Irish Lamb and Potato Stew

Comforting and warming Irish lamb and potato stew recipe, a cozy dish for a cold evening or to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

A nice warm Irish lamb and potato stew is a perfect dish for this kind of weather we have right now. Cold, bleak, snowy... The kind of weather that makes me want to stay inside, drink lots of hot tea, and only eat soups and stews. Like this melt-in-your-mouth Irish lamb stew.

I do make lots and lots of stews, so if you are in need of more stew ideas for this season, have a look at this Easy Pork Stew, this White Bean and Cabanossi Sausage Stew, this Hungarian Chicken Paprikash, or this Korean Chicken Stew.

Recipe ingredients

You could make this potato stew either with beef or lamb.

• The meat: Boneless lamb shoulder.
  • I asked the butcher to remove the meat from the bone and took home the bone as well. I cooked a nice stock with the lamb bone, some vegetables, and spices and only then made the lamb and potato stew.

• The stock: You definitely don't have to cook your own stock for this recipe. I did it because I had already paid for the bone, but otherwise, I would have used beef broth or stock, or I would have bought some good quality beef or lamb stock.
• The vegetables: You will only need two larger onions, some garlic, carrots, and potatoes. Additionally, some bay leaves and a little dried thyme, salt, and pepper.

How to make Irish lamb stew with potatoes?

• Meat: Chop, dry, and sear the meat working in batches. Remove from the pan.
• Saute onions and garlic in the same pan.
• Simmer: Return the meat to the pan, add the spices and some of the broth or stock, bring the Irish stew to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer the stew for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Check the meat; it should be rather soft already. You could give it 10 minutes more if you find it too tough.
• Add remaining vegetables: Add sliced onion to the pot and cook for another 15 minutes. Add carrots and potatoes and continue cooking for another 25-30 minutes or until the meat is very tender and the carrots and potatoes are soft.

Expert Tips

How to make lamb stock?

• Place the lamb bone in a large pot. You can roast it in the oven before at 200 degrees Celsius/400 degrees Fahrenheit until brown.
• Add 3-4 celery sticks or one larger piece of celeriac, two large carrots cut in half, one large onion cut in half, 2 garlic cloves, 1 small leek, or the greens of a small bunch of spring onions.
• Add the spices as well: 10 black peppercorns, 4 cloves, 6 juniper berries, 5 all-spice berries, and 2 bay leaves.
• Cover with water and bring to a boil. Add salt.
• Immediately turn the heat down to low and simmer the stock, uncovered, for several hours. At least two hours, but above that is up to you; the longer you cook the stock, the more concentrated and tastier it will be. I usually cook it for 4 to 6 hours.

Sear the meat on all sides, working in several batches. Don't be tempted to sear all the meat at once, an overcrowded pan will cause the meat to release too much water, and the meat will cook in those juices rather than frying.

How to serve?

• As you already have the potatoes in the stew, you will not necessarily need another starchy side dish.
• Still, this Easy Yogurt Soda Bread or the Irish Guinness Brown Bread Recipe would be perfect alongside a hot bowl of stew.
• When it comes to vegetables, you could try some stewed white cabbage, roasted or boiled Brussels sprouts, or green beans.
• The Irish and potato stew can be easily reheated.

More lamb recipes?

Irish Lamb Stew

Comforting and warming Irish lamb stew with potatoes, carrots, and thick gravy. Perfect to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Stews

Cuisine: Irish

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 566kcal

Author: Adina

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 750 g lamb shoulder boneless, 1.7 lbs, Note 1
• ▢ 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ▢ 2 large onions divided
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves
• ▢ 875 ml lamb stock or beef stock, 3 ¾ cups
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 250 g chopped carrots 2 cups
• ▢ 750 g potatoes 1.7 lbs
• ▢ fine sea salt and ground black pepper

Instructions

• Sear lamb: Cut the lamb into small cubes. Pat it dry with kitchen paper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy bottom pan/ Dutch oven. Add some of the lamb cubes to the pan; you will have to fry the meat in several batches.

  Sear the meat on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with the remaining lamb cubes adding more oil in between if necessary. Remove the lamb from the pan.

  750 g/ 1.7 lb + 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Cook onions: In the meantime, chop 1 of the onions and the garlic. Cook them gently in the same pan for about 2 minutes or until the onion is golden.

  1 large onion, 2 garlic cloves
• Simmer lamb: Return the lamb cubes back to the pan and add only about 500 ml/ 2 cups of broth. Add the dried thyme and the bay leaves. Lower the heat and simmer the stew, covered, for about 45 minutes or until the lamb cubes are almost tender. Stir occasionally.

  500 ml/ 2 cups broth + 1 teaspoon dried thyme + 2 bay leaves
• Add onion: In the meantime, slice the second onion. Add the onion to the stew, stir well, cover again, and cook for another 15 minutes.

  1 large onion
• Add vegetables: Chop the carrots, peel, and cut the potatoes into larger chunks. Add them to the pot together with the remaining lamb or beef stock. Stir well. Cover and simmer for about 25-30 until the meat and potatoes are tender.

  250 g/ 9 oz carrots + 750 g/ 1.7 lbs potatoes + 375 ml/ 1 ¾ cup broth or stock
• Adjust: If you want the stew to be thicker, you could remove the lid during the last 15 minutes of the cooking time. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.

Notes

1. If the meat is on the move, remove it and use the bone to make lamb stock. See the blog post for instructions.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the dish | Calories: 566kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 120mg | Sodium: 1155mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g

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