Slow Cooker Guinness Irish Beef Stew

Guinness Irish Beef Stew is made easy with a slow cooker-tender fall apart meat with hearty vegetables and a thick, gravy-like stew.

Remember last week when I shared that delicious Guinness Beer Bread and I told you I served it with another amazing Guinness recipe? Well today I get to let you in on the rest of that meal-a hearty, warm-your-belly Slow Cooker Guinness Irish Beef Stew!

This Guinness stew is the ultimate in comfort food-it's really gotten me through the cold, damp UK winter this year! We're living in the southwest of England and it seems to hover just above freezing with an almost daily drizzle.

It's that wet cold that seems to chill you all the way to the bone. (My husband is from Michigan and handles it a lot better than me-my southern self tends to wrap up in a fuzzy blanket and try to avoid being outside!)

Why I love this recipe

On cold chilly days when you want to get warmed up from the inside out-this hearty beef stew is for you.

I love that it's full of tender beef, root vegetables, and a rich broth that is perfectly seasoned. It can be prepped quickly and cooks perfectly tender all day in the crock pot. It is the ultimate comfort food and also reheats very well for leftovers and freezes well too!

(If you need more Irish recipes for St. Patrick's Day, be sure to check out my traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage and Irish soda bread recipes too!)

Ingredients

• extra virgin olive oil
• flank steak
• salt & pepper
• garlic
• yellow onions
• bacon
• all-purpose flour
• Guinness Draught Ale
• tomato paste
• carrots
• mushrooms
• yukon gold potatoes
• beef broth or beef stock
• optional-butter and flour to thicken stew

If you don't have Guinness or another stout beer on hand, this traditional Slow Cooker Beef Stew is a great alternative. I also have a fast and super easy Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe as well!

Step by step

1. Cut the flank steak into large 1" pieces. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet.
2. Add meat to the skillet in batches, being careful not to overcrowd. Season with salt and pepper as you brown the chunks of meat on all sides. Place the browned meat into the slow cooker as it is cooked.
3. When all steak is cooked add bacon to pan and cook until well done. Add bacon to slow cooker over steak.
4. Add onion and garlic to the skillet and cook until soft.
5. Add flour to the pan, then pour the Guinness and tomato paste into the skillet and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula or wooden spoon to deglaze the pan and release the flavor of all those browned bits. Stir thoroughly to dissolve the flour and make sure there are no lumps. Remove from heat.
6. Add carrots and mushrooms to slow cooker. Pour the Guinness mixture over the meat and vegetables. Add beef broth to just cover the meat and veggies. Cook on high heat for at least 6 hours or low heat 8 hours.

How to thicken beef stew

If you would like the stew to be thicker you can make a roux-melt ¼ cup butter in a small saucepan and add in ¼ cup all-purpose flour, whisking constantly.

Once the flour mixture begins to darken remove from heat and add about a cup of liquid from the stew into the saucepan. Whisk until smooth and then add to slow cooker. Stir and allow to cook 5-10 minutes more before serving. Garnish with dried parsley if desired.

Tips for best results

• Don't cut the steak into pieces smaller than one inch, we need big chunks of meat to stand up to cooking for so long
• Do not skip the deglazing step, this is essential for getting all that delicious flavor

FAQs

Serving Suggestions

I like to have mashed potatoes or bread and butter with my slow cooker Guinness beef stew, and any of these easy recipes would complement this stew perfectly:

• homemade biscuits
• honey corn muffins
• Guinness beer bread
• pretzel bread
• stovetop cornbread

​Storage

Store leftover stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.

If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!

Slow Cooker Guinness Irish Beef Stew

★★★★★ 5 from 1 review

• Author: Melissa Riker
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 6 hours
• Total Time: 6 hours 20 mins
• Yield: 8 1x
• Category: soup
• Method: slow cooker
• Cuisine: Irish

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Description

Guinness Irish Beef Stew is made easy with a slow cooker-tender fall apart meat with hearty vegetables and a thick, gravy-like stew. Serve over mashed potatoes or with bread for an easy weeknight crockpot dinner.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2.5 lb flank steak
• salt & pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small yellow onions, coarsely chopped
• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 14.9 oz can Guinness Draught Ale
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped ½" thick
• 1 pint small button mushrooms
• 3 large yellow potatoes, chopped into 1' pieces
• 2-3 cups beef broth
• optional-¼ cup butter and ¼ cup flour to thicken stew

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Instructions

1. Cut the flank steak into large 1" pieces.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet.
3. Add meat to the skillet in batches, being careful not to over crowd.
4. Season with salt and pepper as you brown the meat on all sides.
5. As the meat is cooked place into the slow cooker.
6. When all steak is cooked add bacon to pan and cook until well done.
7. Add bacon to slow cooker over steak.
8. Add onion and garlic to the skillet and cook until soft.
9. Add flour to the pan, then pour the Guinness and tomato paste into skillet and scrape the bottom to deglaze the pan.
10. Stir thoroughly to dissolve the flour and make sure there are no lumps. Remove from heat.
11. Add carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms to slow cooker.
12. Pour Guinness mixture over the meat and vegetables.
13. Add beef broth to just cover the meat and veggies.
14. Cook on high heat at least 6 hours or low heat 8 hours.
15. If you would like the stew to be thicker you can make a roux-melt ¼ cup butter in a small saucepan and add in ¼ cup all purpose flour, whisking constantly. Once the mixture begins to darken remove from heat and add about a cup of liquid from the stew into the saucepan. Whisk until smooth and then add to slow cooker. Stir and allow to cook 5-10 minutes more before serving.
16. Garnish with dried parsley if desired.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 cup
• Calories: 482
• Sugar: 7.7 g
• Sodium: 378.7 mg
• Fat: 17.1 g
• Carbohydrates: 41.7 g
• Protein: 37.9 g
• Cholesterol: 94.8 mg

Keywords: Guinness, Beef, Stew