Irish Stew is one of my best Beef Stew recipes! This savory stew is flavored with Guinness beer and red wine! A perfect dinner recipe for St. Patrick’s Day.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day would not be complete without hearty Irish Stew and Guinness Beer. This is by far the best stew I have ever made! The combination of stout beer and red wine makes an incredible sauce for this flavourful stew. The house smells amazing while this traditional Irish dish is cooking. Well almost traditional, I used beef instead of lamb or mutton.
Tips for making Irish Stew
- 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.
- 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.
- Adding dumplings, although, not a traditional thing to add would taste great. You can find my recipe for fluffy dumplings on my recipe for Chicken and Dumplings.
Irish Stew
A sensational stew recipe flavored with Guinness Beer and Red Wine.
Print Pin Rate Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 8
Calories: 436kcal
Ingredients
- 2 lbs stewing beef cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup flour
- salt and pepper
- 1 large russet potato (about 2 cups) cut into 1/2 pieces
- 3 large red potatoes (about 3 cups) cut into 1/2 pieces
- 3 stalks celery sliced
- 3 large carrots, (about 2 cups) cut into 1/2 pieces
- 1 large onion (about 11/2 cups) diced
- 2 tbsp 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 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tbsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves small
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp 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
Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 669mg | Potassium: 1538mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 4747IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 5mg
Follow up this popular St. Patrick’s Day dish with something sweet like my Shamrock Cookies or St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes. If you are looking for another great traditional Irish recipe to try, my family loves this recipe for Irish Colcannon.
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Looks yummy! I’ll have to try it very soon.
Made this yesterday. It is a great and easy recipe. Served over creamy mash potato with butter and chives. Just in time for hurricane sandy. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
So impressed with this recipe loved it. I am Irish and I love Guinness stew. Thank you…..
Thanks, this is a family favourite !
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.
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!