This Guinness Beef and Onion Pot Pie is a delicious and easy way to embrace an Irish recipe without diving into green food dye head first this St. Patrick’s Day. Enjoy the flavours of the Irish with a cozy comfort food recipe.
St. Patrick’s is coming and since I had very few appropriate recipes for it, I felt behind on getting some quality recipes to you. Ones that are crazy good but with minimal effort and get your kids excited about dinner. An Irish dinner to be specific.
Thinking back to my childhood and my Irish grandfather I was stumped on what to make for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations as we didn’t eat a ton of Irish recipes. There are only a few food memories I hold regarding my Pa (my brother and I weren’t quite sharp enough to say Grandpa when we were babies so his name was severely shortened). The first is that he would never, ever, eat potatoes with the skin on. I found this bizarre as it has nothing to do with flavour (or the fact that that is where most of the nutrients are kept) but rather to do with one’s status.
Secondly, the man couldn’t even make Kraft Dinner. My Nana went back to Scotland for a week once and my Pa had to watch a few of the grandkids by himself and he made KD for lunch one day. We ended up with KD soup (which is not appetizing, sorry Pa). The third is his “cure-all” drink a Hot Toddy, but made with boiled ginger ale, rye, and honey. I remember having to drink it every time I had a sore throat. I now want one every time I have a sore throat, but during my childhood the boiled ginger ale / rye combo was horrible.
This pot pie is everything that I want in a savoury pie. A luscious almost rich tasting gravy, tender pieces of stewed meat, and a top that won’t make me feel weighed down after dinner. There’s parsley and thyme in this pie to brighten up the interior.
Instead of the usual pasty top I used very thinly sliced (peeled for Pa) potatoes with a sprinkling of old cheddar cheese on top. Served with some bright lemon shallot peas for a truly delicious meal.
My memories around Guinness beer actually sits with my English Great Grandmother. She drank 1 can of Guinness every single day. She said her doctor recommended it and from all my visits to England I remember her drinking a can (only 1) every day …. she lived to 105 years old so there must be something to that. Guinness is actually a very light beer and pairs extremely well with beef.
Occasionally beer recipes can be a bit bitter from the acid in the beer. When evened out with beef broth it makes the world’s best gravy. My kids really liked the flavours, but I had to cut the meat up into quite small pieces. The potato topping was a hard sell and didn’t work out as well as I had hoped.
What’s your go to St. Paddy’s Day recipe?
Other Irish recipe favourites include:
- A green influenced Chocolate Chip Mint Bundt Cake
- Apple and Honey Oat Scones
- Chocolate, Pear, and Whiskey Tart
- Liv for Cake’s Bailey’s and Guinness Cake
Get into the Irish spirt with this Guinness Beef and Onion Pot Pie. So good and our family’s new favourite comfort food.
- 1.5 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1" cubes
- 2 tsp vegetable oil, such as canola or grapeseed oil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow (cooking) onions, about 2 medium
- 2 large OR 3 medium-small carrots, roughly chopped into 10 cm wide pieces
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried thyme, or 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried parsley, or 2 tsp fresh chopped parsley leaves
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more for finishing seasoning
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Guinness or another stout beer
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (1/8″ thick)
- 1/4 cup grated old cheddar cheese (white or orange will work)
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Preheat oven to 375° F.
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In a medium Dutch Oven or large sauce pan, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook on all sides until browned. Remove from pot and set aside. Add onions and carrots. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for 4-6 minutes until starting to soften. Add garlic, thyme and parsley. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add beer and broth and return to a simmer.
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Add cornstarch to a small bowl and slowly add 1-2 tbsp of the beer/broth mixture while whisking cornstarch the entire time. Once the cornstarch has about 1/4 cup of liquid in it and has dissolved, slowly whisk cornstarch mixture into the pot.
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Return beef to the pot. Bring pot to a boil, boil for 1-3 minutes, and remove from heat.
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Carefully, add beef mixture to either one ovenproof casserole dish or 6 single serving ovenproof dishes. Top with sliced potato pieces, grated cheese, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
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Bake for 35-45 minutes, until tops are browning and potato slices are cooked through.
Enjoy! xo
Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs with Thyme and Parmesan Soldiers
This looks incredible, also where did you get the casserole dishes, I must have them!
Thanks so much Ayngelina! They’re Lodge Brand. I think I got them at West Elm Market a few years ago (back when we had a West Elm Market here in Van). I haven’t actually seen them anywhere else, but I’m sure Lodge could point you in the right direction 🙂
These look great (and from a fellow Irish woman-there were always potatoes at my grandparents’ house too!)
Thank you ladies! It took some reflection, but I wasn’t entirely sure if the whole potatoes thing was from my Irish Grandfather or my Scottish Grandmother, but I’m pretty sure it’s Grandpa. 😉
Love simple recipes like this one. My grandma in the UK used to drink Guinness daily. She didn’t live until 105 but my grandpa died quite young and she raised 9 children single handedly. They all grew up well educated hard working adults. Guinness is definitely good for you. ? Will definitely be cooking this dish (after I’ve bought the beer). Thank you.
Thank you for the note! 9 kids!! She must have been such a strong loving soul. I feel like 3 kids these days is a lot. I’ve actually taken a liking to Guinness in recent years, granted it has to be super cold, but I do enjoy it. I hope you enjoy the dish; let me know how it goes. 🙂
The potato top might have been a hard sell for your kids, but I think it looks amazing. Frankly, it’d probably be a hard sell for my kids too, but hey… you’ve got to do your own thing, right?
I think your grandma might have been on to something. I love Guinness, love cooking with it, and I think it sounds absolutely perfect here. And hey, if one a day would keep me around until 105, I’d be happy to dive in. Certainly sounds better than boiled ginger ale and rye to me, but then again, I don’t have a cold. 🙂
Hehehe. It looks like you need to speak to your doctor about this whole Guinness a day thing? I’m thinking my great-grandma was deficient in magnesium or some other mineral that Guinness is high in. Who knows? Maybe this whole thing is a story she made up so she could fool us all! She had an amazing sense of humour that I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this was the case.
My wife is a doctor… I wonder if she’d give me permission? 😀
I’ve always been amazed by Guinness in general – such bold flavour, but it’s lighter (in alcohol and calories) than most beers. Win win.
Beautiful shot. What a creative and flavorful dish.
Thanks so much! It is packed with delicious Irish flavours 🙂
I made this dish for St. Patrick ‘s Day 2018. It Was Great!!
I started it on the stove and put it into a deep dish pie plate that is Green.
It was a hit.
Thank You for printing the recipe.
The Guinness made the flavor.
Served it with Haricots Vertes and Parmesan toasted asparagus.
Great news! So glad it was a St. Patrick’s Day success!! The sides sound lovely!
Yum, yum, and yum! However, I let the meat mixture boil for about 15 or so minutes to cook out the bitterness from the beer. Usually if I cook with beer, I let it boil for awhile for that reason. The only complaint I had, was that it was very soupy when it was finished. I don’t know if I should possibly have used more cornstarch. The next day when I ate the leftovers, the texture was perfect. I’ll make it again for sure because the flavors were amazing, and the meat was so tender. Thanks for such a great recipe. I already passed it on to my mom.
Glad you enjoyed it! Odd about the texture, I’ve added to let it boil for a moment or two before removing from heat so that the cornstarch is activated.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing beef onion pot pie recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
So glad you think so 🙂
This pot pie is so comforting and delicious! And be sure to make extra because it’s soooo good
Always extra! 🙂
Delicious! Guiness is so great in a pie or stew!
So good!