Irish Beef Stew

Americans have a curious way of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. We pinch each other if we forget to wear something green, we make green foods regardless if they have anything to do with Ireland, and we adapt traditional Irish recipes to our own taste.

The last is the case with this Irish beef stew. As any Irish person will tell you, lamb is the preferred meat for a good Irish stew. But here in the states we eat a lot more beef than lamb, so when we want to make a stew to celebrate all things Irish, it’s usually done with beef.

This particular stew has all of the classic trimmings of a good stew—meat, stock, plenty of root vegetables—with the addition of some Guinness extra stout, for its malty flavor and some Irish authenticity.

The recipe originally came to me through my friend Tomas, who got it from a chef friend in Europe, who had adapted a Bon Appetit recipe for stew by adding Guinness and some red wine. Every time we make this recipe it gets raves!

Irish Beef Stew Recipe

Please use beef chuck stew meat that is well marbled with fat. Lean stew meat will end up too dry.

Save prep time by prepping the onions, carrots, and potatoes while the stock with beef is simmering in step 2.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 3 teaspoons of salt (more to taste)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 4 cups beef stock or broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup of Guinness extra stout
• 1 cup of hearty red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups)
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots and/or parsnips (3 to 4 carrots or parsnips)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

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