This Guinness beef stew is one of my family’s personal favorite dishes when we have chilled bones on a harsh winter day. The broth made by the combination of beef stock, Guinness, and red wine has the ability to seep into every crevice of your being creating an instant sense of comfort and warmth. While hearty chunks of beef, cabbage, and root vegetables easily fill you up, meaning one rarely needs to go back for seconds.
Traditional Irish beef stew is very different from this recipe, often being cooked long enough that all ingredients break down into a mushy almost gruel like consistency. Members of my family aren’t particularly big fans of this traditional style, and thus spent years finding and tweaking recipes that allowed for a more chunky consistency. The original influence of this version of Guinness beef stew comes from Elise Bauer, and her Irish beef stew found on her website Simply Recipes. Over the years I have decided to change the beef chuck with beef short ribs, and added cabbage, in order to create a stew that I truly find irresistible. While the stew takes many hours to cook, don’t be reluctant to try this recipe as it is easy to make, and very forgiving on beginner cooks.
Before we get into the literal and figurative meat and potatoes of this recipe it is important that we discuss the Guinness. In America when you go to your local liquor store, or market, you will often find that there are two different types of Guinness being sold, Draught, and Extra Stout. These two names can be a little confusing especially after you know about the difference between the two.
Draught was developed by Guinness in the 1980’s as a way to add more nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases into the beer allowing for a much smoother and milkier head. The Draught form of Guinness is thus a lighter form made specifically for a drinker’s pleasure, not to be used in cooking.
Guinness Extra Stout, on the other hand, is actually the original Guinness recipe and thus has nothing “Extra” about it, I know confusing. The Extra Stout form is thus thicker, and often fuller of body, and lends itself perfectly for being used in stews. In conclusion, I recommend that you always used Guinness Extra Stout for this recipe when it is available, however, if your liquor store doesn’t hold it feel free to use the Draught version.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- You have three options when it comes to selecting the type of beef to use in this stew. The first option and the one I recommend is to use beef short ribs. Beef short ribs not only have a high-fat content which will produce tender meat for this dish, but the additional bones will also develop a much richer broth. The second option, which is still a great choice is to use a beef chuck roast, which will still turn out tender, and can often be found cheaper at the market. The third option is to purchase what is often referred to as beef stew meat, which is pre-chunked chuck roast. The reason why I don’t recommend beef stew meat is that it is often cut up into relatively tiny pieces which will often be less tender.
- I love serving this stew with freshly made Irish soda bread.
Guinness Beef Stew Recipe
Prep time: 20-30 Minutes
Cook time: 4 to 5 Hours
Servings: 6 to 8
Ingredients
2 Lbs of beef short ribs, or 1 1/2 Lb beef chuck roast
4 Large cloves of garlic, minced
1 11.2 fl oz bottle of Guinness Extra Stout
1 Cup of dry red wine
2 Quarts of beef stock
3 Lbs of Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
6 to 8 medium-sized carrots, peeled and cut into about ½ inch to 1-inch
2 Medium or small yellow onions, diced into 1-inch pieces
½ Head of cabbage
2 Bay leaves
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Dried thyme
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsps. Tomato paste
Olive oil
Salt
Garnish:
Flat-leaf parsley, minced
Instructions
- Prep the beef: Depending on the type of beef you have decided to purchase, you might need to do a little extra prep work before you brown them up. With the beef short ribs and the beef chuck roast, I recommend that you first trim off any extra fat, as it can make the finished broth a little too greasy. If you have purchased beef chuck roast then you will also need to cut it up into 2 to 3 inch cubes. Once your beef is trimmed and cubed, you will need to dry the outside of the beef with a paper towel and lightly salt all sides of every piece.
- Brown the beef: Once you have salted the beef you will need to pour about a tablespoon or two of olive oil into the bottom of a 6 to 8-quart pot, and turn the stove heat up to medium-high. After you have let your pot heat up for a minute you can add your chunks of beef. It is important that when you brown up your beef to do it in batches, as overcrowding can result in the release of too much juices at once, causing the beef to boil, not brown. Brown each side of the beef for about a minute, turning them over to an uncooked side with tongs. After you have properly browned all pieces of the beef on each side, you should take them out and place them on a plate.
- Saute the onions, garlic, and thyme: Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, sauteing them for 3 to 5 minutes until they become translucent. After the onions have become translucent, add the minced garlic and the thyme, saute for another minute or two, stirring often.
- Add the Guinness, red wine, beef stock, sugar, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves: First, add the Guinness and red wine to deglaze the pot and get up all of the tasty browned bits of beef that stuck in the pot from cooking.
Let them simmer for a minute or two in order for the alcohol to evaporate. Add the beef stock, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves, Bring the mixture up to a low boil. Once the liquid has become hot enough that steam is coming off of it, add the tomato paste, and stir to make sure it is all incorporated into the broth.
- Add back the browned beef, and cook it till tender: Bring the mixture to a boil and add the beef back to the pot. Cover the pot with a lid, turn the heat down to low, and let the stew simmer for a minimum of 3 hours. After 3 hours your beef chunks should be tender enough that they can be cut with spoon, or fork, if not then simmer it for another hour, or until it’s tender enough.
**If you decided to use beef short ribs in this stew then you will know that they are tender when the bones start coming loose of the rib meat. After they are tender, take the short ribs out, cut off the bones from the rib meat, discard the bones, cut the rib meat in half, and add back to the stew.**
- Add the carrots and potatoes to the stew and let them cook until they are tender about 1 hour.
- Add cabbage, and check the saltiness of the broth: After the root vegetables have cooked for an hour add the cabbage to the stew and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Once everything in the stew is cooked, take a spoon and sample some of the broth. You will likely notice that the stew will need some salt, which you should now add.
**word to the wise, add less salt than you think it needs, as you can always add salt you can’t take it out.
- Dish out the stew into bowls and add minced fresh parsley as a garnish.
Guinness Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Lbs of beef short ribs or 1 ¼ Lb beef chuck roast
- 4 Large cloves of garlic minced
- 1 11.2 fl oz bottle of Guinness Extra Stout
- 1 Cup of dry red wine
- 2 Quarts of beef stock
- 3 Lbs of Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
- 6 to 8 medium sized carrots peeled and cut into about ½ inch to 1 inch length
- 2 medium or small yellow onions diced into 1-inch pieces
- ½ of a head of cabbage
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp. Sugar
- 1 Tbsp. Dried thyme
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsps. Tomato paste
- Olive oil
- Salt
Garnish:
- Flat leaf parsley
Instructions
- Prep the beef: Depending on the type of beef you have decided to purchase, you might need to do a little extra prep work before you brown them up. With the beef short ribs and the beef chuck roast, I recommend that you first trim off any extra fat, as it can make the finished broth a little too greasy. If you have purchased beef chuck roast then you will also need to cut it up into 2 to 3 inch cubes. Once your beef is trimmed and cubed, you will need to dry the outside of the beef with a paper towel and lightly salt all sides of every piece.
- Brown the beef: Once you have salted the beef you will need to pour about a tablespoon or two of olive oil into the bottom of a 6 to 8-quart pot, and turn the stove heat up to medium-high. After you have let your pot heat up for a minute you can add your chunks of beef. It is important that when you brown up your beef to do it in batches, as overcrowding can result in the release of too much juices at once, causing the beef to boil, not brown. Brown each side of the beef for about a minute, turning them over to an uncooked side with tongs. After you have properly browned all pieces of the beef on each side, you should take them out and place them on a plate.
- Saute the onions, garlic, and thyme: Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, sauteing them for 3 to 5 minutes until they become translucent. After the onions have become translucent, add the minced garlic and the thyme, saute for another minute or two, stirring often.
- Add the Guinness, red wine, beef stock, sugar, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves: First, add the Guinness and red wine to deglaze the pot and get up all of the tasty browned bits of beef that stuck in the pot from cooking. Let them simmer for a minute or two in order for the alcohol to evaporate. Add the beef stock, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves, Bring the mixture up to a low boil. Once the liquid has become hot enough that steam is coming off of it, add the tomato paste, and stir to make sure it is all incorporated into the broth.
- Add back the browned beef, and cook it till tender: Bring the mixture to a boil and add the beef back to the pot. Cover the pot with a lid, turn the heat down to low, and let the stew simmer for a minimum of 3 hours. After 3 hours your beef chunks should be tender enough that they can be cut with spoon, or fork, if not then simmer it for another hour, or until it’s tender enough. **If you decided to use beef short ribs in this stew then you will know that they are tender when the bones start coming loose of the rib meat. After they are tender, take the short ribs out, cut off the bones from the rib meat, discard the bones, cut the rib meat in half, and add back to the stew.**
- Add the carrots and potatoes to the stew and let them cook until they are tender, about 1 hour.
- Add cabbage, and check the saltiness of the broth: After the root vegetables have cooked for an hour add the cabbage to the stew and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Once everything in the stew is cooked, take a spoon and sample some of the broth. You will likely notice that the stew will need some salt, which you should now add. **word to the wise, add less salt than you think it needs, as you can always add salt you can’t take it out.
- Dish out the stew into bowls and add minced fresh parsley as a garnish.
