty toasted bread to sop up all the wonderful gravy

Making Guinness Beef Stew

To start, get out a Dutch oven and place on the stove top and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. My Dutch ovens are my favorite things I own in my kitchen. They can be expensive but if you look out for sales and visit the Le Creuset OUTLET stores, you can find great deals! I have a 5qt (great for a big family) and a 3 1/2 qt (perfect for a couple or an ambitious single like myself).

GET COOKING: Over Medium high heat (6/10) start by browning the bacon in the Dutch oven. This gives you a base of fat to work with and starts to season the pan. Once the fat has started to render but the bacon is not fully crispy, remove the bacon to a bowl but leave the fat in the pan. Next get your meat cubes; dry, season with salt and pepper, and place in the bacon fat that is still in the pan.

** TIP: When browning the meat, dry the pieces first. Julia tells us that this helps the meat brown and not steam once placed in the pan. For the same reason, you may need to brown the meat in two batches to get an even brown and not overcrowd the pan. **

Once all the meat is browned, place it in the bowl with the bacon. The bottom of the pan will be getting nice and brown with flavor that has stuck to the bottom. THIS IS OK, THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT! Toss in the chopped onions, celery and carrots next. Sautee until the onions are turning soft and translucent. Throw in the garlic last and toss around for about 30 seconds, you don’t want the garlic to burn and turn bitter.

**TIP: careful your stove is not getting too hot, this can burn the bottom and that’s no good. If it is, turn down the temp on the stove top. **

Once the vegetables are nice and soft you can toss in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and finally a bottle of Guinness! This is called deglazing the pan. As you stir, the liquid from the beer will loosen all those lovely brown bits on the bottom of the pan bringing all that flavor into the bulk of your stew. Empty in your chicken stock and throw the herbs into the liquid as well. Give this a big stir and bring to a boil.

Cover the Dutch oven and toss in the oven for 2 hours at 350 degrees. If you wish to prep ahead, at this time you can clean and cook your mushrooms (wipe with a wet paper towel, don’t put under water as the mushroom will soak up all the water = no good). After cleaned, cut off the stem and quarter the mushrooms. Sautee in a pan with a pad of butter and a Tbsp. of oil until brown and set aside for later.

** TIP: mushrooms when being sautéed will soak up all the oil in the pan first, then release it as they cook. This is normal. They will get a lovely brown color; wait to salt them until the end *

ADDITIONS TO STEW: You can add root vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, or turnips if you like. Clean and cube them to similar sizes before cooking.

After 2 hours pull out the Guinness Beef Stew and give it a good stir and enjoy the wonderful smell!! At this time, I add in the mushrooms and any other vegetables you want. I also made a cornstarch slurry (2 TBSP cornstarch and 2 TBSP water, mix together) and added that in to thicken the sauce as it finishes cooking

Place in oven for another 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Pull out and let cool slightly. I finish the Guinness Beef Stew with chopped parsley and thyme. This adds some earthy flavor and beautiful color to your stew. Grab a biscuit or a piece of bread and dig in!

If you love soups and stews as much as I do, these recipes are for you!

• Tuscan White Bean Soup
• Fish Stew 
• Guinness Beef Stew 
• Chicken Soup with White Beans and Parmesan Escarole

Guinness Beef Stew

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 3hrs
• Print

This Guinness Beef Stew will have you licking the bottom of your bowl. Full of flavor and tender vegetables, this recipe is perfect for any weekend meal!

Ingredients

• ¼ pound bacon
• 2 pounds boneless beef chuck, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 sticks celery, chopped
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• OPTIONAL: 2 large potatoes or parsnips, diced. 1 turnip, diced
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle Guinness
• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, or as needed
• 1tsp of butter / 1 tsp oil
• ½ pound cremini mushrooms, quartered and sautéed (optional)
• 2 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs such as parsley, chives, and thyme, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook the bacon in a large, oven-safe, heavy-based pot/ Dutch Oven over medium heat.
3. Remove the bacon, crumble, and set aside, but leave the bacon fat in the pot. Season the beef with salt and pepper and fry in the bacon fat until browned on all sides. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.
4. In the same pot, fry the onion, celery, and carrots until soft and fragrant, adding a little oil if necessary.
5. Add garlic and fry for another 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste.
6. Pour in the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce. Allow to come to a simmer and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
7. Add the beef back to the pot and pour in the chicken broth. Add the bay leaf and thyme. (I threw in a sprig of rosemary because why not 🙂 )
8. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and place in oven. Cook for 1 1/2- 2 hours.
9. Pull the stew out of the oven and add the mushrooms and (potatoes or parsnips and the turnip if you are using). If the stew is still thin, mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water to form a slurry. Mix the slurry into the stew and bring the mixture to a boil. Put back in oven and simmer for another ½ hour, or until the vegetables are tender.
10. Remove the bay leaf and thyme branches and add in the mushrooms at the end if desired.
11. Cool slightly and plate with fresh herbs and biscuits or crusty bread for the perfect dipping companion.

ENJOY!

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