An Irishman’s Wife’s Traditional Irish Stew Recipe

I always serve this traditional Irish stew with mashed potatoes or colcannon. Crusty bread or Irish soda bread smothered with smoked butter works a treat too. For me, a slow-cooked hearty stew is the ultimate comfort food. Yep, there is a lot of potato in this one, but if it were up to the Irishman in our house, there would be potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If I have learned anything from being married to an Irishman, it’s that potatoes are basically a food group!

What you are going to love about this slow-cooked Irish lamb stew recipe

While it takes a few hours to cook, it’s a simple recipe. A set-and-forget kind of dinner. Perfect for a lazy Sunday milling around the house. Once the prep is done, it’s in the oven for a good few hours of slow-cooking. Bonus… your house will smell AH-MAZ-ING!

This is a big batch, family recipe, enough to feed 6-8 people. It’s a good one to serve with a few friends around the table on a winter’s night with a few bottles of red wine. Or just keep it all for yourself. For best results when cooking a stew, I recommend cooking the day before and letting the flavor develop. It will taste so much better on days 2, 3 & 4 – cook once and eat for days… hello meal prep superstar and rehashed midweek dinners!

It’s hearty with a capital “H”. We’re talking warm the cockles of your heart stuff.



An authentic Irish Stew is full of pantry staples and cheaper cuts of meat. No fancy ingredients here!

Here’s a few simple ingredients you need to get started

• Root Vegetables – leek, brown onion, carrot, dutch carrots, potatoes, garlic. If the Dutch carrot thing is a little fancy for your crew, just add another 2 carrots at the prep stage and omit them! In the depths of Winter, when quality garlic becomes a little harder to find, feel free to substitute with dried garlic flakes or garlic powder.
  
  

• Fresh Herbs – thyme, flat leaf parsley, bay leaf. The season dictates whether these are fresh from the garden or dried. Both will work perfectly, although I always use fresh parsley for its freshness and flavor.
  
  

• Lamb Shoulder – trimmed and cut roughly into 4cm chunks. Can’t get your hands on lamb shoulder? Try another type of lamb stew meat suitable for slow cooking or cuts of beef like beef cheeks or chuck steak for an Irish beef stew instead! We make both in our family depending on what’s available.
  
  

• Beef Stock – some people prefer chicken stock when making Irish stew. There’s a bit of debate over what is best but I sit on the beef broth side of the fence. Feel free to substitute if it’s more to your liking.
  
  
  
• Worcestershire sauce. The essential ingredient to a traditional Irish stew. It’s that little bit of sauce that adds so much extra flavor. There is no substitution!
  
  

• Pantry staples – olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper

Equipment you will need

When it comes to what to cook a traditional stew in, nothing beats a cast iron French oven (or Dutch oven). I love my cast iron pots (we have a relationship!). Most of my cookware is Le Creuset enameled cast iron, although I do own a smattering of other brands too like Chasseur, Lodge & Staub. This stuff is the bomb for slow cooking, however, it just hates high heat and so to render that fat, good, and proper in the recipe, either use a frypan that is suitable for medium-high heat or heat your French oven on low heat with oil covering the base for a couple of minutes until it’s hot enough to cook in.

Enamel cast iron retains heat when it’s on a direct heat source, emitting far less than it takes in. Therefore by heating up your cookware for a couple of minutes, you can get the same result without causing thermal shock to your cookware and causing permanent damage.

Could you cook this Irish stew in a slow cooker? Instant pot, crock pot, or pressure cooker? Absolutely! Cooking times obviously need to be adjusted for each cooking vessel, but if slow-cooker Irish stew is more your thing, then go for it!

How to slow-cook lamb stew in the oven (in a Dutch oven)

1. Preheat the oven to 150°c.
   
   
   
2. Warm up a cast iron casserole with a little oil. Once hot, add a few lamb pieces. Brown lamb on all sides. Cook the lamb in batches to avoid overcrowding in the pot and the meat stewing. After each batch is cooked, remove the meat from the pan, place on a plate, and set aside. See those little cooked browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot? Those crispy bits add so much flavor to stews and sauces, so don’t worry if anything sticks or if there are any little burnt bits in the pan. It’s all flavor!
   
   
   
3. Add a little more olive oil (if needed) and the onions and leeks to the Dutch oven. Saute on low to medium heat until they are softened.
   
   
   
4. Add the browned lamb back into the pot along with the carrot, herbs, and beef stock. Stir the beef broth to combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Pop in the oven (lid on) for 2.5 hours.
   
   
   
5. Remove from oven. Add the baby potatoes and Dutch baby carrots.
   
   
   
6. Pop back in the oven for a further 30 mins. Remove from the oven again. Taste test and make sure that you have tender meat, cooked potatoes, and the lamb pieces are melting in your mouth.
   
   
   
7. Stir through the Worcestershire sauce and season with salt/pepper.

How to serve up Irish Stew

I generally serve up my classic traditional Irish stew as a big hearty meal bowl with a side of colcannon or creamy mashed potato and a slice of Irish brown bread or my bacon, chive and cheese soda bread, slathered with butter. This is a big batch recipe so we eat it over a few days.

A good smattering of finely chopped fresh parsley also lends itself a bit of freshness on top of the finished dish!

Have leftovers and want to rehash them for another night’s dinner?

To mix things up, try popping any leftover Irish stew into a pie dish and top with a layer of puff pastry or mashed potato. Bake and serve with steamed vegetables. In Winter, it also makes a cracking soup. It’s pure comfort food. Just increase the amount of stock in the recipe and you’ll have a hearty homemade lunch for days. Heaven on a cold day.

Can I freeze it for another time?

A big YES!!! This slow-cooked Irish stew freezes perfectly and tastes just as good as a just-out-of-the-oven stew. I portion them into meals for 3 (our family size) and pop them in an airtight container, then into the freezer when completely cool. It’s also a good idea to make a few lunch-size portions for a ready-made weekday work lunch! It’s an easy one to reheat on those cold days when you just don’t feel like cooking.

Love slow-cooking? Here are a few more of my slow-cooked recipes…

• Persian lentil and sweet potato soup
• Beef & red wine ragu
• Slow-cooked beef stroganoff
• Slow-cooked beef cheeks in red wine
• Persian Lamb Shank Soup

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