Instant Pot Irish Beef Stew

Irish beef stew is made entirely in the instant pot in only an hour and features tender beef cubes and vegetables in a rich stout sauce. – serve this hearty stew with lots of crusty bread!

A big bowl of cozy Irish-style beef stew to add to your St. Patrick’s day arsenal of recipes!

Let’s be honest, not much beats a bowl of beef stew….it’s hearty, it’s cozy, it’s EASY, and just all around a dinner classic.

Not much beats it UNLESS we throw in a splash or two of hearty Guinness and make the entire meal in the instant pot in only an hour!

I gotta say, it’s just impossible to not be obsessed with this dinner with how many boxes it’s ticking. Beef stew made entirely in the instant pot may just be life changing.

I remember when I was growing up, beef stew for dinner was always a VERY big deal in my family since my mom would have to start it in the crockpot super early in the day and planning dinner ahead wasn’t always *ahem* our strong suit.

Shocker: it still isn’t my strong suit. So this instant pot version of beef stew is a LIFE SAVER for all the dinner procrastinators out there.

This Irish Beef Stew features…

• Fall-apart tender beef stew meat
• Soft and tender carrots, onions, and potatoes
• A rich, savory stout beer sauce that tastes like it simmered for hours

Making the Irish Beef Stew

(scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe!)

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Beef Stew Meat – you can buy pre-cut beef stew meat or go for a chuck roast and cut it up yourself.
• Vegetables – yellow onion, carrots, and potatoes make up the veggie portion of this stew.
• Aromatics – fresh thyme, bay leaves, and garlic.
• Beef Broth – try to find a higher quality beef broth because this makes up the majority of the sauce.
• Guinness Beer – any kind of darker stout beer will work – you can also just add extra beef broth if you’re not a fan of beer flavor.
• Tomato Paste – a little tomato paste adds a nice body and sweetness to the stew sauce.

How is Irish-Style Beef Stew Different?

Traditional Irish stew is made with lamb or mutton but as lamb can be a bit difficult for most home cooks to find, I opted to use beef stew meat in this recipe.

If you do have access to lamb and want to try this recipe the traditional way, feel free to use cubed lamb shoulder in place of the beef!

Another notable difference in this Irish stew is our use of Guinness beer in addition to the beef broth. The stout beer adds such a lovely hearty flavor!

Lastly, traditional Irish stew uses an assortment of various root vegetables but I opted to keep it simple today and use the classic trio of onions, carrots, and potatoes.

Other root vegetables such as parsnips, turnips, or sweet potatoes can certainly be used in place of the carrots and potatoes in this stew if you want to branch out!

Crockpot Instructions

If you do not have an instant pot, you can still make this recipe using a crockpot! >

1. Brown the beef cubes on the stove in a medium skillet rather than in the instant pot.
2. Add the onions, garlic, tomato paste, and brown sugar to beef per recipe instructions and let cook until onions are translucent.
3. Transfer beef mixture to a 6-qt crockpot and add remaining ingredients.
4. Cook beef stew on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours.
5. After stew has cooked, whisk flour with a little broth and stir into stew. Cook on high an additional 30 minutes.

The amount of rich, hearty flavors we’re able to develop in this stew in only an hour of cooking in the instant pot is freaking UNREAL!

The beef literally melts in your mouth it’s so tender. The vegetables are perfectly soft and the broth is rich and savory.

Don’t forget the thick slices of crusty bread on the side! An absolute MUST for dipping into this hearty stew, trust me!

A few more hearty instant pot recipes to add to your dinner menu!

• Instant Pot Shiitake Mushroom Beef Stroganoff
• Lighter Instant Pot Thai Basil Chicken
• Instant Pot Beer French Onion Soup Meatballs