Warming and delicious, this Guinness beef stew with vegetables is a hearty comfort food classic and is perfect served with Irish soda bread for dinner.
If ever there was a bowl of comfort just waiting to warm you up, it’s this delectable Guinness beef stew. With succulent, fall-apart-tender beef, potatoes, carrots and a rich Guinness gravy, this is heart comfort food at its finest.
And if a stew seems like something that you just don’t have time for, throw it all in your Instant Pot and less than an hour later you’ll have the most delicious beef stew to sit down to. And don’t forget that glorious cheesy Irish soda bread, it was MADE for soaking up all that gravy.
How to make Guinness beef stew
To make beef stew in an Instant Pot, set your Instant Pot to the saute function. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in the pot and brown the beef in batches until golden brown all over. Remove and set aside then add the onions, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and herbs and saute for another minute or two. Add the beef, stock and Guinness into the pot.
Close the lid and make sure to set the valve to “sealing”. Cook on the meat function for 30 minutes, allow the pressure to quick release then add the potatoes, close the lid again and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. After the pressure is released I like to use the saute function to simmer the stew as I add flour and water mixed together to thicken the stew. This is completely optional but I like the sauce to be nice and thick. Season to taste and serve.
You can make this stew in a slow-cooker as well, simply brown/saute all the ingredients as directed then add to the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
What kind of beef is used for stew?
Any of the tougher cuts of beef work perfectly in stew. Chuck, beef shin, brisket and short ribs are always good cuts to go for but most supermarkets and butchers will be able to guide you as to what cut of beef is best for your stew. Bone-in stewing beef bought from most supermarkets are perfect for this stew.
What to serve with beef stew:
Stew recipes:
- Irish lamb stew
- Chicken stew with garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes
- Slow braised beef short ribs with cheesy mash
- Beef shin stew with Parmesan dumplings
Instant Pot Guinness beef stew
Ingredients
- 1 kg/2lbs stewing beef (Chuck, shin, etc.)
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 3 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 celery ribs finely chopped
- 4-6 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 500 ml (2 cups) Guinness stout
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 tbsp flour mixed with ½ cup water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 large potatoes peeled and chopped into large chunks
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to the saute function.
- Add a few tablespoons of oil and add the beef in batches. Brown well on all sides then remove and set aside.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery. Saute for 5 minutes then add the garlic, herbs and tomato paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the beef, stock, Worcestershire sauce and Guinness. Close the lid and move the valve to "sealing". Cook on the meat setting for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, quick release the pressure and add the potatoes. Seal the lid again and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release then set to the saute function. Allow the stew to simmer then stir in the flour and water mixture. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes until the stew has thickened. Season to taste and serve.
Oh my goodness! Just made this for St. Patrick’s Day (hubby is not a corned beef fan). It was delicious! The only thing that I did different was add more of the vegetables. I highly recommend this recipe!
Good recipe! Made this for my son and his fiancee. We loved it. I made a few modifications as I didn’t have Guinness Ale, so I used Fat Tire Belgian Style Amber Ale and some Herbs De Provence and Thyme instead of the Rosemary. It turned out really well. I’ll make sure and do a quick release on the potatoes next time, they were a little mushy, as I wasn’t clear on the time in the recipe. Also, I had some wild Morel mushrooms from my last hunt and added them. Superb flavor. Thanks for posting!
This is so delicious. Have made it several times. It is a family go-to now. Thank you!
A favorite! We do mashed poratoes on the side
Alida, when you allow the pressure to release after the potatoes are cooked, do you mean let it come down on its own? Or quick release? I am in the middle of it now and don’t want the potatoes to be mushy, so I’m leaning toward quick release. It’s amazing how the smallest details in a recipe can make all the difference! I’m also making the cheddar soda bread. Can’t wait to try it all!! 🙂
I always use quick release, I’ll update the recipe.
Made this several times and it is great. This is just an FYI…I do not see adding the Worchestershire sauce anywhere in the recipe instructions. NBD…added when I added the beef, stock and guiness. Great recipe BTW!!
Are you using the 3 or 6 quart pot for this recipe?
3 quart.
When you say cook on meet setting for 30 minutes is that low-med-high meat setting?
I’ll fix the recipe, but it’s the high setting.
Hi Alida,
I just dicovered your blog while searching for recipes to try with my new instant pot. Since my boyfriend likes his meat we tried this stew and it was simply delicious. And really quite easy to prepare, even so boyfriend was confused with some of the metrics and cooking related vocabulary (we are German). We also accomopanied it with the herb and cheese soda bread. I love that it is so fluffy and has such a nice intense taste.
I will definitely drop by more often.
Cheers
Jana
So glad you liked it. Thanks for your comment Jana!
Made this stew with beef shin in the oven as I don’t have an Instant Pot and it was delicious. Cooking took longer ofcourse, around 2-3 hours, but it was a delicious, comfort meal.
Beef shin sounds great!!
Had this for dinner last night with your soda bread and it was a great meal. The stew was so easy in the pressure cooker, definitely making it again!
Glad to hear it!
I’m thinking I;ve found my St. Patrick’s Day meal Alida! This stew and that cheesy Irish soda bread are a match made in heaven!
It is honestly SO good Mary Ann. You’ll love it. 🙂