Guinness Irish Stew

This Guinness Irish stew is simple and full of flavor with stout beer, tender lamb, carrots, and onions. This easy stew recipe is ready in about an hour and a half – pair it with crusty bread for a cozy comfort food dinner.

Cutesy holiday-themed recipes are not something I tend to gravitate to, but a holiday-themed stew? Sign me up. And a stew made with beer? Double sign me up, please.

And that’s what we have here today, a simple Irish stew made with Guinness stout, tender lamb, potatoes and carrots. It’s not complicated, it’s totally delicious and it’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any day you want a comforting bowl of savory goodness.

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil or canola oil
• Lamb stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Diced onion
• Water
• Guinness beer
• Carrots, cut into 1”-thick coins
• Yukon gold potatoes cut into 2-inch pieces
• Finely chopped parsley

Irish Stew with Lamb

Traditionally, Irish stew is made with lamb or mutton which is meat from an older sheep. Lamb is readily available at most grocery stores while mutton… not so much.

The best cut of lamb for stew is the shoulder which is ideal for braises and stews. At regular grocery stores, you can usually find packages of lamb stew meat which is the shoulder already cut into chunks.

The other thing about traditional Irish stew is that it’s simple. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles – just a simple combination of meat, vegetables, and water simmered together until the lamb is tender.

So, my version isn’t exactly authentic because I add stout beer which adds to the stews depth of flavors, and because, you know, it’s St. Patrick’s Day. You need a little kitsch and adding some traditional Irish beer is a nice way to add an Americanized Irish spin on the whole thing.

Tips for Prepping the Lamb

• Make sure your pieces are cut to approximately 1″ in size. If you use the precut stew meat you most likely will need to cut them into smaller pieces. This way it all cooks evenly.
• Pat the meat dry before you sear it. Removing the excess moisture will make it a whole lot easier to get a nice sear on the meat when you brown it.
• Speaking of which, don’t skip the browning step. It not only gives the meat a nice browned color, but all of the browned bits left in the pan will give your stew even more flavor.
• To get the best sear, don’t overcrowd the pan and cook the meat in batches. Otherwise, it will steam and not get that gorgeous color.

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Can You Use Beef?

Of course you can make Guinness beef stew, if that’s what you prefer. But I think you might miss out. The lamb has a wonderful flavor and it’s really tender after only simmering for about an hour. Beef, on the other hand, will take longer.

If you decide to use beef, be sure to use a cut for stews like chuck round. You will also need to simmer it longer (up to two hours or longer) and you may need to increase the amount of liquid in the recipe to compensate.

Best Beer to Use

You can use any kind of stout beer you like to drink for this lamb stew, but the rich flavors of Guinness is especially nice. The majority of the alcohol cooks off so all you’re left with is the flavor of the beer and a hint of maltiness.

The beer replaces stock that you might otherwise use to make a stew, so the two bottles (24 ounces) along with a couple of cups of water are all you need. If you want to amp up the flavor, feel free to sub the water for beef stock or beef broth. Although, I think it’s great without it.

The rest of the flavors come from the onions, carrots, salt, and pepper. The potatoes help thicken the stew. As they cook, they release some of their starches so there’s no need to add any flour, cornstarch slurry, or other thickening agents.

Of course, I add a handful of chopped parsley at the end because it’s what I do. It gives the dish a nice pop of freshness and color.

Make-Ahead and Storage Tips

The leftovers are delicious and I think it’s worth it to make a day in advance to allow time for all of the flavors to develop. Store it in an airtight container and it will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator.

You can warm it up on the stove and, because it has a tendency to thicken up when it’s chilled, you can add a few splashes of water to thin it.

Serve it with some crusty bread or Irish soda bread on the side to soak up all the goodness. I hope you enjoy it! 🍀

Happy simmering,

More Recipes to Try

• Shepherd’s Pie
• Slow Cooker Beef Stew
• Vegetable Beef Soup
• Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes

📣 Do you love this recipe? I would love to know! Leave a comment below the recipe along with your recipe star rating.

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The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.

Post updated from the archives. First published in March 2020.