This hearty Irish stew with Guinness is our vegan alternative to the traditional Irish beef or lamb Guinness stew. Get ready to celebrate St Patrick's day like an Irish (a vegan one)!

Let's be honest, Irish cuisine is not one of our favourite cuisines. It's normally really meaty and quite bland, but after all, we are an Irish-Spanish family and from time to time we enjoy cooking some hearty dishes from Ireland. We've modified traditional recipes to our taste using plant-based ingredients and the results are just delicious!
Our way of celebrating Paddy's day where we live in Mallorca was spending the day out in a local town where many Irish people live. They set up a market, live music and animation for the little ones.
These last two years had been different though and we've been preparing ourselves for Paddy's day at home. That will include a lovely Irish menu: Vegan Irish stew with Guinness served with our homemade Vegan Soda Bread. For dessert, we love baking some healthy brownies with our three-year-old boy.
This vegetarian stew is rich, really tasty, packed full of veggies and quite easy to cook. We love making it for Paddy's day or rainy and cold days when you feel like eating something hearty and yummy.
Our Irish Stew is:
- Vegan
- Hearty
- Family-friendly
- Perfect for Paddy's Day
- Winter-autumn meal
- Easy to make
- One-pot meal

Meat substitute for Vegan or Vegetarian Irish Stew
Traditionally, this stew is cooked with lamb or beef. To substitute the meaty part of this dish, we use a vegan protein called "Heura" made in Spain, where we live. It works perfectly as it has the right texture and it can stay cooking for a long time without disintegrating.
Other plant-based alternatives
You can add any other plant-based protein alternatives to your vegan stew:
Seitan. This vegan protein doesn't need much seasoning. You can separate the seitan roughly with your hands to make beef resembling pieces or use a knife to cut the seitan into smaller cubes or pieces.
Tofu. This may be the easiest alternative to find. Tofu is one of our favourite plant-based proteins and we use it really often at home. Simply cut it into small pieces and add it with the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Make sure you are using firm tofu for this recipe.
Mushrooms. Adding a mixture of mushrooms is the perfect way to substitute the meat in a Guinness stew. They have a meaty texture and will add a lovely flavour to your meal.
Quorn. You can get different products from this brand to make traditional dishes vegetarian or vegan.

How to cook with Guinness
We've learnt along the way that there is a few tricks when cooking with Guinness. Using too much Guinness or not simmering the stew for a long enough time may result in a meal with a bitter taste.
Traditionally, the meat is cooked first in a cast-iron pot which later will be deglazed with the Guinness taking all the sweetness and reducing the bitterness of the beer.
When cooking this Vegan stew, we followed a few tricks to reduce the bitterness of the Guinness and make the stew absolutely delicious.
- Cook the vegetables at a high temperature, making sure they caramelize. You will have to constantly stir the veggies for this step to ensure that they don't burn. Once you add the Guinness, deglaze your pot taking all the sweetness from the caramelized veggies.
- Add the right amount of Guinness. Many recipes call for a can of Guinness. We've tried this recipe many times to make sure we love the flavours and a can of Guinness is definitely too much. You can add a whole can of Guinness if you will be cooking your stew for over two hours, but that's just too long for us.
- Once all the ingredients are in the pot, leave the stew simmering for an hour. You can leave the stew cooking for longer, but using plant-based protein, an hour will be enough for all the ingredients to be perfectly cooked.
- Add a sweetener. We add just a teaspoon of panela sugar, and it's enough to our taste.

How to cook our Traditional Irish Stew
Ingredients
Every time we cook this meal at home we are greatly surprised by the amazing flavours we get from cooking with really simple ingredients. This stew is just the perfect combination of simple ingredients making a perfect one-pot meal.
Vegetables. To remember which vegetables go into a proper Irish stew, simply remember the colours of the Irish flag. Onion for the white colour, carrots for the orange colour and leek and celery for the green colour.
Guinness. The star of this meal is the well-known Irish beer: Guinness. You can use bottled or canned Guinness, we prefer using canned beer.
Fresh and dried herbs. We use a combination of bay leaves, fresh thyme and fresh rosemary. You can use dried thyme and rosemary and even add other herbs such as sage or parsley.
Vegan protein. We use Heura to make the Irish stew but you can choose a different vegan protein.
Tomato paste. This ingredient will add a fine umami flavour to your stew. Don't leave it out!
Vegan butter or vegetable oil. When we make stews we normally use vegan butter as it delivers a creamier and heartier flavour to your dish.
Flour. Used to thicken up the stew.

Step by Step Method
This vegan stew is definitely our favourite stew for its simplicity and amazing taste.
- Add some vegan butter into a cast-iron pot to medium-high heat temperature. Add the onions and cook for 5-6 minutes until they start to brown. Then add the rest of the veggies, stir and keep cooking for 6-7 more minutes, until they start caramelizing. To make sure the veggies don't burn, keep stirring while cooking.
- Add the vegan protein, and herbs, stir and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and flour and stir to combine all the ingredients.
- Add the Guinness and vegetable broth. Make sure you mix all the ingredients well and using a wooden spoon scratch the bottom to make sure all the sweetness from the caramelized vegetables incorporates into the broth. Bring to simmer, add the panela sugar or sweetener and cook for an hour. Serve with bread or mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Serving Suggestions
Guinness Stew is such a hearty meal that is normally served as a main and only dish. At home, while we leave the stew simmering, we prepare some soda bread or mashed potatoes. Both are great side dishes to serve with this comfort meal.
This Irish Stew made with Guinness is the perfect meal to serve for Paddy's day. It's so delicious and easy to prepare that it has become a family favourite during winter and autumn when the weather gets rainy and cold.

FAQ and Tips
- Is Guinness vegan? Some years ago Guinness wasn't vegan as it was made using isinglass but nowadays we are happy to tell you that Guinness is vegan.
- What is vegan protein? Vegan protein are plant-based ingredients that provide a high source of protein such as tofu, edamame, seitan, seeds and nuts, etc.
- Where can I find Heura? If you are living in Spain, France or Netherlands, you can already find Heura in most big supermarkets but they are expanding quickly so hopefully, you can find them in other countries soon!
- You can keep the leftovers in an air-tight container for 2-3 days.
Vegan Irish Stew with Guinness
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 2 leek
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 celery sticks
- 2-3 carrots
- 320 g Vegan protein
- 1 ½ tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2-3 fresh thyme stalks
- 1 fresh rosemary stalk
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ cup canned Guinness
- 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon panela sugar
Instructions
- Add some vegan butter or vegetable oil into a cast-iron pot to medium-high heat temperature.
- Add the onion finely chopped and cook for 5-6 minutes until they start to brown. Then add the rest of the veggies roughly chopped, stir and keep cooking for 6-7 more minutes, until they start caramelizing.
- To make sure the veggies won't burn, keep stirring while cooking. Add the vegan protein, herbs, stir and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and flour and stir to combine all the ingredients.
- Add the Guinness and vegetable broth. Make sure you mix all the ingredients well and using a wooden spoon scratch the bottom to make sure all the sweetness from the caramelized vegetables incorporates into the broth.
- Bring to simmer, add the panela sugar or sweetener and cook for an hour with the lid on. Stir every 10-15 minutes.
Notes
- Serve with bread or/and mashed potatoes
Nutrition
If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations! |
Chantel says
Whats vegan protien. What did u use and how much
Laura says
Hi Chantel, you can use any type of Vegan Protein: Tofu, Seitan, Soy Protein or even mushrooms. We use a Vegan Protein called Heura, but depending on where you live you won't be able to find it. We added 320 g of Heura (vegan chicken still pieces).
Darryl says
There is NOT sugar listed in the ingredients list, but in the directions, it says add sugar, but doesn't say how much??????
Laura says
Hi Darryl, you are right, I just added the sugar to the ingredients list. We add 1 teaspoon and it's enough but it's totally optional.
Teresa says
Thanks! Delicious recipe! *We used portobello mushrooms. I love easy, healthy recipes. This one will definitely go into regular rotation here!
Laura says
Thank you Teresa, so happy you enjoyed this stew!
KROM says
Do you think you can use Butler Soy Curls? If so, would you hydrate in advance or just toss in?
Laura says
Hi, we've personally never tried cooking with soy curls but I would say they will work really good in this recipe. Soak them in water before you add them to the stew and leave simmering with the rest of the ingredients.
Leoni says
The perfect addition to our St Padraig's Day - we ate it with mashed potatoes for 3 days straight & still couldn't get enough
Absolutely delicious, thank you so much for the recipe
Laura says
Thank you Leoni, Really happy your family enjoyed this recipe!
Robyn says
I used mushrooms which were great. This was my first time using beer and I have to say I like red wine 100 times better. It wasn’t bad but doesn’t compare to using red wine. Wouldn’t make it again
Laura says
Thank you Robyn. It's all about tastes, we love a red wine stew as well, but Guinness stew has this unique taste that brings us back to Ireland 🙂
Lauren says
Second time we've made this. This recipe is an amazing cold weather base for adding other things. We added green beans, diced baby turnip and parsnip. Also, we had left over creamy polenta instead of mashed taters - yes that's a winner. Would work with lot's of whole grains (Bulgur I'm looking at you) and couscous. Added Marjoram to the herb list cuz we had it and I'm Hungarian. Also, we added a shot of liquid aminos and vegan worchester sauce. LOL kept looking at the recipe to see where the garlic is. No, there is no garlic. It's like the only stew I make w/out garlic and it doesn't need it. Oh and I used Athletic Brewing All Out extra dark - non-alcoholic brew cuz that's what we had. Worked like a champ.
Laura says
Hi Lauren, thanks for such a lovely comment. We love the little changes you made, creamy polenta sounds delicious!
Liam says
Well it looks amazing. Will it freeze?
Laura says
Hi Liam, I never tried before but I don't see a reason why you shouldn't!