Guinness Lamb Stew
A healthier version of the traditional stew (with added vegetables), Guinness Lamb Stew is rich, meaty, and reminiscent of the “old country.”
Guinness Lamb Stew for St Patrick’s Day or any day
If there is one soup that is special in our house, it is Guinness Lamb Stew. Rich and meaty, it’s a warm and satisfying fall dish!
Sometimes I think my family would be happy to eat Guinness Lamb Stew every day. But local, grass-fed lamb can be expensive and hard-to-find. Alas, that means just one pot of lamb stew per year. Perhaps I need to branch out to some Shepherd’s Pie with Guinness!
Guinness Irish Stew
Nothing like scarcity to ramp up demand!
Besides great meat, one of the secrets to this stew is using the best broth possible. I freeze meat scraps and bones throughout the year (using a separate container for each type of meat). When the container is full, I cook the frozen bits into a rich broth. No lamb broth in your freezer? This works great with beef or chicken stock as well.
Healthy Veggies!
As I was preparing this year’s batch of Guinness Lamb Stew, I learned something new–there is some serious controversy in lamb stew circles! Some people are pretty firm that potatoes should be the only vegetable in it.
But this would never do for an unrepentant, add-a-veggie kinda’ gal like me. Never met a recipe I didn’t try to sneak more vegetables into!
Guinness Lamb Stew
I even use turnips instead of potatoes. This is a common swap for me in any recipe that might end up in the freezer, since turnips hold up better after thawing.
Not that there are going to be leftovers to freeze 🙂
- 2 Tablespoons oil.
- 1 ½ lb trimmed lamb chunks
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bottle Guinness or other dark beer or additional broth
- 4 cups lamb, beef or chicken broth
- 2 cups carrots, cut into half inch chunks
- 2 cups turnips, cut into half inch chunks (potatoes may be substituted, see note)
- 3 large sprigs of thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- Heat oil in a large stockpot. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Coat meat with flour, then brown in 2 batches, adding additional oil if needed.
- Remove meat then stir in onions and garlic. Sautee until just beginning to brown.
- Stir in beer (or 12 ounces of broth). Carefully scrape up browned bits from pan and mix into liquid.
- Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer 1-2 hours until everything is tender. Remove any obvious thyme stems, then serve.
- If using potatoes instead of turnips, add them in the last half hour.
perfect cold weather fare, especially since our oven just busted!
Lamb stew is a favorite in our house and yes, I like veggies in mine. I’ve never used turnips in mine but will definitely be trying that next time.
Lovely meal, I can see why it is a family favorite, love that you added beer, bet that adds another layer of flavor.
I love lamb stew but have never made it with beer. Even though I am not a beer fan, i can imagine it adds a good flavor to the stock. Oh, and I freeze all those scraps, too. I have separate bags for veggies, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish, and seafood. Sometimes Mark asks if we have any “real” food in the freezer!
looks soo good Inger !
This looks delicious. We aren’t eating much meat these days but if I did, I can’t think of a better recipe. Thanks for sharing this.