Classic Guinness Irish Stew

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During the colder months, soups and stews are the culinary equivalent of a warm hug. After a tiring day, doning on my fluffiest socks, grabbing a bowl of hot piping stew and sitting in front of the television is what my heart craves for.

The Irish Stew is one such recipe that we have in our winter dinner rotation and it has to be arguably the most flavourful of all stews.

What is Irish Stew?

If you walk into any pub in Ireland there’s a good chance that you will find this classic stew on the menu. An Irish Stew is a rich and robust stew filled with lamb, potatoes, vegetables, lot of herbs,and of course Guinness-a dark Irish stout.

The lamb in this delicious stew is slowly simmered for hours with a bottle of Guinness until it becomes incredibly tender and almost falls apart. Tastes absolutely delicious and is cozy enough to get you through the cold spells.

Though the recipe is easy, making this iconic stew needs some time and patience. But hang in there, the longer it simmers, the better is the flavors. You can also make it a day ahead because the flavor improves the longer it sits.

Are you looking for other Soups? You can also check out my Hearty Vegetable and Lentil Stew , Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup and Beetroot Ginger Soup with Spicy Chickpeas

Don’t worry, you cannot taste the beer in the finished dish, it imparts a deep and brown color and enhances the flavors.

Notes

• I’ve used lamb for this recipe, but you can use beef if that’s your preference.
• The Guinness Beer is the secret ingredient in creating a broth that has wonderful deep complex flavours and is reminiscent of a gravy. But if it is not your thing, you can substitute the beer with more chicken broth/stock.
• I like to cut the vegetables into fairly large chunks,so they don’t get soggy while slow cooking.

If you make this recipe, I would love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by leaving a comment below.

Classic Guinness Irish Stew
Author: Happily Cooking
Preparation Time: 15min
Cooking time: 2hrs
Yields: 5-6 servings
Calories per serving: 533kcal

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 kg lamb boneless, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle Guinness beer
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 3 large carrots, cut into 1" thick pieces
• 400 g potatoes with skins, halved
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Cut the lamb into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the lamb pieces to the pot. Cook until seared, turning the lamb pieces every 30-45 seconds or until all sides are browned. Remove them to a plate and continue with the remaining pieces.
3. Add the onion to the pot and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add garlic and saute for a minute.Then stir in the flour and cook for another minute.
5. Add the Guinness and bring it to a rapid boil, deglazing the bottom of the pot and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom. Allow it to boil for 2 minutes.
6. Then add the carrots, potatoes, the tomato paste, the bay leaves, the thyme, the rosemary, the chicken stock and the cooked lamb pieces.
7. Continue cooking until the stew reaches a simmer. Then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer over low heat for 1 1/2-2 hours stirring occasionally, until the lamb pieces are tender and the vegetables are soft.
8. Season with additional salt and black pepper if required.
9. Dish up the stew and enjoy it hot with some crusty bread.