Slow Cooker Irish Beef Stew

It’s easy to make a comforting Irish Beef Stew right in your slow cooker for St. Patrick’s Day! Packed with beef, vegetables and a delicious gravy, this is comfort food at its finest.

We are absolutely a “meat and potatoes” household. I think we’d gladly eat that for every meal of the week, ha! And this stew is no different – I first shared this recipe in 2016, but thought it finally needed an update before I miss another St. Patrick’s Day. So, here we are now (March 9th 2020) ☺️🍀

The more kids I have 😅, the more I’ve been using my slow cooker. While I make a mean Beef and Guiness Stew in my Dutch oven (and like to get vocal about my dislike of the trusty old crockpot, haha!) and a great Irish Stew in my Instant Pot – honestly, nothing beats the crock on a crazy day with 3 little kids running about.

Note: I’m adding the instructions for the stove and for the instant pot at the bottom of this post for your convenience, but I definitely make stew most often in the slow cooker these days.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Beef: Use cheap stew meat here. This cooks for a long time in the crockpot and will get tender this way.
• Broth: I recommend beef broth for the best flavor and color. If you only have chicken, I strongly recommend adding 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 extra teaspoon Worcestershire sauce to the stew (reduce the salt to taste).
• Vegetables: Carrots, potatoes and celery are classic in an Irish stew. Feel free to leave out the celery if you don’t like it.

A note about the liquid: I used to use a dark beer in Irish stew when my kids were still on baby/toddler meals, but now the older two are eating all of the same foods as we do and they hate the taste of beer. So, I now use stock vs beer.

If you want to use beer, I STRONGLY recommend taking the time to at least sauté the onions. Use the beer to deglaze the pan and simmer for a couple of minutes to cook off some of the alcohol.

How to make Irish Beef Stew in the slow cooker

Please note: I always brown the beef and sauté the onions and garlic before adding everything to the slow cooker. The rest of the stew basically cooks itself, and the extra work is worth it in terms of more flavor.

If you need to skip the browning and sautéing because of time or other restraints, I don’t recommend using any beer in the stew.

Steps to make this stew:

1) brown the beef and remove to the slow cooker, then

2) sauté the onion and garlic.

3) Deglaze the pan and

4) add onions and liquid to slow cooker.

5) Add vegetables, herbs and liquid to crock,

6) slow cook.

7) Finish with a cornstarch slurry to thicken.

Recipe tips

• Make sure to whisk the flour very well into the broth, otherwise you’ll have a lumpy gravy.
• If your beef stew doesn’t thicken to your liking even after adding the cornstarch slurry, try blending 1 cup of the stew. Stir it back into the slow cooker and you should have a thicker gravy.
• Even though you usually need to leave the slow cooker lid on for the whole cooking process, you really need to leave it open for the last 15-30 minutes here to properly thicken the stew. Make sure the crockpot is safely standing on the counter and pets or children cannot get to it.

Dutch oven or instant pot instructions

Dutch oven: Heat the oven to 350°F. Brown the meat/sauté the onions in a large Dutch oven. Deglaze with beer or broth, then take off the heat. Add the vegetables, broth/flour/Worcestershire mixture and herbs. Close with the lid and put in the oven for 1-2 hours. CAREFULLY remove, using oven gloves (!!). Put on the stove, remove the lid and stir in the cornstarch slurry over medium heat. Simmer 10-15 minutes, or until thickened to your liking.

Instant Pot: Set the instant pot to “sauté” and brown the meat in batches. Remove, then sauté the onion. Deglaze with beer or broth, then switch off the instant pot.

Add the meat back in, and add the vegetables, broth/flour/Worcestershire mixture and herbs. Close the instant pot and set the valve to “sealing”. Press the “stew” button.

Once the pot is indicating it’s done with cooking, do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes (just unplug your pot and leave it alone). Then manually release any remaining pressure and open the lid.

To thicken, set the instant pot to sauté and stir in the cornstarch slurry. Simmer until thickened. Alternatively, you can blend 1 cup of the stew and stir it back in.

Serving suggestions

We usually eat this stew by itself, maybe with a side of crusty bread. Either a traditional whole wheat soda bread, or a no knead bread are my favorites here!

The stew also very delicious over mashed potatoes, if you have big eaters in the house (my teenage brothers always needed this with their stew!). I recommend either making a batch of instant pot mashed potatoes, or whip up this traditional colcannon (it’s EASY!) if you want to go all-in for St. Patrick’s Day.

More St. Patrick’s Day recipes

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.