Slow Cooker Guinness Beef Stew

If molasses were a beer, it would be a Guinness stout—rich, thick, dark, caramel-y, deeply flavorful. It is Ireland’s most popular brew with, get this, more than 1.8 billion pints sold around the world every year. (That’s a lot of beer!)

Around here it’s a favorite for St. Patrick’s Day, and you can find stacks of Guinness displays at practically every store that sells beer. Naturally Guinness has made its way into flavoring many dishes, including breads and cakes as well as stews like this one.

Guinness stew is Ireland’s answer to Belgian carbonnade, with chunks of beef and with stout instead of ale, and with root vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, and celery root.

This stew we are making in a slow cooker (though you could make it in the oven as well). The controlled low and slow cooking is perfect for tenderizing the flavorful but tough pieces of beef chuck roast, while keeping the root vegetables intact.

The trick is to brown the meat first, before adding to the slow cooker. That way you get all of the wonderful flavor from the browned meat in your stew. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Guinness Beef Stew Recipe

These instructions are for making the stew in a slow cooker. If you don't have a slow cooker and would prefer to make the stew in the oven, cook everything in a large Dutch oven. After you add the liquid, bring it to a simmer on the stovetop then put it, tightly covered, in a 225°F oven for 6 hours (or a 300°F oven for 4 hours).

Note that different people have different sensitivities to bitter flavors. If Guinness Stout tastes bitter to you, then the stew will taste bitter as well. If it doesn't taste bitter to you, the stew should not taste bitter.

You can either use celery root, young turnips or potatoes in addition to parsnips and carrots. If you use turnips, make sure you only use young turnips, which are smaller and sweeter than regular turnips. Regular turnips can be quite bitter.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 pounds (900 g) well marbled chuck beef roast, cut into 2-inch pieces
• Salt
• 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 pint (16 ounces, 475 ml) Guinness extra stout (make sure you use extra stout and not draught)
• 3 cups (700 ml) beef broth
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 3-4 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/2 pound (280 g) celery root, potatoes, or young turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• Salt
• 4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

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