Biscuit Topped Beef and Guinness Pie

Name: Biscuit Topped Beef and Guinness Pie
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 2 lbs Boneless beef chuck roast (Cut into 1 inch pieces); 2 tablespoons flour; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon pepper; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tablespoon butter; 1 onion (diced); 2 cloves garlic (minced); 8 ounces mushrooms (sliced); 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste; 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce; 2 teaspoons brined green peppercorns/capers (optional); 1 cup Guinness beer; ½ cup beef broth; 1 teaspoon fresh thyme; 1 ¾ cups flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 2 teaspoons sugar; ¼ teaspoon salt; 8 tablespoons butter (cut into 1/2 inch pieces); 2 ounces gruyere cheese (grated); ¾ cup buttermilk

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This Southern version of Beef and Guinness Pie has a savory mushroom filling topped with flaky buttermilk biscuits to soak up all the sauce. This one pan recipe is just the thing for a hearty St. Patrick’s day meal or comfort food on a cold spring day.

A skillet with Guinness pie topped with biscuits.

While I’m not much of a beer drinker, I love the flavor that Guinness adds to food. Just a cup of Guinness brings so much flavor to this beef and Guinness pie. Even if you don’t like beer, I think you’ll enjoy the flavor it adds.

If you’re not a beer drinker, you may not be familiar with Guinness. It’s a stout known for it’s creamy texture, dark color and rich flavor. Guinness is made from barley, part of the barley is roasted which gives it that dark rich color.

It’s also known for its beautiful foam. While most beers are carbonated with CO2, Guinness uses a combination of CO2 and nitrogen which produces smaller bubbles giving it a smooth texture.

You don’t have to use Guinness for this beef and mushroom stew, but you won’t get that distinct Guinness flavor. Try using a stout if you don’t have Guinness, or a beer will also work it just won’t have the rich flavor that Guinness adds. Most groceries have a section where you can buy individual bottles of beer and since Guinness is so popular, you can always find it there.

I’m not sure this is officially a pie since its not covered with mashed potatoes like a shepherd’s pie or a pie crust, but whatever you want to call it, this is worth trying.

A fork full of a bite of biscuit covered beef pie.

I love dinner where you cook everything in one pan. You’ll want an oven proof skillet for this beef and mushroom stew. If you don’t have one, you can remove the beef mixture from the skillet and place it in a casserole dish to bake.

I’ve had beef pies topped with puff pastry, pie crust and mashed potatoes, but I think a good Southern buttermilk biscuit is an even better choice to sop up all the delicious gravy surrounding the beef and mushrooms.

Don’t be scared off by the biscuits, they are so easy to make and take a lot less time than making mashed potatoes. You can make the biscuit dough while you’re cooking the onions and mushrooms.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Guinness really adds a complexity to the savory filling, you only need a cup so you’ll have some left to enjoy while it’s cooking.
You can make this in one pot, it goes from stove to oven.
Anything with biscuits is a keeper in our house.
The beef pie is so full of flavor, you won’t want to miss a single drop.
You can freeze the leftovers and re-heat in the oven.

What you’ll need

Guinness Pie

Boneless beef chuck roast – this will cook down into tender bites, you’ll brown it first so that it retains its flavor.
Mushrooms – any variety of white, crimini or portabello will work.
Brined green peppercorns – zestier than black peppercorn and a delicious addition. These can be hard to find except online. You can substitute them with capers. While they don’t taste the same, the salty and tart flavor from the capers is similar to what you will get with brined green peppercorns and they are much easier to find.
Guinness beer – or you can use a dark stout beer.
Worcestershire sauce – this is a flavor enhancing sauce that’s commonly used for beef dishes.
Fresh thyme – fragrant and delicious when paired with the sauce ingredients, this is my favorite herb. If fresh is not available you can use dried.
Pantry staples – tomato paste, onion, garlic, flour, olive oil, butter, beef stock, salt and pepper

Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk – this makes soft and tall biscuits.

Pro tip: If you’re out of buttermilk, you can make your own with just two ingredients. Here are three different methods for how to make your own buttermilk.

Gruyere cheese – you can also use cheddar
Pantry staples – flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt

How do you make buttermilk biscuits from scratch

For Beef and Guinness Pie, I use my standard buttermilk biscuit recipe that makes perfect biscuits every time.

I prefer making the dough in a food processor. You add flour and very cold butter and then add buttermilk until it forms a craggy mess but is not a formed dough. Turn it out onto a floured surface and scrape it together, press it into a rectangle and cut into thirds.
Stack each third on top of the other, roll out and do this again two more times, trying not to touch the dough with your hands any more than you have to.
Finally roll it out into a 1-2 inch rectangle and cut straight down with a biscuit cutter, do not turn the biscuit cutter. Place on top of the meat mixture and bake.

How do you make a Biscuit Topped Beef and Guinness Pie

Step 1: Cut the beef into 1 inch bite sized pieces and pat dry. Remove any grizzle or fat while cutting. Dredge the beef pieces in flour mixed with salt and pepper.

Add it to hot olive oil in an ovenproof skillet and brown in batches. Remove from the skillet.

Step 2: Turn down the heat and cook the onions until soft and then add garlic and thyme. Add a little butter and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are soft.

Mushrooms and onions cooked in a skillet.

Step 3: Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and peppercorns and cook for a few minutes then add the Guinness, beef broth and the browned beef and bring it to a boil.

Remove from heat and top with the biscuit dough, it will be runny but will thicken as it bakes.

A skillet of beef and mushrooms covered with biscuit dough.

Bake for 30 minutes.

A baked Guinness and beef pie covered with biscuits.

Pro tip: The pie takes about 30 minutes in the oven depending on how thick your biscuits are. You don’t want the biscuits to end up doughy. To determine if they are done, lift one biscuit up once they are golden brown on top to verify they’re cooked on the bottom.

You’re going to love love love the tender beef surrounded by the Guinness mushroom gravy. Not only is there Guinness in the sauce, but Worcestershire sauce and brined green peppercorns for a flavor bonanza.

If you can’t find green peppercorns you can get them on Amazon. Not familiar with brined green peppercorns, they’re part of the caper plant, but the peppery part. They are also great in Creamy Steak au Poivre so go ahead and order a second can while you’re at it.

For the biscuits, I added some cheese and they were perfect to soak up all that wonderful sauce in the beef Guinness stew. It’s just as good warmed up the next day in the toaster oven.

Don’t use the microwave to reheat this dish or you’ll have rubbery biscuits. I also froze some of the leftovers and when reheated in the toaster oven, it was just as good as when it came out of the oven.

Celebrate St. Patricks day with this Southern version of steak pie or it’s perfect on a cold dreary night when you need something hearty to get you through until Spring.