If you haven’t noticed, I like to cook with beer. More specifically I like to cook with Guinness Stout. Since my best friend loves to make pot pie all the time, the idea came to me to make pot pie, but cook the dough with Irish stout in it and add that flavor to the sauce filling too. Stout doesn’t feel like it belongs with chicken, so I went with beef. And so was born the Irish stout pot pie! It takes some time to make, so this recipe is gonna be for people that love to spend time in the kitchen making something amazing and rewarding in the end. I did make one in the instant pot, and we’ll talk about it. But the instant pot did not save me any time.
Like cooking with beer as I do? Try my recipe for Guinness Beer Cheese Dip or just go for another Irish classic – Shepherd’s Pie.
Ingredients
- Stout Beer of Choice (I used Guinness Extra Stout in the bottle)
- Flour
- Beef broth
- Salt
- Butter
- Leeks
- Frozen peas and carrots
- Egg
Oven Vs Instant Pot
Did you know you can put anything that is oven-safe into the instant pot? I didn’t until I went and did some searching, though I am still nervous to put pyrex in the instant pot, if you can put a mason jar in there, the pyrex is going to be okay too. I put one of my ramekins in the instant pot and it was perfectly okay. So – this recipe can be made using your instant pot. You can half the recipe to make just two pies, also. If you have a 2 tier rack, you can cook them both at the same time. Otherwise, you will need the 8qt instant pot and smaller ramekins than I used…
Usually, people choose to use the instant pot because it’s faster, but in this case, the cooking time is the same, and the crust comes out not as crisp. To get a nice crust you’d probably want to put your finished pies in the broiler for a second or two, and that would make the instant pot method take longer… if you don’t mind your pie crust being softer then, by all means, use the instant pot. I’ll include the instructions for that in the recipe card below.
Oven Method:
Making The Dough
You can do this the night before, or you want to do this early in the day and let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge. If you’re making a side dish, you can make the dough first, then make your side dish while the dough is in the fridge, and come back to making the pie after it has set.
Mix the flour, egg, and half the butter together. Then gently add a cup of beer to the batter and stir until evenly distributed. On a piece of sprayed parchment paper, or non-stick cookie sheet, or even sprayed foil, roll your dough out to about a quarter of an inch thick. place plastic wrap over it and place it in the fridge for an hour or longer.
Making The Filling
Once the dough has been in the fridge for at least 45 min, you can start on the filling. I let the peas and carrots thaw a little while the oven preheated to 325. I bought the beef already cut, but you can buy whatever kind you like and cut it into small 1 inch cubes to save money.
Season the beef with salt and pepper to suit your tastes. Toss the beef in a little flour and brown the beef on all sides.
Add beer and beef stock to your pot, scrape the brown off the pot into the liquid. bring to a simmer and cover. Let this happen for about 15 min.
Add Veggies
Add your leeks, peas, and carrots to the pot. Let them get warm, but not cooked. This should be about another 15 min in the oven. Remove the filling from the oven now and increase your oven temperature to 375.
Add salt and pepper to your filling if needed and divide the filling among your ramekins. I made three 1cup pies, but I could have made four. Place your ramekins on a cooking sheet.
Topping The Pies
Using one of your ramekins as a guide, cut your sheet of dough for a pie crust cover. Use the outside diameter to cut around. Remember to cut an x into the center of the tops. Place them with the dough rounds on top, brush with melted butter, and place them in the center of the oven for about 15 min. or until golden brown. Let them rest for about 10 min and serve.
Instant Pot Method:
*See oven method above for “Making The Dough”*
After browning the beef using the saute setting, add the beef broth and butter, scrape the brown off the sides of the inner bowl. Add your veggies (leeks, peas, and carrots) until they are somewhat warm.
Divide Filling
Now place the filling, evenly divided among your ramekins. If you have a two-tiered rack, you may be able to do four in one go, but you may have to do two at a time. I was only able to do one at a time, as I have a 6.5qt instant pot and do not have a two-tiered rack either, also my ramekins are shallow but wide. If yours are deep and tall, like mason jars, you may be able to fit more in at once.
Use your ramekin as a guide for cutting your tops. Cut around the outside edge of your ramekin turned face down on the dough. cut an x in the center of the top, and place carefully over the ramekin with filling.
Cover In Foil
Below is a photo of what I did to cover mine in foil and not smash the top of my pie down, or chance it sticking to the foil on top. You may be able to do this in more of a square shape, but this is the way that made sense to me.
So, Let’s Talk.
Above you can see that I did one pie in the instant pot. And below, you can see how that one pie came out. It looks pretty similar to the other two, however, the crust was not as crispy/crumbly as the others. I prefer the harder, more shell-like crust to my pies. Also, the browning effect you get from the oven does not occur in the instant pot.
Because it did not save me any time, in fact, it cost me a tad more time because of the foil wrapping, I would not suggest this recipe be done in the instant pot. But some people would prefer their crust to come out less crispy and wouldn’t mind the restrictions of the instant pot version. So I included how to do that in this blog.
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Ireland Inspiration
Check out our Colcannon – Irish-Style Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or our Pan-Fried Cabbage and Meat Stuffed Bell Peppers.
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Irish Stout Beef Pot Pie
Ingredients
Dough
- 6 or 7 tbsp stout beer
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¾ cup flour (plus a little more for dusting)
- ¾ cup Irish cheddar (I used New York Style white cheddar and it was yummy too)
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper
Filling
- 1 lb beef cut in cubes
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 12oz stout beer (I used Guinness Extra Stout)
- ½ cup peas
- ½ cup carrots
- 3 medium leeks
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
Making The Dough
- Note: You can do this part the night before. You can also opt to use one box of premade puff pastry sheets instead of making your own dough, but that will take away some of that flavor of beer in the completed pies.
- Mix flour, egg, and half of the butter (melted) in a mixing bowl. Then add a cup of beer to the batter and fold until evenly combined.
- On a nonstick surface or parchment paper, roll your dough into a sheet that is about a quarter of an inch thick. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour so that the plastic wrap does not stick to the top of the dough when you cover it, and place it in the refrigerator.
- If making the dough just before you use it, let it sit for no less than one hour in the fridge. It's best, however, to let it sit for a few hours or overnight.
Traditional Method
- Start by seasoning your beef chunks with salt and pepper (you could use a little garlic powder here if you wanted). If you did not buy the beef already cut, you will want about ½ inch by ½ inch squares. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then toss the beef pieces in flour.
- Melt butter into a pot. Add the beef and get the outside edges browned. This should take just a few minutes so keep an eye on it and stir it lightly.
- Add beer and beef stock. Scrape the brown off of the sides of the pot into the liquid. This is flavor. We want all the flavor. Bring the liquid to a simmer.
- Add your leeks, carrots, and celery to the pot and continue to cook the mixture down for about 15 min. or until the carrots seem slightly softer.
- Remove your dough from the fridge and prepare your top crusts by choosing the containers that you want to use. Cut your tops slightly bigger around than your bowls/ramekins. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or oven-safe bowls that you want to use and top with your crusts. (remember to cut a hole in the center of the crusts so steam can escape while cooking in the oven.)
- Place your pies on a cookie sheet for easy movement. Place them in the center of the oven for about 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Instant Pot Method
- Start by seasoning your beef chunks with salt and pepper to taste (you can use garlic powder in this step, too, if you like) If you did not buy the beef already cut, you will want about ½ inch by ½ inch squares. Then toss the beef pieces in flour.
- In the instant pot, use the saute function on normal or low. Melt butter first, then toss in the beef pieces. You want the outside of the beef to be lightly browned. (I use low on my saute setting because "normal" is too fast on my cooker.) Keep stirring as it cooks so that it does not burn or stick to the bowl.
- Add your remaining beer and beef stock. Scrape the brown off of the sides of the bowl into the liquid. This is flavor. We want all the flavor. Add the leeks, carrots, and peas to the mixture. If any of your veggies are frozen, stir them in until they look defrosted. You are not looking for everything to be cooked, in this step.
- Remove your dough from the fridge and prepare your top crusts by choosing the containers that you want to use. Find the ramekins, mason jars, or oven-safe dishes you wish to use and cut your crust tops slightly bigger around than your dishes. Fill each one with equal parts of your filling. Cut a hole in the top of your pie crusts, then place them over each filled dish.
- See the photos above for one suggested way of wrapping your pie with foil. I did my pies one at a time. You may want to try and build a more squared-off tent over your pies and use a two-tiered rack to place more than one at a time, in at the same time. If you have a large pressure cooker, you may be able to get as many as four in at once.
- Place a cup of water in the bottom of the bowl. Place your pies in the instant pot on a trivet or two-tiered rack and secure the lid.
- Place the instant pot on High Pressure for 30 minutes. When the time is done, quick-release the pressure. Carefully remove the foil and let them sit for about 10 minutes. You're ready to serve up a dish of love!
Notes