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The lamb morsels in this Lamb Stew just melt in your mouth and so do the potatoes. This recipe is uncomplicated (a one-pot meal!) and it simmers in the oven for awhile so every bite is completely delicious. The lengthy (and care free) baking time creates a most satisfying broth consistency. Even if you have no clue what the old days were like, this lamb stew will take you there!
My 2 and 8-year old kiddos both loved this lamb stew (which shocked me because they love their usuals like Mom’s meatball soup and borscht). They both asked for refills! I was beaming of course because this lamb stew recipe is loaded with healthy ingredients and my family was was gobbling it up with such satisfaction. It’s a winner, especially for special occasions, like Easter!
Ingredients for Lamb Stew Recipe:
This hearty lamb stew is a meal in itself and so satisfying! This lamb stew recipe is a close relative to our beef stew recipe (a reader favorite!). We turned it into a one-pot recipe so it is easier and a little heartier with more potatoes. We also experimented making it gluten free and we were all so impressed with the results.
Gluten Free Substitution: I have tested this with this gluten free flour and it worked wonderfully.
How to Make Easy Lamb Stew:
1. In a large dutch oven pot, saute chopped bacon over medium heat until golden brown and fat is released. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.
2. While bacon cooks, season trimmed and chopped lamb pieces with 1/2 Tbsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup flour. Toss to combine and coat the meat in flour. Cook the lamb in 2 batches in hot bacon grease over medium heat until browned (3-4 minutes per side) then remove to the same plate with bacon.
3. Add diced onion and sauté 2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté another minute, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups wine, scraping the bottom to deglaze. Add thickly sliced mushrooms, bring to a simmer and cook 10 minutes uncovered. Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F.
4. Return bacon and lamb back to the pot then add 4 cups broth, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp dried thyme and 2 bay leaves. Add potatoes and carrots then stir to combine (potatoes should be mostly submerged in liquid. Bring to a boil then cover with lid and carefully transfer to preheated oven at 325˚F for 1 hour and 45 minutes. When done, potatoes will be easily pierced and lamb will be very tender. For a lower fat stew, spoon out any excess oil at the surface of the stew.
Serve with soft crusty bread to soak up that broth which is loaded with amazing flavor!
Explore our Most Popular Stew Recipes:
- Beef, Rice and Tomato Stew (Kharcho)
- Red Borscht (a beef and beet stew)
- If you love lamb, don’t miss our Lamb Chops
Lamb Stew Recipe

Ingredients
- 4 oz bacon, (4 strips, chopped into 1/4" strips)
- 2 lbs boneless leg of lamb or lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1 1/2" pieces
- 1/2 Tbsp sea salt for the lamb plus 1 tsp for stew
- 1 tsp black pepper for lamb plus 1/2 tsp for stew
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour or gluten free flour*
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups good red wine, *
- 1 lb button mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth or stock
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 1/2 lbs small yellow potatoes, halved or quartered into 1" pieces
- 4 medium carrots, 10 oz, peeled and cut into 1/2" thick pieces
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped for garnish
Instructions
- In a 5Qt dutch oven, saute chopped bacon over medium heat until browned and fat released. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a large plate.
- While bacon cooks, season lamb pieces with 1/2 Tbsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup flour and toss to coat. Cook lamb in 2 batches in hot bacon grease over medium heat until browned (3-4 min per side) then transfer to the plate with bacon.
- Add diced onion and sauté 2 min. Add garlic and cook another minute, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups wine, scraping the bottom to deglaze. Add sliced mushrooms, bring to simmer then cook uncovered 10 min. Preheat Oven to 325˚F.
- Return bacon and lamb to pot and add 4 cups broth, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp dried thyme and 2 bay leaves. Stir in potatoes and carrots, making sure potatoes are mostly submerged in liquid. Bring to a boil then COVER and carefully transfer to preheated oven at 325˚F for 1 hr and 45 min. When done, potatoes and lamb will be very tender.**
Notes
** For reduced fat stew, spoon out any excess oil from the surface when it comes out of the oven.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Q: Are you cooking up any special Easter recipes?
Is lamb typically on the menu for you? I’d love to hear about your Easter dinner traditions!
I tried this today (but omitted the potatoes) and it was delicious! I served it with creamy mashed potatoes, and added dumplings to the pot towards the end. A great recipe. Not too fussy, and very effective.
Hello Lestacia, good to know that you enjoyed this recipe even without potatoes. Thanks for sharing and I hope you’ll love the recipes that you will try!
I,m going to try this recipe next week. If i was to add Pearl Barley to this,how much would you recommend ?
Hi Steve, while I haven’t tried that, one of my readers has. Here’s what they said: ” I added some pearl barley (only because I had originally planned to make soup and the barley had been soaking overnight). This recipe is definitely a keeper and just in time for those winter nights!” I hope this helps!
I’ve been looking for a good lamb stew recipe and this is it! It’s perfect and delicious! I don’t eat beef but wanted a meaty stew. I subbed veggie broth for beef broth, lessened the salt to add some Worcestershire sauce and rosemary. It was absolutely a hit and can’t wait to make it again. I love lamb so thank you for having a recipe for it- it’s not as easy to find as you think.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
One word….NOM! Turned out great. Couple of mods. Wife has fod map restriction fro diet so.
Sub’d green onion tops for the onions. Sub’d 4 tbls of garlic olive oil for the garlic. Used 2 tbls of tomato paste and a 28 oz can of diced tomatos. Only change I would do next time is use no salt as the stock/bacon provides plenty. So for those with Fodmap restrictions you can have this! Its delish!
Hello Aaron, thank you for sharing that in detail with us. That is so helpful!
I typically think that I don’t really like stew… until this! Made a half recipe for the 2 of us with leftover leg of lamb from Christmas dinner. Followed pretty exactly but no bay leaves. A few extra mushrooms. Used Kirkland Cotes DU Rhone Villages wine. And no beef broth so I used the (chicken) bone broth that I always have on hand. This is absolutely delicious!!!! Thank you so very much for this recipe!!!
I’m so happy you loved this recipe, Shelley! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Made this for the fam tonight and it was devoured! What I did different… I used leftover lamb from the Holiday, and instead of in the oven I simmered it on the stovetop. DELICIOUS!
That is the best when the family loves what we moms make. That’s so great!
I’m a French gal and we make a lot of stews in the winter. And this, hands down, one of my favorite lamb stew recipes that I have ever tried and eaten. The flavor is fantastic, the colors are beautiful, and everyone loved it.
Aaw, that is really awesome feedback. Thanks a lot for sharing that with us, Em!
I’m something of a cooking novice but this looks fantastic and straightforward. If I’m just doing this as a meal for myself or a couple of people can I simply halve the ingredients?
Thanks!
Hi Steve, yes I bet that will work! If you try this recipe, please share with us how it goes.
This was the best lamb I’ve ever had! My entire family loved it. I will definitely be making this recipe again.
Wow! That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Vanessa!
This is excellent!! The only changes I made: used lamb loin chops and cooked over a slow simmer for four hours until meat was falling off the bone. Used two small cans of tomato sauce vs tomato paste as it’s what I had on hand. Everything else the same. This is better than any “beef” stew recipe by FAR! Has so much more flavor. Delish!!
That’s really fantastic feedback, Katherine. Thank you for sharing that with us, I’m happy that you loved this recipe!
Eager to try this recipe. I have a question, though: what would you recommend in lieu of bacon? Shock and horror, I am not a bacon fan. Would guanciale work?
Hi Minnie, I haven’t tried that yet to advise but I think it’s worth experimenting with to find out. if you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
Excellent recipe ! The only thing I did differently was season the lamb with Jerk seasoning and used beef broth. The Jerk seasoning gives it the full body fall flavor it needed . The vegetables I added at the end. Add the seasoning I recommend you will not be disappointed !
Nice one, Ruth. Great to hear that worked out great, thanks for the review!
Followed your recipe exactly using the shanks. It was very flavorful and my husband and I were very happy with our dinner, your recipe. The only change I would make is to put the carrots and potatoes in about 45 minutes after it was in the oven since they got a bit over done. Thank you. Will definitely make again.
Thank you for the wonderful review, Toni! Your comment means so much!
Fantastic! I followed the recipe to a T and the family loved it! A great meal for fall.
Great to hear that, Mike. Thank you for sharing!
When giving review I forgot to rate. This was definitely a 5 star recipe. Lamb so tender. Will make again.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Tammi!
Smelled so good while cooking. Made as the recipe stated with a couple of minor additions. Added fresh green beans and a little extra stock to compensate. Came out amazing. Lamb was so tender. Was a little worried because I do not like the strong lamb taste but this was perfect. Will definitely make again.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Tammi! I’m happy to hear that the addition worked great!
Haven’t even eaten this yet but it smells so good I’m giving it five stars! I only had 1 lb of lamb so roughly halved all the ingredients except the bacon cos we love it . Didn’t have carrots so used celery, didn’t have wine (boohoo) so used extra chicken stock, and used leftover baked potatoes which I cut up and put in at the end. Also reduced oven time to only 45 minutes since I had half the meat, no carrots and my potatoes were already cooked. I’ve never cooked lamb before in all my 36 years so interested to see how it turns out!
I hope you completely love it. Thank you for sharing your thoughtful review!
Far too much salt in this recipe, my advice is to season at the end otherwise you will ruin this dish
Hi Tom, I haven’t had anyone report this being too salty so I wonder if maybe you used broth that wasn’t low sodium or if the salt was mismeasured?
Hi Natasha!
I made this recipe last night and we both loved it! Next time I will change it up and instead of using my Dutch Oven, use a wider pan with a lid, put sliced roasting potatoes overlapping on top and remove the lid during the last 30 minutes as I think you will get more of a crunchy chewy roast potato taste( and I have cooked lamb stews like that in the past and it is gorgeous). Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe, we will definitely be doing it regularly during the colder months!
Hi Katarina, I’m so happy you loved the lamb stew recipe, and thank you for sharing your wonderful review and suggestions.
one of our FAVORITE recipes. I did have a couple of questions though – I’ve made this 3 times and every time I can’t get enough bacon grease to cook both batches of lamb. It seems to only be barely enough for one batch. I’ve always had to add some olive oil to sauté the lamb meat and onions/garlic (accidentally used extra virgin olive oil before reading the comments but it turned out good still, is there a reason you recommend light and not extra virgin olive oil?) Am I not cooking the bacon long enough so that it’s not releasing all the fat? Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Hi Jackie, it could be the type or quantity of bacon you are using (if it is lean, you won’t get much fat out of it). You could add some high-heat olive oil like extra light olive oil to saute. Extra virgin is not ideal because it has a low smoke point, which is why I use it mostly on salads.
Just made this and it’s definitely a winner and gonna be a staple for sure! Thank you Natasha :))
Great to hear! Thank you for sharing your good comments and feedback with us.