Guinness Beef Stew is a hearty dinner to feed a hungry crowd. We are cooking it over the top on the grill for the most flavorful Irish stew that we’ve ever tasted.

Irish beef stew in a small cast iron serving skillet with soda bread

Grilling “Over the Top” has gained in popularity and after using the method to make smoked chili, we had to give it a try with this hearty beef stew.

The meat is essentially cooked on a wire rack over the top of the pot of soup. The meat gets smoky and tender and the juices drip down into the pot adding lots of flavor that you would miss by just grilling the meat.

Ingredients For Beef Stew

Sirloin Roast ~ We chose a sirloin so that it would be tender if cooked in a short amount of time.
Olive Oil ~ Coats the sirloin to with the dry rub for the best flavor on the meat.
Brown Sugar, Garlic Powder,Minced Rosemary, Smoked Paprika, Kosher Salt, Pepper & Dry Mustard ~ Dry rub for the meat and seasons the stew perfectly.
Bacon ~ It just makes everything better. We use the drippings to cook the vegetables and it adds lots of flavor to the stew.
Potatoes ~ Irish stew has to have potatoes. Cut into small chunks so they will cook in about 30 minutes.
Onions, Celery & Carrots ~ The basic vegetables for a delicious soup or stew.
Beef Broth ~ Use beef broth or make your own using beef bullion and water.
Guinness Stout ~ A dark Irish dry stout that adds great flavor to the stew.
Worcestershire Sauce ~ The secret ingredient for soups and sauces.

How to Make Guinness Beef Stew Over the Top

Slicing sirloin roast on a cutting board for stew

Cut sirloin roast into bite sized chunks and place in a bowl, toss with olive oil.

black bowl with brown sugar and spices for dry rub

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and seasonings.

Seasoning chunks of sirloin for beef stew

Pour over sirloin chunks and toss to combine.

bacon pieces cooked in a dutch oven until crispy

Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook in a dutch oven over medium heat, stirring often until crispy.
Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

cooked onions, celery and carrots with a wood spoon in a dutch oven

Cook diced onion, celery and carrots in bacon drippings over medium heat. Stir occasionally cooking until vegetables are softened.

pouring a bottle of Guinness Stout to vegetables for stew

Add Guinness Stout.

Pour in beef broth.

adding diced potatoes and cooked bacon to soup

Next, add potatoes and cooked bacon. Stir to combine.

stew meat on a wire rack over a dutch oven

Set a wire rack over the dutch oven and place the sirloin on top of the rack.

Grill with the lid closed over indirect heat. We started the fire at about 400° with hickory for smoke flavor and then lowered to temperature to about 350°.

Cook about 30 minutes or until sirloin reaches about 145° to 155° using a digital thermometer.

Adding grilled beef chunks to dutch oven for stew on a grill

Carefully remove the wire rack from the dutch oven and stir the beef into the stewed vegetable mixture.

Test the potatoes for doneness and continue to cook if needed or remove from grill and serve immediately.

Overhead view 3 bowls of beef stew, soda bread in bead, butter, salt

Guinness Beef Stew can be served with Irish Brown Bread, soda bread or Cornbread Sticks.

How to Store and Reheat Beef Stew

Store leftover stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Freeze up to 3 months.
Reheat in a pan over medium heat, stirring often until heated through, about 10 minutes. Add additional beef broth if stew is too thick.

Can you leave out the Guinness?

Any stout can be substituted in this recipe and if you are not a fan of stout or beer, just add more beef broth or you could use Coca-Cola or root beer. It will alter the flavor a bit but still be delicious.

What is the Best Beef for Stew?

Typically stew meat is a great option but we chose a more tender cut of sirloin since we were cooking this in a relatively short amount of time. If you want to use stew meat, cook over the top for about 30 minutes for the meat to become smoky. Then add it to the soup and cook until the meat becomes tender, about another hour.

You might also like our Beef Stew Bread Bowls for a hearty and delicious meal on a cold winter night.

Individual serving skillet with beef stew

Try this Over the Top Guinness Beef Stew Recipe for dinner this week or as a celebration dinner for St. Patrick’s Day. The warm and hearty stew is very satisfying and filling.

If you love this recipe as much as we do, please leave a comment and a five star review. Help us share on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook!

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4.50 from 2 votes