With surprisingly few ingredients for the depth of flavor achieved in this Irish Lamb Stew, you’ll want to keep your kitchen stocked to make this all winter long. It takes a bit of time to cook, as do all stews with a tougher cut of meat, but it’s incredibly hands-off and easy to make. Irish lamb stew is the perfect thing to keep simmering on your stovetop in a Dutch oven if you’re home on a snow day or working from home on a cold, dreary day. But also? You can make it in your slow cooker or instant pot, too! The smell as this cooks in your house will instantly take you to a warm, happy place in your heart and soul. Even more so when you finally dive in and eat it! And while this lamb stew wouldn’t technically be lamb stew without the lamb, you can easily swap out the lamb stew meat for beef stew meat, for a potentially cheaper and more readily available option. Let’s get to it!
Ingredients and Substitutions for Irish Lamb Stew
Lamb Stew Meat – this is typically the shoulder or leg of lamb. I ordered boneless lamb shoulder from my local butcher for this, and they cut it up for me. Whole foods usually has it, or well-stocked grocery stores or local farms. You can use beef stew meat for a cheaper and more readily available option if you have trouble finding lamb stew meat.Dark Irish Beer – typically, Guinness is used as the default Irish dark beer. I used an Irish stout from Dublin City Brewing Company that my local store just happened to have. And while it does add lovely flavor, the beer can be omitted – just use more broth in place of it.Beef Broth – or chicken broth is fine too. Store bought, homemade, or bouillon all work!Yellow OnionsCarrotsPotatoes – I used gold potatoes, which I find hold their shape well in stews, but russets or another potato can be used. I recommend peeling russets, but for gold or red you can keep the peels on after giving them a good scrub.Sweet potatoes – you can leave these out for a more traditional recipe but I loved the sweetness, nutrition, and color they added!Dried thyme – or fresh, this can be omitted if you want, or another earthy herb like rosemary used in place of it.Fresh parsley – this can be omitted if you like.LOTS of salt and pepper – more on this below!
How to make Irish Lamb Stew
First, trim the fat off and season the lamb, and brown in batches in a large pot or Dutch oven. Cook the onions in the pot next, scraping all the browned bits up, and deglazing with a bit of broth or water if needed. Add the lamb back to the pot with the broth, beer, and thyme. Cover and simmer on low until the lamb is tender enough to fall apart, which can take anywhere from 1-2 hours (it took 90 minutes for me). Add the potatoes and carrots in and cook for 10-15 minutes. Then add the sweet potatoes, which take less time to cook, in and cook for 15-20 more minutes, or until all vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork. Thicken the broth if you want (more on that below) and stir in parsley, and season to taste. Done!
How to thicken the stew without flour
Just transfer some of the veggies – about 1 cup or so – to a blender. I did a mix of the carrots, sweet potatoes, and white potatoes. Then ladle in 1-2 cups of the broth from the stew. Blend until very smooth, then pour back into the pot and stir! The color of the thickener will vary depending on how many sweet potatoes/carrots vs. white potatoes you use.
Can you freeze leftover lamb stew?
Those who are picky about textures may advise you not to freeze this stew, because the potatoes will change a bit in texture after freezing. Me? I’m not that picky. I say go for it. But do be prepared for a bit of a change in texture; the vegetables will get a bit mushier. Another idea for leftovers – add it to the filling of a pot pie!
How much salt should I add?
Here’s the thing about lamb, or beef, stew: it needs a lot of salt. The meat needs salt, and the bland potatoes need salt, in order to really shine. How much you need to add will vary based on how much salt is in your broth you are using, as well as your own personal preference. I used a low sodium store bought beef broth and, while I didn’t measure precisely, I probably added about a tablespoon of kosher salt and a teaspoon of black pepper to the whole thing, including seasoning the lamb, when all was said and done. I suggest erring on the side of less salt at first if you are unsure, and at the end, seasoning according to your preference. If you use something like Beef Better than Bouillon, which is high in salt to begin with, you may need to not add much at all. But if you find the stew is “lacking” a bit, chances are, you just need to add salt! You may want to read this guide to salt if you want to learn more about it.
Slow cooker instructions for Irish Lamb Stew
Brown the lamb (seasoned with salt and pepper) in batches in a heavy pot or Dutch oven. Then, cook the onions in the same pot, as directed. Be sure to get the browned bits scraped off the bottom, using a little broth or water to help deglaze the pot if needed. Then, add the cooked onions, browned lamb and its juices, carrots, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, beef broth, beer, and thyme to your crockpot. Add some more salt and pepper if you think you need it (see recipe note on salt). Cook on low for 7 – 8 hours or high for 3 – 4 hours, or until lamb is very tender and vegetables are soft. Proceed with thickening the broth as instructed, if needed*, and stir in fresh parsley and season to taste. Please note: for the slow cooker option, the sweet potatoes may get a bit more mushy. That’s fine, *and will serve to thicken the stew even without the vegetable puree, if you want to skip that step. And if you want to make you life really easy, you can skip the browning of the meat and pre-cooking the onions. The flavor won’t be quite as good. However, it might just be worth the sacrifice for an easier slow cooker assembly.
Instant pot / pressure cooker instructions for Irish Lamb Stew
Brown the meat in batches in the oil in the pressure cooker on the “sauté” function. Remove meat to a shallow bowl or plate. Cook the onions in the same way. Turn off the sauté function. Add the lamb and its juices back to the pot. Then add the broth, beer, thyme, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and carrots. Cover your instant pot and set to “manual, high” for 30 minutes. When it’s done, allow the pressure to release naturally for about 10 minutes. Then quick release the pressure and remove the lid. Proceed with thickening the broth if desired as written in the original recipe instructions. Stir in the parsley and season to taste. Please note: as with the slow cooker instructions, the sweet potatoes may be a bit mushier than they would if adding later on.
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