If molasses were a beer, it would be a Guinness stout—rich, thick, dark, caramelly, deeply flavorful. It is Ireland’s most popular brew with, get this, more than 1.8 billion pints sold around the world every year. (That’s a lot of beer!) Around here it’s a favorite for St. Patrick’s Day, and you can find stacks of Guinness displays at practically every store that sells beer. Naturally Guinness has made its way into flavoring many dishes, including breads and cakes as well as stews like this one. Guinness stew is Ireland’s answer to Belgian carbonnade, with stout instead of ale, and with root vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, and turnips.
This stew we are making in a slow cooker (though you could make it in the oven as well). The controlled low and slow cooking is perfect for tenderizing the flavorful but tough pieces of beef chuck roast, while keeping the root vegetables intact. The trick is to brown the meat first, before adding to the slow cooker. That way you get all of the wonderful flavor from the browned meat in your stew. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Guinness Stew Recipe
These instructions are for making the stew in a slow cooker. If you don't have a slow cooker and would prefer to make the stew in the oven, cook everything in a large Dutch oven. After you add the liquid, bring it to a simmer on the stovetop then put it, tightly covered, in a 225°F oven for 6 hours (or a 300°F oven for 4 hours).
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 pounds well marbled chuck beef roast, cut into 2-inch pieces
- Salt
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 pint (16 ounces) Guinness stout (we used Extra Stout)
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2-3 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 pound young turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- Salt
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Method
1 Heat the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in the butter, starting with the fattiest pieces of meat, fat side down in the pan. This will allow some beef fat to render out. Work in batches as to not crowd the pan. Sprinkle salt over the beef as it browns. Once browned on all sides, transfer the beef pieces into the slow cooker.
2 Add the onions and celery to the pan in which you just browned the beef. Sauté the onions and celery until they begin to brown at the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Cook for a minute or two, then add a little of the Guinness, enough to make it easier for you to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Transfer the celery and onions into the slow cooker.
3 Add the rest of the Guinness, the beef broth, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and thyme to the slow cooker. Add two teaspoons of salt. Cover and cook on "high" for 4 hours, or "low" for 8 hours. When done, add more salt to taste. If you want, sprinkle with fresh parsley to serve.
Yield: Serves 6-8.
Links:
Vegetarian Guinness Stew, from The Kitchn
Corned Beef with Guinness and Cabbage, from Steamy Kitchen
Poutine with Guinness Gravy, from Food for My Family
My only problem with it might be the carrots, parsnips, turnips, and potatoes. Could you add them in later so they would not be mushy?
There are no potatoes in this recipe. Potatoes would tend to turn mushier with the long cooking. The parsnips, carrots, and turnips hold up fine. Just cut them into big pieces.
I’ve got a celery root that I need to do something with. Think it would be good if I chopped it up and threw it in w/the other root vegetables?
Unless that sets off some kind of warning klaxon in anyone’s head, I’ll give it a go and report back.
Sounds like a great idea! I love the taste of celery root, and it’s such a tough root it would hold up well to the long cooking.
The celery root worked great!
Looks delicious! Can you substitute potatoes for the turnips?
You can, but I would put them in an hour or two before the end of cooking, not from the beginning. Potatoes tend to disintegrate with long cooking times.
This sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to try it!!
Guinness stew is perfect for this time of year, and in the slow cooker? Done and done.
Mmmmmm…..as usual. Though I have the same question as Alec – could we add the vegetables later? Your picture looks as though the vegetables held up well but whenever I do stews in my slow cooker they always come out mushy. Delicious but still mushy. And I never go to the max time of my slow cooker because it seems to be a bit hotter than the average. Now I’m just wondering if adding your recipe for Colcannon as a side to the stew for St. Paddy’s meal would be overkill (likely).
Ahhh Guinness and beef … yes please!
Of course it probably undoes the whole concept but what could one substitute if they didn’t want to use alcohol?
Yes, the point of this stew is to use Guinness. If you want to make a regular beef stew in the slow cooker, you can do that too. Just add 5 cups of beef stock (or 4 cups if you want an even quart). Or, if you might try adding Kaliber “near beer”, a brand of very low alcohol beer, that is somewhat malty and sweet, also made by Guinness. Note that I haven’t tried it in cooking.
This looks delicious! I make a great corned beef but might have to try this for a change of menu. :)
I love your recipes. Thank you.
This will be on the menu next week. Sounds delicious!
Oh WOW! Everyone loves my beef stew, but I have to try this, never cooked parsnips with it. MUST TRY SOON. Thanks for posting this and all your wonderful recipes!
Oh I grow all my own herbs so I will throw that fresh parsley in too.
I really want to make this for a party this weekend. Can I use a Dutch oven for it?
Yes, as I mentioned in the recipe notes.
I can almost taste this, quite lovely…was planning to go with cornbeef and cabbage, but might try this instead.
This is a wonderful recipe, I love it — but it’s for winter! St Patrick’s Day in Ireland means spring, hope, and *lamb*!
Elise this sounds amazing!! What a treat for St. Patty’s. The Guinness adds such a complexity!!
Yum! Do you think this would work in a pressure cooker?
I just made this. I found it to be a little bitter. I added 1/2c. of barley trying to mellow it out which helped a little. It was good & something I might try again with less stout.
We found it a bit bitter too, but we thought it was the parsnips. Added potatoes at the right time instead of turnips and threw in 8oz. of sliced mushrooms. Also added 2 tsps sugar early on. Wife and I both loved it. The beer tenderized the meat perfectly.
Parsnips should be sweet, like carrots. Turnips however can be quite bitter, as well as parsley. Guinness “Extra” Stout, which is what is most commonly available here, isn’t a particularly bitter beer. But if you think the stew needs a little more sweetness to balance the bitter for your taste, I recommend a little molasses.
Amazing color and bark on the meat! This should be a monthly dish and not just for St Paddy’s…
3 cups beef broth +
1 pint Guinness +
liquid from vegetables =
when done in a slow cooker, seems like a very soupy stew for 2 lbs meat.
About the bitterness, could it be from the extra stout?
Hi Franky, there are a lot of vegetables in this soup that absorb the liquid. I found the liquid ratio in this stew to be just right. The broth is so good, what extra is there is perfect for sopping up with crusty bread. As for bitterness, no one I served the stew to found it at all bitter. But everyone’s taste is different.
Tasty stew and the aroma filled my kitchen …….will definitely make again. Added 5 cloves of garlic….1 cup red wine (decreased broth) and bay leaves. I thickened it slightly with corn starch/water. The soda bread was ideal for soaking up the gravy/juices.
I made this stew but forgot to buy the Guinness, so I used a cabernet sauvignon. It was delicious. I marinated the beef (which was a sirloin tip roast) in olive oil with Italian seasonings. I did brown the meat first. I also added potatoes along with the turnip, parsnips and carrots. This will be a favorite in this household for a long time.
Elise,
This Guinness stew looks so good. A great slow cooked meal with a delicious roast. Do you have any other favorite slow cooked meals?
Had this yesterday for St. Patty’s Day – it was delicious!
Overall, I liked this stew. My daughter thought it was bitter, but she’s used to turnips in our stews and soups so I think it was the addition of the Stout. I included potatoes and rutabaga in mine and it was sweet enough. I think I’d add more herbs than just the thyme; didn’t seem to do much for the overall flavor. I’ll definitely make again, but work in a few changes.
No freshly ground black pepper anywhere??? Oversight?? I’ve never seen salt on meat or in meat dishes without some pepper.
Add some freshly ground pepper if you would like. This recipe is just a guideline.
I made this last night for my boyfriend, and it was outstanding! I’ve never cooked with turnips before and I was nervous about the bitter reviews, but it wasn’t bitter at all. We will be eating this all week long! Thanks for the recipe, Elise!
Does anybody think this dish would be decent with a slow roasted chicken breast instead of beef? I’ve made the decision to be a “no red meat” vegetarian.. But this does sound amazing. Very similar to what my grandmother made me as a child!
What exactly does “tightly covered” mean here? I am planning to try out this recipe, but I don’t have a slow cooker. Do I simply put the pot in the oven with the lid on? Do I need to seal it somehow? Advice would be very much appreciated.
Just make sure the lid fits. You don’t want a lot of steam escaping.
Ok, will do. Thank you!
I tried this stew this weekend and it was a hit with everyone! I ommited the turnips and parsnips and added potatoes and it turned out great…very soupy however, so I will add more veggies next time!
Thank you!
Very nice Elise! I make beef stew with beer, but haven’t with Guinness which is a surprise since I love the stuff. How were the parsnips? Were the woody and stringy in the middle? I love them but sometimes find that I have to core the larger ones.
Sometimes parsnips can be rather woody in the center, which then needs to be cut out. I try to choose parsnips that look like they are younger to avoid that.
I am making this right now, followed the recipe to the “T”, cooking it on high for about 3 hrs. and I just now turned it on low to cook another 3. But it appears very soupy – I was hoping it would be a thickened broth. Any ideas besides thickening it with flour which I really don’t want to to?
The stew is on the soupy side initially, though it does thicken up over time, especially if you are eating leftovers for several days. If you want it more thick, you can peel and chop up a russet potato and add to the stew. Adding the potato to the halfway point should be fine. In the future, you may want to reduce the amount of added liquid, either the stock or Guinness.
Just wanted to leave a note and let you know I’ve shared on my blog… this is a gorgeous recipe. I collect rustic recipes and this is one of the best I’ve seen yet. Thanks for putting it up!
Regarding the inclusion of potatoes, I serve the stew on a bed of garlic mashed potato which really adds something, and soaks up the liquid.
Great idea, thank you!