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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!
Can I ask for the measurements per serving? 2 cups? 1.5 cups? Thank you
Hi Maria, this recipe serves 8 people. It’s about 1 – 1.5 cups per serving.
Hi making this recipe this morning and it already looks great. easy to follow. thanks
Margaret
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Margaret!
This recipe turned out amazing. My husband and I give it two thumbs up. Thank you.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Jenn!
5 star recipe all day long! Highly recommended! We loved it so much it is almost gone in one night.
That’s wonderful, Rose! So glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Made this yesterday since I had some lamb. I tried following everything as outlined, except had to sub pancetta for bacon, and regular sized gold potatatoes (cut in 1 inch size) for the small yellow potatoes. Came out really incredible. Thank you so much
I’m so happy you enjoyed that and everything worked out well. Thank you for sharing that with us, Ugyen!
This was insane good and a very easy recipe. I’ll be able to make it again by memory, and to be honest, I rarely remember anything. It was so good, I shared it with my neighbor who never gets home cooked meals. He was a happy camper.
That’s excellent! Thank you for the review.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. The lamb stew was the perfect Easter dish.
You’re very welcome!
Hi the Lamb Stew Recipe…can I put it in a slow cooker….after I have cooked the bacon/onion meat in flour..OR put it in the Slow Cooker after it hase been on top of the stove…I don’t have a oven..Please could you reply…Patty Mcdonald…pattymcdonald44@gmail.com
Hi Patty, I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker, but one of my readers, Mariya, offered some good insights. She wrote: “I always make my beef stew in the slow cooker- it should work with lamb also. At step 4- transfer everything into the slow cooker and set it to high until it starts boiling and then put it on low until the meat is tender and potatoes cooked.” I hope that helps!
First time making this and boy was it tasty! The house smelled great while this was cooking. I made no changes. It was wonderful as is.
Thanks for the wonderful review, Lucy!
What would you substitute for mushrooms? Sounds lovely but we don’t eat mushrooms.
Hi Sandra, I saw someone else commented this “I didn’t use the mushrooms, as a preference, but the recipe was delicious. Thank you for the guidance!” I hope that helps.
Any thoughts on what subbing Guinness for the wine might do?
Hi Sabrina, I haven’t tested this with Guinness myself to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
The dish looks good but can I use a slow cooker since I don’t have a Dutch oven,thank you
Hi Nikki, I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker, but one of my readers, Mariya, offered some good insights. She wrote: “I always make my beef stew in the slow cooker- it should work with lamb also. At step 4- transfer everything into the slow cooker and set it to high until it starts boiling and then put it on low until the meat is tender and potatoes cooked.” I hope that helps!
My husband loves this (I do not eat meat, he does) and I thought a good hearty stew would hit the spot for him. I did followed the recipe exactly except I cooked everything in my slow cooker and it got a rave review. One question – and I think I already know the answer – can you freeze this?
Hi Rebecca, thanks for sharing that with us. I’m glad to know that it was a huge success. I imagine freezing this will work.
Hi Rebecca —
Cooked potatoes suffer somewhat from freezing. They’ll break down when reheated but the batch will still taste fine.
Do you have any suggestions regarding a substitution for the bacon? I am allergic. Thank you!
It would still work without the bacon, you could just use a light (not extra virgin) olive oil to saute the lamb instead. It may need slightly more salt if omitting the bacon.
This stew is delicious but it came out of the oven with barely any gravy. I don’t know why. I made it the day before I planned on serving it as stews are often better the second day but I’ll have to add some broth and wine to juice it up. The only thing I did differently is use some leeks with the onion.
Also the veg is over cooked so next time I’ll add later in the cooking.
Any suggestions?
Hi Fredi, it sounds like it was cooked down too much, possibly? I would ensure there were no substitutions or alterations to the recipe. Also ensure you’re not cooking at too high of a heat.
I just put it in the oven so I’ll report back but it looks and smells divine! I used some leeks in addition to onion as I had them. I used Chianti.
The only suggestion is I’d adjust the prep time. I’m not a slow cooker and I’d say 45-1 hour.
Thanks for you yummy recipe!
I’m making this tomorrow, as this sounds superb and just what I was looking for. However, I’d like to make this into individual lamb stew ‘pot pies’ with puff pastry on the top. I’ll need the broth to be somewhat thickened. Does recipe as stated, make a thick broth? If not, can you suggest how to thicken, not using corn starch?
Hi Lucy, you may need to thicken the stew a little more if you are planning to do that. One of our other readers said they thickened this stew on the stove by using a mixture of 2 TBSP flour to 2 TBSP of water. Hopefully, this helps. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.
Thank you. I’ll report back how it turned out with your suggestion on thickening as well as the individual pot pies. House smells wonderful. I made this recipe exactly as is, with no subs. Cooked the same way as recipe states. Only difference will be thickening the stew when it comes out of the oven and a bit of time back in the oven for puff pastry to cook in the soufflé dishes.
I can only imagine how lovely your home smells, Lucy! Thank you for your awesome review!
Reporting back. All I can say is wow! No subs, made as is, with suggested thickening. Lamb roast fell apart it was so tender, gravy was the perfect thickness. A very easy recipe to make into individual pot pies. Leftovers were over rice, with baguettes for the sauce. The cook times you formulated were spot on. Even reheated, carrots and potatoes were still firm and not mushy. Added to ‘must make again’ file. Thanks for an awesome stew recipe that’s easily convertible to other things (like pot pies). Looking forward to trying your other recipes! If they are anywhere near as good as this one, I’ll have to up my gym routine. Why isn’t there a choice for more than 5 stars? 🙂
I’m so glad it all worked out well! Thank you so much for sharing that awesome review with me, Lucy!
Haven’t made the recipe yet, but it looks really good! Question: How would it be without the mushrooms? My family aren’t big mushroom fans.
Hi Matt, I saw someone else commented this “I didn’t use the mushrooms, as a preference, but the recipe was delicious. Thank you for the guidance!” I hope that helps.
I am going to make this recipe for about the fifth time. It really is awesome. I am going to serve it for company tomorrow night and was wondering how much I can pre do today without cooking it until tomorrow. I want to get the browning of the meat out of the way because that is the messiest part. How far do you think I can go in preparation? Love your recipes!!
Hi Susan, I haven’t tried making it in parts that way ahead. I would probably just cook the whole thing ahead and let the flavors meld in the refrigerator. I think you could chop and have all of the ingredients prepped ahead.
This is a delicious lamb stew. Mine came out a little dry, enough juice for the 1st night but not enough to reheat the leftovers. I think I used a Dutch oven that was bigger than necessary. Is there a good way to add more liquid to the leftovers and if so, do I add wine, stock, water or a combination? Thank you for the recipe!!
Hi John, I bet a nice broth would do! Wine and broth will help the flavor too! I hope you love it!