Irish Stew
Updated March 16, 2025
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
3 pounds lamb shoulder, cut in 2-inch chunks (or use thick shoulder chops)
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds onions (about 6 medium), cut in wedges
1 pound carrots (about 6 medium), cut in 3-inch lengths
4 cups chicken, veal or beef broth (or water)
1 large sprig thyme
3 pounds russet potatoes (about 12 small), peeled and halved, or cut in 2-inch thick slices
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 to 8 servings)
50 grams carbs; 122 milligrams cholesterol; 735 calories; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 44 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 1488 milligrams sodium; 36 grams protein; 9 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Pat lamb dry and season well with salt and pepper. Put oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown meat on all sides, working in batches.
- Step 2
Set meat aside and add onions and carrots to pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook vegetables, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 3
Return meat to pot, add broth and bring to a simmer. Put in thyme sprig and arrange potatoes on top (it’s fine if potatoes are not completely submerged). Season potatoes, cover pot and transfer to oven.
- Step 4
Bake for about 1 hour, until lamb is quite tender when probed with a skewer or paring knife. Remove fat from top of broth. Ladle stew into shallow bowls and serve.
Alternatively, cook stew on stovetop instead of baking; keep covered at a gentle simmer for about 1 hour. For a thicker stew, crush a few of the potatoes from the stew and simmer in broth, or thicken with a slurry of flour and water (about 4 tablespoons flour).
Private Notes
Comments
To thicken the sauce dredge the meat in flour and then brown. No need for thickening after the stew is done as the flour in the meat gently thickens the sauce while it cooks. The same technique goes for any type of meat when you make a stew, soup or stove top meal that has a cooking sauce.
And so I have made this again. Since one person's medium is another person's small, some adjustment on ingredients. Six large carrots, yes. Either 3 large onions or 4 medium will be plenty (and I love onions). I have always found yellow Yukon potatoes best for boiling (Russets for baking), and 5 medium halved then cut in wedges will do the trick. And finally at least 3 sprigs thyme.
For those of us on a low-carb diet, substitute yellow turnips for the potatoes. In fact, even if you are not a on a low-carb diet, if you want to reduce your white starch intake, yellow turnips are a great substitute for potatoes on most recipes.
For silken tender and moist lamb try a STOVETOP pressure cooker (not an instapot.) You only need to make this alteration - reduce the broth to 2-2.5 cups. Also, when you add the broth, scrape up every little bit of the fond from the browning stuck to the bottom - be strict about this as it will scorch. Bring your cooker up to high pressure then cook 20 minutes, do a quick release, add the potatoes on top, cook 5 minutes and slow release. You'll be a convert.
Fabulous recipe
I made a roughly 50-50 mix of salt and pepper and rolled the lamb in it to season it. Then, I regretted the amount of salt I had put on the meat, so I didn't add any more at any step (except for what was in the broth already). The stew came out deliciously peppery and nicely seasoned. I did have to survive the chemical warfare that is cleverly disguised as "brown the lamb" first. I should have seen that coming. I don't know how people "brown the lamb" and ever make such a recipe again.