Guinness is the perfect addition to beef stew to create a bold, robust flavor. Beef stew is, of course, an autumn staple. but sometimes I think it has a tendency to turn out pretty bland. No amount of salt, Worcestershire, or tomato paste was enough to combat the flavor-sucking power of the potatoes and the absorption ability of the stew meat. But it turns out a bottle of Guinness does the trick!
It’s worth noting that I’m not much of a Guinness drinker. I find a nice pint of Guinness satisfying on occasion, but it’s never been my go-to based on taste. So even if it’s not a favorite of yours, I encourage you to give it a go in this Guinness beef stew recipe.
This recipe uses classic stew meat, potatoes, onion, carrots, and peas. Celery is a common ingredient in stews that you can add back in if you wish.
Depending on how much beef broth you add during cooking, your stew will likely need to be thickened at the end of cooking. To do this I used a corn starch slurry. Mix 1 tbs of corn starch with 1-2 tbs of cold water. It forms a silky white liquid. That’s your slurry. Pour that around the edges of your crockpot and stir it in, giving it about a minute to take full effect.
A general rule is that you need 1 tablespoon of corn starch per cup of fluid you’re trying to thicken. I found it difficult to estimate how many cups of fluid I needed to thicken, between the Guinness that I added during sauteeing, the beef broth, and the fluids released from the meat and veggies during cooking. So I just added 1 tablespoon of slurry at a time until I was happy with the consistency. Remember, you can always add more in, but once it’s in you can’t take it out!
I also added a few dashes of salt throughout cooking to round out the flavor. I prefer to taste and add throughout the day instead of adding all the salt at the beginning or at the end. I find that the flavor distributes more evenly throughout when I do it this way. It also helps me avoid the problem of adding too much at once and not being able to undo that later.
I served this with a side of Guinness beer bread, but it would also be delicious with any Irish soda bread.
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