Irish Stew
This Irish Stew recipe is one of my best stew recipes! Hearty, savory stew flavored with Guinness beer and red wine! A perfect dinner recipe for St. Patrick’s Day. One of Ireland’s most popular dishes Irish stew is pure comfort food!
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day would not be complete without Irish Beef Stew and Guinness Beer. The combination of stout beer and red wine makes an incredible sauce for this flavorful stew. The house smells amazing while this traditional Irish dish is cooking. Well almost traditional, I used beef instead of lamb or mutton. For a French version of tender beef stew, try my Beef Bourguignon recipe.
Tips for making this great dish
- I cooked this stew in the oven but this recipe also works great in the slow cooker or even an Instant Pot.
- If you use fresh garden potatoes or carrots you don’t need to peel them, but be sure to peel older potatoes and carrots.
- Traditional Irish Stew is made with lamb, potatoes, onions, and parsley, but feel free to add your favorite veggies like carrots, leeks, parsnips, or even cabbage.
- As lamb or mutton are not easily available in Canada I make my Irish Stew with beef and add a variety of veggies.
- What cut of beef works best for Irish stew? I use an inexpensive cut like a well-marbled chuck roast or sirloin.
- What to serve with Irish stew? I like soda bread or soft dinner rolls which are great for soaking up that extra broth left on the plate.
How to Change this Irish Stew Recipe
- Typically, this Irish Stew is made with lamb or mutton but I prefer to make it with beef stew.
- Add in mushrooms (if desired)
- Stir in cooked bacon for a different flavor.
- Add some fluffy dumplings. I have a great recipe on my Chicken and Dumplings recipe.
How to Make this Recipe
Ingredients required to make this savory stew.
Chop roast into bite sized chunks, season with salt and pepper, and dust with all purpose flour. I like to use a sirloin or chuck roast for beef stew.
Chop vegetables into bite sized pieces.
Heat olive oil in large dutch oven, cast iron pot or heavy skillet. Add beef and sear, work in batches to avoid over-crowding the skillet. This allows for a good sear on the beef.
Remove beef from skillet and set aside. Add more olive oil if necessary. Add potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Cook until slightly browned.
Remove vegetables from skillet, add butter and garlic. Cook for about 1 minute. Deglaze pan with red wine. Stir in Guinness beer, broth, tomato paste, and seasonings. Add beef and vegetables back in, cover and cook in oven for 1 to 2 hours. You can also transfer the stew to a slow cooker and cook for 3 to 4 hours.
This post was originally published 03/14/2012. I occasionally update with fresh tips, content and photos. Current update 02/24/2022
Irish Stew
Ingredients
- 2 pound stewing beef cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup flour
- salt and pepper
- 1 large russet potato (about 2 cups) cut into cubes
- 3 large red potatoes (about 3 cups) cut into cubes
- 3 stalks celery sliced
- 3 large carrots, (about 2 cups) cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 large onion (about 11/2 cups) diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6 large garlic cloves (about 1/4 cup) minced
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 3/4 cup Guinness beer
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves small
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in large skillet or dutch oven, medium-high heat.
- Salt and pepper beef, dust with flour and fry until browned on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. (work in batches to avoid overcrowding pan)
- Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add more oil to skillet if necessary. Next add potatoes, celery, carrots, and onion to skillet Cook until potatoes slightly browned (about 10 mins)
- Remove from skillet, set aside.
- Add butter to skillet.
- Add garlic and sauté about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Deglaze pan with red wine. Add Guinness beer, beef stock, tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves.
- Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a simmer. Next, add beef and vegetables back into the skillet or dutch oven.
- Cover and transfer to oven to bake at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours until vegetables and beef are tender.
- If using slow cooker, cook 3-4 hours on low.
- If stew needs to be thickened add slurry (1 tablespoon flour whisked together with 1 tablespoon cold water). Return pot to stovetop and over medium heat slowly stir slurry into the stew stirring constantly. Cook 5-10 minutes until thickened
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
Can it be made without red wine or Guinness? I don’t ever cook with wine or beer (or drink it) and I wouldn’t know what to do with the leftover bottles.
Hi Tracy, the red wine and Guinness really add some great flavour, but why not give the recipe a try without it. Let me know if you do.
I never know what kind of wine to use when cooking. I often just skip it it but I would really like to make this stew for guests and I want it to be really good. What kind of wine should I buy?
Any kind of red wine will work, but I usually use a full bodied red wine like a cabernet sauvignon or a merlot.
I have made it without red wine or beer & it still tastes very delicious! My favorite stew
Tracy, you are too funny. Bottoms up!
Absolutely best stew ever. Thank you.
Thank you Karen, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Made this last night following instructions. Turned it on for the “recommended” slow cooker time, and the potatoes are still raw. Maybe it should be just cooked on low for 8 hours, not 3-4.
Hi Jill, I’d love to help you trouble shoot this. Did you sauté the potatoes with onions etc, before transferring to crockpot? Another factor could be the size the the potatoes were cut into.
Is it ok to substitute lamb for the beef?
Hi Mary Lou, Although I have never tried lamb in this recipe, I think it would taste terrific!
Made this today in my Dutch Oven. It was perfect! I doubled the recipe so we will have some yummy leftovers. Thank you – great recipe!
Thank you Debbie, my family always says this stew tastes even better the next day, so doubling up is a good idea!
No where in list of ingredients are bay leaves mentioned. Not until Step #8…… addd bay leaves; I guessed at 2 leaves.
They’re 3rd from last on the list of ingredients
Can this Irish Stew recipe be made with lamb instead?
yes absolutely Marty.
Love this stew..I left out the beer and wine because I didn’t have any in the pantry…was delicious nonetheless!!!!
Hey Diana, happy you enjoyed the recipe, but do try it with the beer and wine. It adds incredible flavour.
I’m making this today for the second or third time. It’s a great recipe 😊 Have older neighbors that we enjoy sharing a meal with from time to time. They really enjoyed this before and so did we. This is a perfect day for it as it’s snowing sideways here in Michigan❄️ And it was the perfect excuse for buying a six pack of Guinness!
Hi Patty, what a wonderful thing to do, I’m sure your neighbours really appreciate it. And yes any excuse to buy Guinness works for me!
Mmmmmm….such delicious comfort food!!! Perfect for dinner this week!!!
Thank you Liz, my husband loves this recipe!
A very delicious Stew! One of the best I have ever tasted!
Thank you Suzanne for taking the time to comment and rate my recipe. Appreciated!
Fantastic recipe! I made in the dutch oven and let it simmer on the stove for 2 hours on low heat. I followed measurements, but left out potatoes as I was serving the stew with mashed potatoes. Browned the meat in the dutch oven, but sautéed the vegetables on a different pan to not burn the brown bits from the meat. I felt this was a game changer(!!) as my friend had made this a few times before and she was never able to brown the meat as brown as she’d like in fear of burning the bottom of the pot.
After simmering for two hours I added the flour slurry but it didn’t thicken as much as I hoped, so I added a tsp of cornstarch and water slurry to help.
I am so satisfied with this recipe and will make again and again. Thank you!
Awesome Wendy, it means a lot to me that you took the time to comment and rate my recipe. Have a wonderful Christmas.
Hello from Hamburg😃
I love this Irish Stew an my family too…
Thanks for this delicious recipe 🤗💕
Hello from Canada Andrea, so glad your family likes this recipe!