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My favorite easy recipe for French Onion Soup gets an Irish twist in this Guinness Irish Soup — just in time for St. Patrick’s Day! A subtle hint of Guinness Stout is added to the broth, while a thick slice of garlic bread is smothered in Irish Cheddar Cheese. It’s a delicious spin on a classic recipe, and it’s the perfect St. Patrick’s Day dinner!

A bowl of Guinness Irish Soup with a slice of cheesy toast on top

I have been making this recipe for Guinness Soup every March for as long as I can remember. It has definitely become a favorite that we all look forward to!

Keith has plenty of Irish blood in his veins, so he loves to celebrate his heritage on March 17 (plus, it’s an excuse to drink more alcohol than usual).

Making The BEST Guinness Irish Soup

This Guinness Soup is really just a slightly modified French Onion Soup recipe. I have perfected my method for making the classic soup in an EASY way, and it tastes like a meal that you would order at a restaurant!

For the Guinness Soup, I just add a bit of the stout to the beef broth for a very subtle taste. To make this as simple as possible for all of us, I also grab some frozen Texas Toast Garlic Bread to use as our topping. It’s so simple and SO good…especially when you top it with Irish Cheddar Cheese!

Bowl of Guinness Irish Soup with fresh chives and cheese toast on top

The cheese might sound fancy, but I can pick it up at my local grocery store (and I live in the middle of nowhere), so I’m sure that you can get it too. I find it in the deli section at Walmart, as well. It’s worth the purchase because it’s sharp and rich and the perfect contrast to the sweet onions in the soup.

If you’re planning an Irish-themed dinner for St. Patrick’s Day, a soup-and-salad combo would be perfect! Serve this Guinness Soup alongside a Reuben Salad and you’ll be all set!

Extra Tips For Making Guinness Irish Soup

  • Cooking for Two? This soup serves 4 if it’s an entree, or 6-8 smaller servings. It looks like A LOT of onions in the pot, but don’t be fooled — they will shrink down in a major way after so much cooking! If you want to prepare a smaller portion, just cut the ingredients in half and you will have about 2 main course servings.
  • Want to Prep Ahead? I like the to prepare the soup on the weekend when I typically have more time. I keep it in the refrigerator for up to a week, and just reheat it and serve it with the bread and cheese topping at the last minute. The soup base also freezes well.

Other easy recipes that are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day:

Square side shot of a bowl of Guinness Irish soup

Guinness Irish Soup

4.67 from 3 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total: 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 454 kcal
A delicious and easy Irish soup made with Guinness, perfect for getting cozy on a chilly day.

Ingredients
  

Instructions

  • Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add onions to the saucepan and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Set heat on medium-high. Add beer and cook, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes, or until beer is reduced by about half.
  • Add the beef broth and the Worcestershire sauce. Heat the broth mixture until it boils. Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, toast or bake the garlic bread according to package instructions.
  • Divide the soup between 4 bowls. Place one piece of toast on top of each bowl. Top each piece of toast with ¼ c. of Irish cheddar cheese.
  • Place bowls of soup on a baking sheet and broil in the oven for a few minutes, or until cheese is melted and golden brown.

Nutrition

Calories: 454kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 22gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 1486mgPotassium: 481mgFiber: 2gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 610IUVitamin C: 11.9mgCalcium: 510mgIron: 1.5mg
Keyword: guinness recipes, Irish soup
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Irish
Author: The Seasoned Mom

This Guinness Soup recipe was originally published in March, 2015. The photographs have been updated in March, 2017!

blair

Hey, I’m Blair!

Welcome to my farmhouse kitchen in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Inspired by local traditions and seasonal fare, you’ll find plenty of easy, comforting recipes that bring your family together around the table. It’s down-home, country-style cooking!

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Comments

  1. I love that you incorporated Guinness into this soup. It looks so hearty and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!

      1. Not to mention, fellow vegans, that “W” (sorry, I’m hopeless at spelling it!) sauce contain anchovies (aka small fish). Wonderful soup, but not vegan as written. I use vegetable broth and NO “W” sauce

  2. I’ve never had Guinness soup, but it looks great! Thanks for linking up at Best of the Weekend!

  3. I love that you’ve made this soup for so many years, Blair! That’s when you know it’s a keeper! 🙂 French onion soup is my favorite, so I can’t believe I’ve never tried a guinness version before. How good does this look?! I bet your husband loves have a bowl or two of this with a beer on the 17th! 🙂

  4. 5 stars
    Awesome! Made it as one of my Irish themed meals for the week in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. We’ve always enjoyed French Onion Soup, and my husband loved your recipe! The recipe was extremely easy and the only ingredients I had to purchase were the Guinness Beer and Texas Toast. This will definitely be one of my must make soups. Thank you!!!

    1. Awesome, Susan! I’m so glad to hear that it was a hit! My husband LOVES this dinner, too! It’s one of the few vegetarian dinners that he actually gets excited for! 🙂

  5. By the looks of it, it’s going to be a blockbuster! I haven’t explored any recipes for a soup and I might consider this one for something new in the table.
    I just hope that Guiness Stout is available in the local grocer.

  6. Do you think this would work with vegetable broth to make it vegetarian? And perhaps a brown bread or soda bread for a full Irish theme?

    1. Hi, Carrie! Yes! Your suggestions should work fine! The taste of the soup will be slightly different with the veggie broth, but if you like that flavor you can go for it. Also, a brown bread or soda bread will work well, but make sure that you use a thick slice that can stand up to the soup and toast it first. Enjoy!

  7. 4 stars
    While this soup was easy to make and the recipe was easy to follow, I’m not 100% pleased with it. My final product was bland, which was disappointing because I recently started liking onion soup.
    I tried adding some spices, salt, pepper and still nothing. It’s better, but it’s missing something I can’t quite pinpoint. I’d also like to have the soup a bit thicker (maybe using bigger onions than I thought was “medium-sized”), but that’s the least of my worries.

    Any suggestions to improve the flavour?

    1. Hi, Melanie! This is a pretty classic French onion soup recipe (with the addition of Guinness). If you find it bland, you might like to add more Worcestershire sauce, some garlic, bay leaves or thyme. There aren’t usually too many other ingredients in a French onion soup, so I’m not sure what more to suggest. With plenty of garlic bread and cheese on top, I don’t think it needs much more (but taste is obviously very individual). Hope that helps!

      1. Thanks!
        I’ve actually added all those ingredients minus the garlic, due to an intolerance. Ah well. Maybe I’m just trying to compare too much. It’s still good, just feels like something is missing.

        Thank you for sharing this recipe and your suggestions!

  8. 5 stars
    I’m hoping to make this soup next month for St. Patrick’s Day. I’m also a vegetarian and I feel compelled to apologize for the people who can’t just make the obvious substitutions themselves. I think people just love to find something to complain about. I’m looking so forward to trying this. Thanks for posting!

  9. I just figured out the plus and minus marks to automatically change this from a 4 serving to a 2 serving!! Score!!
    I’m a widow now and taking the time out of converting is awesome for a somewhat foodie.
    I had made some guinness braised short ribs and saved the sauce and onions from that. I’ve added that into your soup as a part of the broth and beer…just a bit deeper flavor and I didn’t waste that lovely sauce. Thank you for such a great recipe!

    1. Sounds great, Nancy! I’m so glad that you can take advantage of those adjusted serving sizes. It’s such a cool tool!