Guinness Irish Beef Stew is a hearty fulling stew that is filled with tender beef, onions, & mushrooms. Rich flavors made better with a strong Guinness.
A stew simmering away on your stove all afternoon is a great way to start to get you excited about your dinner. The smells will perfume your kitchen and you’ll be dying to dig in to this Guinness Irish Beef Stew.
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Fun fact about me: My first tattoo is of a claddagh ring right on my lower back.
Am I Irish… nope! ha! I just really like the claddagh ring and it’s meaning: “With these hands I give you my heart and I crown it with my love.”
And that right there is my little Irish-related story.
Guinness Irish Beef Stew
Like Cinco de Mayo, St Patrick’s Day has been Americanized so it’s all about eating a drinking green things.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love wearing Kelly Green drinking Shamrock Shakes for breakfast every St. Patrick’s Day. (true story!), but I love Irish food so I love to make this hearty stew.
It’s one of those dishes that is belly and soul filling. Pure comfort in a bowl.
I mean, you can’t go wrong when you saute shallots and stew meat in bacon fat. Then you add in earthy mushrooms and herbs to that mix. Finish that off with some Guinness. Let all of that simmer for hours until it’s all incredibly tender. Bliss.
This dish is packed full of umami flavors from the ingredients and the process of sauteing the shallots, stew meat, and mushrooms in the bacon fat. (No, this is not low cal or low fat guys!)
The flavors are comforting, yet bold. And I think it’s a bonus with how simple it is to make since there was little active cooking time and then you just forget about it in the oven for at least 2 hours. It just takes 1 BIG pot too.
The most difficult thing is peeling the shallots, but if you take your time, it’s rather easy. Cut the ends off, then carefully run your knife along the shallot to just cut the outermost layer, then peel away!
Besides that, I often have has a difficult time finding a prepared bouquet garni. In the end, I’ve used bay leaves and thyme, but I think I would add sage and parsley as well and use bouquet garni bags.
You can enjoy the stew on it’s own or with some roasted or mashed potatoes.
I also think these Cheddar Thyme Soup Scones make a great side to this stew. Dip your scone right into the stew and enjoy it when it soaks up all that delicious broth. yum!
There are recipes that I enjoy and then there are recipes that I really love, and this Guinness Irish Beef Stew is loved in our house.
Give this a try for St. Patrick’s day or for any time you wish to have a great dinner. And be sure not to forget to enjoy a Guinness with it either!
More delicious St. Patrick's' Day Recipes
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SUGGESTED PRODUCTS

Guinness Irish Beef Stew
Guinness Irish Beef Stew is a hearty fulling stew that is filled with tender beef, onions, & mushrooms. Rich flavors made better with a strong Guinness.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 - 1/2 pound of bacon, finely chopped
- 12 oz of shallots, peeled but left whole
- 2 1/4 pounds stew beef, cubed into 1" x 1" to 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" pieces
- 14 ounces of  mixed wild mushrooms, such as chanterelle, shiitake, oyster, and criminis
- 1 quart of Guinness
- 1 bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay leaves)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large, shallow oven-safe pot (4 qt+) over medium- low heat, melt the butter.
- Add the bacon to the butter and begin to gently brown.
- Add the shallots to the skillet and cook until golden brown. Do not move around aggressively so that you don't break up, they should remain whole.
- Leaving behind some rendered fat, remove the bacon and shallots from the pot, set aside.
- Turn the heat up to medium, add the beef, in batches, to brown all of the sides. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the beef while cooking. Transfer the browned beef to a bowl. Continue browning the rest of the meat.
- Cook the wild mushrooms until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the beef, bacon, and mushrooms back into the pot with the mushrooms.
- Turn the heat up to high, add the Guinness and herbs. Simmer for a few minutes prior to putting the pot into the oven.
- Bake, uncovered, for at least 2 hours, preferably 3-4 hours. (Alternatively, put the stew in a slow cooker for 4 hours)
- Remove the herbs, check the seasoning, and serve hot.
Notes
Recipe Inspired by Clodagh's Kitchen Diaries: Delicious Recipes Throughout the Year by Clodagh McKenna
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This just looks amazing. Definitely going to have to try it out.
This looks really gooood! Stew has got to be one of my all time comfort foods! and whats more it contains Bacon! Always a winner! I’m defiantly going to try this out next time i’m making a stew! I like your blog! I’m going to follow!
Love how packed this stew is! I could totally go for a bowl!
Could this stew be done in a crock pot rather than the oven?
I imagine you can do it in a slow cooker as well.
I’d brown the meat and cook the bacon and then combine that with the rest of the ingredients into a slow cooker. You could cook the mushrooms prior to putting them into the slow cooker as well, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Maybe do it for 6 hrs?
Thanks for such a quick reply! Gonna try it the crock pot method…I’ll let you know how it turns out!
(Hint: To warm oven slightly, turn oven on Warm setting for 2 minutes,
then turn it off, and place covered dough in oven to rise.
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Chuan khong can chinh