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!
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!
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:
- Guinness Flank Steak Marinade
- 5-Ingredient Dump-and-Bake Reuben Casserole
- Dump-and-Bake Corned Beef and Cabbage
Guinness Irish Soup
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet onions sliced
- 3 T. butter
- 1 c. Guinness beer
- 4 c. beef broth
- 1 t. Worcestershire sauce
- 4 slices of frozen Texas Toast Garlic Bread
- 1 c. shredded Irish cheddar cheese
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
This Guinness Soup recipe was originally published in March, 2015. The photographs have been updated in March, 2017!
Kitty
I love your twist on onion soup to go from French to Irish! It's perfect for St. Paddy's Day!!
Blair
Thanks, Kitty! 🙂
Jen @ Baked by an Introvert
I love that you incorporated Guinness into this soup. It looks so hearty and perfect for St. Patrick's Day!
Mary Connolly
It's NOT a vegetarian option...beef broth!!
Blair
You're right! Thanks, Mary! I just added a note for the vegetarian option in the recipe. 🙂
Maurice J Jordan
It says use vegetable broth to make vegeterian
Nikki Krakauer “JustTabandMe”
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
Amy @ Ms. Toody Goo Shoes
I've never had Guinness soup, but it looks great! Thanks for linking up at Best of the Weekend!
Anders
It's got Guiness in it. Gotta be good. Can't wait to try it.
Blair
Thanks! You're right! 🙂
Dana
Looks delicious! I'm going to give it a try
Blair
Thanks, Dana!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
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! 🙂
Blair
It's totally man-friendly food, Gayle! Keith loves it! 🙂
Susan Hall
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!!!
Blair
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! 🙂
Sam Moore
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.
Blair
Thanks, Sam! You can find the Guinness in just about any grocery store! 🙂
Jerri
Can you switch the beer to say Budweiser?
Blair
Hey, Jerri! Definitely! 🙂
Carrie
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?
Blair
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!
Melanie
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?
Blair
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!
Melanie
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!
Emily
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!
Blair Lonergan
Thank you, Emily! I hope that you love it, and I appreciate your kind note! 🙂
Nancy
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!
Blair Lonergan
Sounds great, Nancy! I'm so glad that you can take advantage of those adjusted serving sizes. It's such a cool tool!