Irish Beef Stew Recipe Without Wine- An Easy Crock Pot Recipe

Although we have have several traditional beef stew recipes, we have recently been asked to share our favorite Irish Beef Stew Recipe without wine.

Of course, if you know us, we typically have no reservations about cooking with wine. The alcohol cooks off leaving a depth of flavor that we enjoy in many recipes such as Irish Shepherd’s Pie, Beef Burgundy and even in our Homemade Pasta Sauce.

However, we know for personal reasons, some people can’t or don’t want to use wine while cooking. And we totally understand that.

Therefore, with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, we thought it would be a great time to share one of our favorite recipes that we had while we visited Ireland several years ago.

Thick and hearty beef chunks mixed with carrots, potatoes and onions in a rich gravy sauce that is perfect to serve as a stand alone meal or over mashed potatoes.

Of course, don’t forget to make some Irish Soda Bread to soak up the juices once you are finished with your meal!

Irish Beef Stew Recipe

*Complete recipe instructions including specific measurements, cook temperatures and times are located in a printable recipe card at the bottom of this article. However, be sure to keep reading for helpful tips and tricks when making this recipe.

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil 
• Stew meat
• Salt & pepper 
• Onion 
• Carrots 
• Celery 
• Garlic cloves
• Russet potatoes
• Beef broth
• Guinness stout beer
• Dried thyme
• Parsley (optional)

Instructions

Although this Irish Beef Stew Recipe without wine is primarily a crock pot recipe, there are a few steps that we highly recommend you do before putting everything in your slow cooker.

First cut the large chunks of stew meat into manageable bite size pieces. Then season them with salt and pepper and set aside.

Take a large skillet and place it over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan. Once hot, add the beef and sear on all sides until browned.

This should take approximately 10 minutes. Be sure to work in batches if your skillet isn’t large enough to sear in a single layer.

Once the stew meat is browned on all sides transfer to a 6 quart slow cooker.

We love our 6 quart programmable Crock Pot. You can program the desired cook time for this Beef Stew Recipe and when finished cooking, it will automatically go into a Keep Warm setting. This way your food doesn’t over cook but is still warm whenever you get back home!

Saute The Vegetables

In the same skillet that you used to brown the beef add the remaining tablespoon of oil and then add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until soft.

This step will take approximately 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Then add a little of the beef broth to the skillet and deglaze the bottom of the pan to remove any stuck bits.

Now transfer the skillet mixture to the slow cooker with the meat and then add potatoes, remaining broth, beer, and thyme.

Do I Have To Use Beer?

Although Guinness is used in many Irish recipes, including this Irish Beef Stew Without Wine recipe, it isn’t absolutely necessary. If you prefer not to use this famous stout beer, replace the liquid with more beef broth.

Stir the mixture one more time then cover and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or LOW for 8 hours.

A half an hour before the cook time is up, determine if you want a thicker sauce or not. If you do, make a corn starch slurry made of 1/4 cup cold water mixed with 1-2 tablespoons corn starch.

Whisk the slurry together and then add it to the Beef Stew and stir. Let the mixture continue to cook and the liquid will thicken.

Serve with parsley as garnish if desired along with mashed potatoes and Irish Soda Bread.

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

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