Lamb Stew Recipe

This is the best lamb stew recipe, packed with tender pieces of lamb, savory potatoes and carrots, and a rich, comforting broth with fresh herbs. It’s a wholesome, warming, hearty stew perfect for chilly weather!

This classic lamb stew is thickened with mashed potatoes instead of the typical Irish soda bread, which creates a delightfully smooth and well-balanced broth filled with tender lamb pieces, potatoes, and carrots generously seasoned with fresh rosemary and thyme.

Like with this lemon chicken recipe, dutch oven beef stew or chicken with shallots, I brown the lamb in batches before cooking the vegetables. This develops a richer broth and a more flavorful dish.

Professional Tips For Making The Best Lamb Stew Recipe

• Taste for seasoning as you go. Be sure to season with salt and pepper as you cook the meal and test every component of the dish before serving. This is the best way to improve your home cooking skills.
• Be patient. Lamb can take some time to cook down to a nice and tender texture. Leave yourself plenty of time to allow the lamb to slowly cook. The results are worth the wait!
• Don’t skip the browning. Browning the lamb is key to developing flavor in this dish. It is important to both pat the lamb dry and brown it well before adding the rest of the ingredients to the pot.

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Ingredients

• Lamb: I like to use lamb stew meat for this recipe. This meat is typically cut from leg of lamb or lamb shoulder and is quite tough unless you cook it low and slow for many hours.
• Flour: Regular all-purpose flour works best for this recipe. You will be using it to coat the lamb before browning. If you are looking for a gluten-free option, try using rice flour or millet flour.
• Pepper
• Salt
• Rosemary: Adding fresh rosemary to this dish brings fresh, floral, piney notes to the stew that make the flavor balanced and interesting in every bite.
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Onion: I prefer using a yellow onion in this recipe. A sweet onion would be another good option. 
• White Wine: Using a dry white wine is best here. Choose something you would like to drink, like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. You can also omit it. 
• Carrots: Use medium-sized carrots for this recipe. Because you are dicing the carrots, rather than slicing them, it will be easier to create uniform cuts if the carrots are medium-sized rather than small.
• Potatoes: I recommend using Yukon gold potatoes for this recipe. The waxy quality of these potatoes is the perfect texture for lamb stew. You can also use russet potatoes or red potatoes if Yukon gold are unavailable.
• Thyme: Fresh thyme adds another note of freshness and lightness to this dish. If you don’t have fresh thyme, dried thyme is another option. I would use about half of the amount of fresh thyme if you are using dried.
• Water: You’ll need at least a quart and a half of fresh, cold water for this recipe. Using water instead of broth or stock for this recipe allows the lamb to more fully flavor the final dish. You’ll notice this is a different approach than my Italian Sausage Soup!

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations

• Traditional Irish Stew: Add Guinness instead of white wine for a traditional Irish lamb stew recipe. Use the beer to deglaze the pot before adding the vegetables for a rich, earthy flavor. Serve with some 100% Whole Wheat Bread!
• Slow Cooker: To make this a slow cooker recipe, brown the lamb in a pot on the stovetop, deglaze with white wine, sauté the vegetables for 3-4 minutes, then add all of the remaining ingredients to the crock pot and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
• Pressure Cooker: This recipe can be made in the Instant Pot as well. After browning the meat in the pressure cooker on sauté mode, deglaze with white wine, sauté the vegetables for about 30 seconds, then add the remaining ingredients, place the lid on the pot, and cook on the stew function for about 40 minutes. 
• More Veggies: Try adding a variety of vegetables to this stew and see what you like best. Root vegetables like parsnip or sweet potato would do well in this recipe, as would aromatics like celery and garlic.

How to Make Lamb Stew with Vegetables

Use these instructions to make the perfect lamb stew every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below!

Step 1: Mix flour, pepper, salt & chopped rosemary together in a large bowl. Rinse and pat dry your meat – cut into small cubes, no larger than ¾ inch across. Toss meat in flour mixture to coat.

Step 2: Brown the lamb in 3 batches (or more) in a large Dutch oven in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Start with 1 and add as needed between batches. Remove meat and cover once it is browned. 

Step 3: Add butter to pan and melt. Sauté onion for 2 minutes or until it has just started to become translucent around the edges. Add wine to deglaze the pan. Allow the wine to boil for a moment and then begin scraping up the browned bits. 

Step 4: Add meat, accumulated juices, and veggies back to the pot. Add water just to cover. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, reduce to a simmer.

Step 5: Cook, covered, 2 hours. 

Step 6: Microwave potatoes on high for 3 minutes or until soft. Mash with a fork and add to the pot, stirring to mix. 

Step 7: Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Add rosemary and thyme sprigs to the pot, pushing them down into the liquid. Cook lamb stew for an additional hour at least. 

Step 8: I simmered mine for 4, which gives plenty of time for the meat to break down and become soft. You could cook it for less time but you may sacrifice the texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional hearty lamb stew recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed stew recipes, or try this Dutch Oven Pot Roast next!