This easy recipe for Vegetable Beef Guinness Casserole Topped with Champ features a hearty and rich stew-like filling with a buttery mashed potato topping. It’s perfect for St. Paddy’s Day or any day you want real-food comfort food, and the leftovers are even better!
Right now you’re probably wondering what the heck Champ is.
Champ, my friends, is an Irish thing! Basically, it's mashed potatoes with scallion and loads of butter. (Because we all know potatoes and butter go together like white on rice. Or, well, like potatoes and butter.)
I wanted to make something in honor of upcoming St. Paddy’s Day, and comfort food came to mind. Incidentally, one of the most common recipe requests I get are for easy, casserole-type dinners, so I saw my opportunity here.
This dish couldn’t be much easier or more comforting. It’s basically a super quick-cooking stew that’s made on the stovetop, topped with Champ, and given a quick stint in the oven. Really, that’s all there is to it.
You won’t believe how good it is though.
The Best Vegetable Beef Guinness Casserole Recipe
There are two parts to this casserole recipe: a vegetable beef filling and a mashed potato topping.
The filling is similar to stew. It's thick and meaty, savory and rich, and has loads of vegetables.
The Champ potato topping is simply buttery mashed potatoes with scallion for flavor!
Both components are easy to make and fairly basic. Yet when they come together, the casserole is much more flavorful and delicious than expected!
Pro Tip: If you don’t use alcohol or cook with beer, you can substitute non-alcoholic beer or beef stock.
Recipe FAQs
How Do You Thicken Guinness Stew?
This Vegetable Beef Guinness Casserole isn't stew, but the hearty filling is very stew-like and it's thickened similarly to stew.
There are two factors that help thicken the filling for this casserole recipe:
- Cook the filling long enough to let the liquid evaporate off. We only add 1 cup of Guinness Stout, so this only takes about 10 minutes.
- Arrowroot starch (or cornstarch) dissolved in a little water to form a slurry helps thicken this casserole.
Can I Make This Vegetable Beef Guinness Casserole Recipe Ahead of Time?
Yes! You can make this casserole up to three days in advance.
To do so, make the filling and the topping, assemble the casserole, and bake it on the day you want to serve it.
Also, leftovers reheat exceptionally well even after it’s been baked, so this is a good one to pack up for hot lunches!
More Recipes That Use Guinness
- Instant Pot Chicken Sausage Guinness Stew
- Double Chocolate Guinness Muffins
- Vanilla Bean Guinness Cupcakes Recipe with Salted Caramel Buttercream
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Vegetable Beef Guinness Casserole Topped with Champ
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound 90% lean ground beef
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms quartered
- 3 medium carrots chopped
- 2 large stalks celery chopped
- 2 medium parsnips chopped
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup Guinness Stout see Note
- 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch or cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
Topping:
- 1 ½ pounds starchy potatoes such as Russet, peeled and cubed (about 3 medium-large)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup half and half or milk
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 6 scallions white and green parts, thinly sliced, divided
Other:
- Butter to grease the dish
Instructions
For the Filling:
- Add the oil to a large, deep skillet over medium-high to high heat. Once hot, add the beef, mushroom, carrot, celery, parsnip, onion, thyme, salt, black pepper, and bay leaf. Cover the skillet and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the Guinness and Worcestershire and cook (uncovered) until the sauce is reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in the cornstarch slurry during the last 1 minute of cooking.
For the Topping:
- Meanwhile, make the mashed potato topping. To do so, add the potatoes to a medium pot along with enough water to cover them by 1 to 2 inches. Cover the pot and bring the potatoes up to a boil; once boiling, turn the heat down and crack the lid (so they don’t boil over), and cook until the potatoes are very tender, but not mushy, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain well.
- Mash the potatoes with the butter, and then stir in the half and half, salt, black pepper, and ⅔ of the scallion (reserving ⅓ for topping).
To Assemble and Bake the Casserole:
- Preheat the oven to 450F. Grease a 2 ½-quart casserole dish with butter.
- Spread the filling into the bottom of the dish and spread the potatoes on top.
- Bake until golden in places, about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the reserved scallion on top and serve.
Faith's Tips
- Guinness Substitute: If you don’t cook with beer, you can substitute non-alcoholic beer or beef stock.
- Make Ahead: You can make this casserole up to three days ahead. To do so, make the filling and the topping, assemble the casserole, and bake it on the day you want to serve it.
- Leftovers: Leftovers reheat exceptionally well even after it’s been baked, so this is a good one to pack up for hot lunches!
Nutrition
Check Out These Other Irish Recipes
Mashed Potatoes with Cabbage and Onion (Colcannon)
This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on March 9, 2015. It was updated with more information on March 8, 2021.
Wendy says
We had a decent shepherd's pie similar to this in an Irish Pub in Spencerport not too long ago, so I was immediately drawn to this post. Your recipe was amazingly good and so easy! I did add shredded cooked cabbage to the potatoes on top - because I was a fan of your colcannon recipe already. It's a perfect casserole for cold March days in Rochester. I froze a portion for my husband's lunch, which he just had this week, and he says it was every bit as good leftover. It's great to have another dish in the "what's for dinner?" line-up that's fool-proof and delicious. Thank you!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Ooh it's been too long since I indulged in a good Guiness pie.. this looks divine & you definitely have got me wishing for a bite now!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
You had me at butter (and Guiness!) ;). This is perfect for St. Patrick's Day!
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
You're exactly right - I read the title and thought, "What's a champ?" This looks fantastic, Faith. I grew up having what we called Shepherd's Pie, but it didn't have beer in it. I've got to try this!!
Erica says
YUMMMM ! Perfect timing for this recipe!! And the top just looks divine!