Irish Beef Stew
Amazingly slow-cooked tender beef with garlic mashed potatoes – comfort food at its best, and something you’ll want all year long!
Have you ever had Irish Beef Stew before? Because if you haven’t, you are really missing out.
To be exact, this is what’s involved here: slow cooked tender beef in the most amazing gravy-like stew over the a bed of buttery, garlic mashed potatoes.
See, I told you. You’d be missing out.
And whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day or not, this needs to be made more than just once a year, especially on those chilly nights. It’s truly pure comfort food at its best!
Irish Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup dark stout beer*
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup frozen peas
For the garlic mashed potatoes
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ cup half and half*
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To make the garlic mashed potatoes, place potatoes and garlic in a large stockpot or Dutch oven and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes; drain well and return to the stockpot.
- Stir in half and half and butter. Using a potato masher, mash until smooth and creamy; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season beef with salt and pepper, to taste. Add beef to the stockpot and cook until evenly browned, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Add garlic, onion, leek and carrots to the stockpot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in beef broth, beer, parsley, thyme, bay leaf and beef; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer until the beef is tender, about 90 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine butter and flour. Add mixture to the stockpot until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in frozen peas until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately with garlic mashed potatoes.
Notes
*Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.
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Delish! My Irish gran always served oon a bed of fluffy mash. Great recipe
Great recipe, but, we don’t serve irish stew on a bed of mash, EVER!! The potatoes are in the stew from the beginning, they are what thicken the stew. Some people then add more half way through for extra body.
This is one of my go to recipes, and I’ve been making it for 5 years. SO GOOD! I’ve followed it to a “T” and I’ve also tried all sorts of alterations (no booze, veggie broth, no leek, less onion, Whole30 adaptations, served with cauli mash, double the meat.) It always performs well and tastes magnificent. With this said, the only thing I’ve never done is freeze it. Does anybody know if this freezes well? I’ve got baby #2 coming and I’d love to have this comforting meal ready to pull from the freezer.
Hi! I come back to this recipe often. My family loves it and kids ask for it! Thank you for such a great recipe. It is easy and delicious.
I always wanted to make Irish Stew, and I chose this recipe because of the simplicity of preparation, the enticing photograph of the dish, and the positive experiences I have had with Damn Delicious recipes.
This was delicious, and I made it exactly as written. ( I cut up my meat from a chuck roast.)
Many thanks for this awesome recipe!
Great recipe! I ended up speeding this up in my InstantPot on the pressure cook normal for 45 minutes. So working mom edition. While it’s in the IP, you do the taters. It all works out on time together.
Thanks for the tip! I will be trying this in the IP!
Made this for my spouse tonight for st Patrick’s day as we have an Iris background! This was fabulous! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I have made this twice now and it’s amazing. I use “Dragons Milk” Stout beer which is aged in bourbon barrels. It gives the recipe incredible depth. The funny thing is I can’t stand dragons breath by itself but mixed in here it’s amazing. I do Beef bourguignon on special occasions for the family and I honestly like this better.
This recipe is a bit labor-intensive for someone like me who likes an easy meal, but it is absolutely worth it! I loved it. Before serving I add a sprinkle of garlic salt as well and it’s delicious!
This is the second time I made this. Delicious both times. This recipe is a keeper.
Great recipe! I didn’t add any salt because I thought the beef broth might add enough, but it probably could have used a little bit. The flavors in this were great and we made it over the mashed potatoes which really put it over the top.
I can’t wait to make this! Would this taste good over egg noodles?
Delicious! I didn’t have leeks, otherwise made as directed.
This was delicious! We made it as written with a few additions. We browned a few ounces of diced bacon and seared the meat in about a tablespoon of the reserved fat. Then we browned about 2 cups of quartered cremini mushrooms in the rest of the bacon fat and put them in with the peas at the end. We also added a few thinly sliced scallions to the mashed potatoes. It would have been delicious as is, though. The flavor of the gravy is just perfect. Definitely adding this to our recipe arsenal!
If you only knew how many times I’ve made this and it’s always a special request from my 18 year old.
Made this for the family today, it was delicious!!
I doubled the tomato paste , broth, beer, parsley and seasonings. Everyone loved it definitely will be having it again!
Delicious! Planning to double the recipe next time. Recipe doesn’t make as much as I expected. I would love to make this in a crock pot. Planning to brown the beef first, add garlic last 5 minutes, then add everything to crock pot except for the thickening ingredients and peas which I would do last 20 minutes. Appreciate any thoughts:)
How did this work in the crockpot? I’m wanting to try the crockpot for this recipe too.
I absolutely love all of your recipes, and this one did not disappoint. I had to add a bit more beef stock near the end of the simmering to keep the stew at the consistency I wanted. This makes me want to go back to Ireland!
That was soooo good! Thanks a lot!
I am making this tonight…I have never cooked with leeks! Do I use both the white and the green parts? Thanks! I am so excited to try this. 🙂
I prefer to use just the white and light green parts. Hope that helps!
Do you use the whole huge leek? Mine I got are as long as my arm! Seems like too much
You can use as much or as little as you’d like! 🙂