Slow Cooker Guinness Beef Stew! Make this hearty, filling stew with beef chunks, carrots, parsnips, potatoes and, of course, Guinness stout. Perfect for everything from snow days to St. Patrick’s Day.
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
If molasses were a beer, it would be a Guinness stout – rich, thick, dark, caramel-like, intensely aromatic. It’s Ireland’s most popular brew with more than 10 million pints sold every day around the world. (That’s a lot of beer!)
Guinness everywhere
Here in Sacramento, Guinness is a favorite for St. Patrick’s Day, and you can find stacks of Guinness displays at virtually any store that sells beer.
Of course, Guinness has found its way into flavoring many dishes, including breads like our Guinness Molasses Bread and desserts like our Chocolate Guinness Cake and Guinness Brownies, and stews like this one.
What’s in this beef stew?
Guinness Beef Stew is Ireland’s answer to Belgium’s carbonnade, with beef cuts and stout instead of ale and featuring root vegetables like parsnips, carrots and celery root.
Check out these other beef and beer stew recipes:
- Irish Beef Stew (on the stove)
- Pressure cooker Guinness Beef Stew
- Short rib beef stew with ale
How to cook for tender beef and soft vegetables
We make this stew in a slow cooker (although you could also make it in the oven). Controlled low and slow cooking is perfect for tenderizing the flavorful but tough cuts of beef while keeping the root vegetables intact.
The trick is to brown the meat first before adding it to the slow cooker. This way you get all the wonderful flavor of the browned meat in your stew.
How to store leftovers
Like many stews, this one is better the second day (and even better the third day). Leftovers can be kept for up to five days and gently reheated on the stovetop over medium-high heat or in the microwave.
You can freeze the leftover soup, but the potatoes and other root vegetables tend to fall apart when thawed and reheated. It still tastes good reheated, but be aware that these vegetables are softer.
Slow Cooker Guinness Beef Stew
If you prefer to cook the stew in the oven, cook everything in a large Dutch oven. After adding the liquid, bring to a simmer on the stovetop, then place tightly covered in a 225°F oven for 6 hours (or in a 300°F oven for 4 hours).
Note that different people have different sensitivities to bitter flavors. If Guinness stout tastes bitter to you, then the stew tastes bitter too. If it doesn’t taste bitter to you, the stew shouldn’t taste bitter.
You can use either celery root, baby beets, or potatoes alongside parsnips and carrots. If you use turnips, make sure you only use young turnips, which are smaller and sweeter than regular turnips. Regular turnips can be quite bitter.
ingredients
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2 tablespoons butter
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2 pounds (900 g) well-marbled beef roast, cut into 2-inch pieces
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Salt
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2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
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2 sticks of celery, chopped
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2 tablespoons tomato paste
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1 pint (16 ounces, 475 ml) Guinness Extra Stout (make sure you use extra stout and not a keg)
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3 cups (700ml) beef broth
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2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
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3 to 4 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
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1/2 pound (280 g) celery root, potatoes or very young turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
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2 teaspoons dried thyme
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4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
method
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Fry the beef, put it in the slow cooker:
Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the beef in the butter, starting with the fattiest cuts, fat-side down in the pan. This allows some beef fat to escape. Work in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.
Sprinkle salt over the beef while it browns. Once browned on all sides, place the beef cuts in a 6-quart or larger slow cooker.
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Sauté the onions and celery, put in the slow cooker:
Add the onions and celery to the pan you just seared the beef in. Sauté the onions and celery until they start to brown around the edges, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and mix well. Cook for a minute or two, then add a little Guinness, enough to make it easier for you to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
Transfer the celery and onions to the slow cooker.
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Add Guinness, broth, root vegetables, thyme, salt:
Add the rest of the Guinness, beef broth, carrots, parsnips, celery root and thyme to the slow cooker. Add two teaspoons of salt.
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Cooking in the slow cooker:
Cover and cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. When done, add more salt to taste. Sprinkle with fresh parsley, if you like, to serve.
