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This Irish Lamb Stew with Carrots and Turnips is packed with pantry essentials and budget-friendly cuts of meat. No extravagant ingredients in sight! It’s a hearty meal that truly warms the cockles of your heart!
Why You’ll 🫶🏻 this Stew
This dish is perfect for a laid-back Sunday at home, allowing you to set it up and forget about it. After a bit of prep, simply place it in the oven for hours of slow cooking, filling your home with an incredible aroma. It’s an excellent dish to share with friends on a chilly evening. For the richest flavor, consider making the stew a day in advance; it truly tastes better the next day. Any leftovers will make you feel like a culinary superstar! Happy cooking! ~Nicole
Key Ingredients for Irish Lamb Stew with Carrots and Turnips
Lamb Shoulder is a cut of meat packed with flavor and perfect for stews, thanks to its rich taste and tenderness when cooked slowly. As it simmers alongside vegetables and broth, it becomes incredibly tender and juicy, making it a favored option for hearty meals like this lamb stew.
Carrots and Turnips add sweetness and earthiness, elevating the dish’s overall flavor. Turnips also possess a slight bitterness that helps balance the stew’s flavor. Both root vegetables also contribute to the stew’s texture, becoming tender and delicious as they simmer.
Onions and Garlic are key components in lamb stew, creating a delicious foundation. The sweetness and richness of onions enhance the dish, while garlic elevates the flavor profile with its fragrant, savory notes.
Chicken Stock adds a delicate background flavor. While lamb stock is the perfect option for dishes focused on lamb, chicken stock can be a suitable substitute if used thoughtfully, particularly when simmered with lamb bones.
Worcestershire Sauce is a flavor enhancer that brings a delightful mix of tanginess, sourness, sweetness, a touch of heat, a bit of spice, and saltiness, along with a complexity of other flavors that are hard to put into words.
Fresh Thyme and Fresh Flat-leaf Parsley are the delightful aromatic herbs. Adding fresh thyme adds a fragrant, earthy essence, while parsley adds a fresh, bright color to the rich, comforting stew.
Equipment Needed
Tips for Making Irish Stew with Carrots and Turnips
There are two types of lamb shoulder chops. The blade chop, which is roughly rectangular, includes a portion of the chine bone along with a thin slice of the blade bone. On the other hand, the arm chop, or round bone chop, has a round cross-section of the arm bone, resembling a small ham steak. The round bone chop tends to have less fat and fewer muscles, making it easier to cut into pieces for stews. Both chops will work for this recipe. When choosing chops, select those that are 1-1 ½ inches thick.
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position. Cut the meat from the bones, and reserve the bones.
- Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large oven-proof Dutch oven. Add half of the meat to the pot so that the individual pieces are close together but not touching. Sear until well browned, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the meat to a bowl.
- Using tongs, turn each piece and continue cooking until most sides are well browned, about 5 minutes. Re[eat with remaining meat and transfer to the bowl.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of oil, swirling it to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the onions with ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt, cooking them while stirring vigorously and scraping the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits. Continue this process until the onions turn golden brown, which should take about 8 minutes. Next, add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until the onion mixture is well-coated, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add 1 ½ cups of stock into the onion mixture, using a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to release any browned bits. Slowly add the remaining 1 ½ cups of stock while stirring continuously and scraping the edges to ensure the flour is fully dissolved. Introduce the thyme sprigs and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, then bring the mixture to a simmer. Next, add the reserved bones along with any accumulated juices, return to a simmer, cover the pot, and transfer it to the oven. Cook for one hour.
- Carefully remove the pot from the oven and layer the carrots and turnips on top of the meat and bones. Cover the pot and return it to the oven, cooking until the meat is tender, which should take about 45 minutes to an hour.
- To serve right away, mix the carrots and turnips into the liquid, then let it sit for 5 minutes before skimming off any fat that has risen to the surface.
- If you make the stew in advance, cover it and refrigerate it for up to 3 days; remove the solidified fat and reheat it over medium-low heat until it simmers again.
Serving Suggestions
This is one hearty bowl of goodness. If you are feeding a crowd, I recommend serving this with a side of Irish Champ and a loaf of Caraway Rye Bread or Brown Soda Bread.
Other ‘Irish’ meals you may enjoy…
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Irish Lamb Stew with Carrots and Turnips
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 ½ pounds lamb shoulder round chops, each 1 – 1 ½ inches thick
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 3 medium yellow onions, peeled and coarsley choppes (about 5 cups)
- 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 4 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth, Homemade or store-bought
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ pound carrots, peeled amd sliced ¼-inch thick
- ½ pound turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- ¼ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle positionj and heat oven to 300℉. Cut meat from bones and reserve the bones. (The bones will add flavor and thickening to the final stew broth.) Trim meat of excess fat and cut into 1 ½-inch cubes. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering,about 2 minutes. Add half of the meat to the pot so that individual pieces are close together, but not touching. Cook, without moving, until sides ttouching the pot are well-browned, about 2-3 minutes. Using tongs, turn each piece and continune cooking until most sides are browned, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the meat to a medium bowl, add another tablespoon of oil to the pot, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Brown remaining lamb; transfer meat to bowl and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot again. Add the onions and ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt, and cook, stirring frequently and vigorously, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits, until the onions brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the flour and stir until the onion mixture is evenly coated, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in 1 ½ cups of stock, scraping bottom and edges with a wooden spoon to loosen any remaining browned bits. Gradually add the remaining 1 ½ cups of stock, stirring constantly and scraping the pan edges to dissolve the flour. Add thyme sprigs and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, and bring to a simmer. Add reserved bones and accumulated juices. Return to a simmer, cover, and place in the oven. Cook for 1 hour.
- Carefully remove the pot from the oven and place carrots and turnips on top of the meat and bones. Cover and return the pot to the oven and cook until the meat is tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If serving immediately, stir carrots and turnips into the liquid. Wait 5 minutes, and spoon off any fat that rises to the top. (Stew can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Spoon off solidified fat and bring back to a simmer over medium-low heat.)
- Remove and discard bones. Stir in parsely and season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Notes
Stew can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Spoon off solidified fat and bring back to a simmer over medium-low heat. Stew can be stored in a freezer-safe container or bag and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Source: Adapted from americastestkitchen.com
