Divine Guinness Beef Stew

For 8 servings (or more)

- 1.2kg of beef for stew (cut into cubes)
- olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 medium onions
- 100gr of flour
- 4dl of beef bouillon
- 1 big can of Guinness Extra Stout
- 3 large carrots
- 2-3 bay leaves
- pepper
- 1 pack of dried & pitted prunes
- 1 bunch of parsley (for the garnish)

Definitely one of my all-time favorite dishes… It’s simply divine… Based on my experience it’s rather a dish for colder days, but since it’s so great you can do it all year around. I just love it!


First of all I can only recommend buying some really nice & tender beef. Definitely worth it! Either you can ask the butcher to cut it in 2.5cm-3cm cubes straight away, or you do it yourself. Really important to take tender beef, since this stew will only cook for about 1.5h-2h.


Peel the carrots and cut them into about 1.5cm-2cm pieces. Then cut the onions and press the garlic and in case you are cutting the beef yourself, please get this done now as well. Get a big pan (for example a Le Creuset) ready, heat the oil and fry the onions for about 3-4min. Then add the garlic and continue to fry for about 30sec. Then remove the onions & the garlic from the pot. It is very important to cook the meat in small batches. So don't "throw" the whole load of meat into the pot. Put the first batch of beef cubes into the pot until it's nicely brown. Then take it out and do the next batch. When you are done with all the meat, but the whole lot back in to the pot and sprinkle it with the flour. Reduce the heat to simmer. Stir in the flour so that all the meat is coated. Then add the beef bouillon, stir, and add the Guinness, and stir again. When all stirred up and nicely simmering, add the onions, garlic, carrots and the bay leaves (don't forget to take the bay leaves out before serving). When all ingredients are in the pot, gently stir again. The beer/broth should now cover all ingredients. If this isn't the case, you may need to add some more beef bouillon. Let the stew simmer gently and uncovered for about 1h. There should only be little bubbles with the occasional waft of steam coming from the stew. Only stir it from time to time.


While the stew is cooking, chop up the dried & pitted prunes. After the 1h is over, add the prunes to the stew, stir, and continue cooking for about 30min-45min. The prunes will simply melt inside the stew and add an incredible flavor to it and a nice and glossy finish. The perfect things to serve with this divine dish are mashed potatoes and pees. But of course you can choose whatever you like.


Bon appétit!


Wine recommendation: Either you can enjoy a nice beer with this dish or a big and aromatic red wine like an Amarone


Music recommendation: Sting