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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!
Hi Natasha! I want to make your lamb stew recipe next week. You take a 5 Qt dutch oven and I have a Le Creuset #28 (7.25 Qt) and #24 (4.5 Qt). #26 is 5.5 QT but I don’t have it. Which one would you take? Thank you!
Hi Ginette, the 5 1/2 quart is my go-to. Anything from 5 to 6 would work great.
Hello again Natasha! For years I to use make a recipe I have for “Irish stew”. But when I saw your recipe I decided it was time to try something else. So I made your wonderful lamb stew this weekend. I followed your recipe exactly as you wrote and it was tender, flavourful and excellent +++ ! Will not go back to my old recipe :-)))
As for my question about the size of the pot, I used my big one since I had 2 1/2 lbs of lamb and it was perfect.
Thanks again Natasha for the tastiest recipe of lamb stew ever !!!
That’s great, Ginette! Thank you for sharing that with me.
Unbelievably delicious! Perfect for a cold, rainy night. My husband almost passed out from euphoria – the lamb melted in our mouths. Really, really yummy. I did add fresh rosemary and thyme and a little tomato sauce. I always like to put my own spin on things, but I will save this recipe and try more of yours. Thank you so much Natasha!!
I was thinking of making the day before. I find that with stew and sauces leaving them overnight makes them even more flavorful. Does my theory hold with this stew?
Hi Erik! Yea- this soup reheats great. We love leftovers.
I love ur recipe I follow them all thank u can u please do mince recipe
Hello are you my electric stove as my toaster oven wasn’t big enough or a 5-quart Dutch oven so I follow the recipe exactly I might have been a few ounces short on the lamb but I kept everything in the original stock pot that I seared the bacon in. 325 on the stove is equivalent to eye setting 3. Used the same amount of time and it turned out great. Maybe even better 😉
Wow, is all I have to say!! I usually have to make a lot of adjustments when I try new recipes, but with this one the only thing I did was add smoked paprika to the meat when I seasoned it, and I used powder thyme because I didn’t have the dried thyme itself. This lamb was so tasty and tender, and it was a big hit with my kiddos. My hubby reused to eat it, because all he could think about was a lamb going bahhh, lol, and I told him that he’ll eat a cow that goes
moo.🤣 Oh well, more for us. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Thank you so much for following the recipe, I’m so glad you loved it!
I added some rosemary! Looks great. It’s still cooking..
I have made this stew a few times now. My husband & I both love it. I make no changes to the recipe at all. It has such wonderful flavor!!
Nice to know that you and your husband love ths recipe a lot!
Is it going to change the flavor really big if I use chicken broth and no bacon?
I can’t have pork so I used duck fat and Turkey broth. It came out amazing!
I’ve been cooking for better than 55 years and have made many of your recipes. This lamb stew is on another level. I changed nothing except the number of servings and it is amazing! Thank you.
Hi Lauri! That’s so great to hear. Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
Can I do this in the slow cooker? What changes would I make?
Hi Adriane, 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!
SO good. Adjusted a few things. Used EVOO instead of bacon. Only had white wine and veg broth. Will be part of my go to recipes
Hey Carol, great to hear that those substitutions worked well! Thank you for sharing that with us.
I forgot to apply stars to my previous comment. Since I need 50 characters to submit again, someone should implement a star rating “check” before submission.
This lamb stew recipe is over the top in my books. I follow this recipe to the letter because of the depth of the flavor. I have made this 3 times and I am daring myself to substitute rosemary for the thyme because its lamb.
Thank you, Scott! I’m so glad you like it.
Made this today for an informal company dinner. It was superb. I did diverge from the recipe slightly — omitted the bacon; had only half the mushrooms and I browned them deeply before adding; used 2 T tomato paste because I freeze it in that quantity; in addition to vegetables called for, I added two shallots (along with the onion), two stalks celery and a smallish fennel bulb, diced (just before adding the stock). Instead of adding the potatoes to the pot, I boiled them separately and we ate the stew over the potatoes. For the wine, I used a zinfandel. Cooked it at 300 instead of 325 and it was perfectly done after 1 hour 45 minutes. We are happy to have leftovers. I will be making this again. Easy, delicious and so comforting.
Thank you for sharing! Great to haer that it was a huge hit!
Looking forward to making this. Question would like to use stove top for entire cooking process…how long & what temp?
I haven’t tested that but one of our readers shared this “Thanks for a great recipe, my 6 year old said I may make it again! I have added slightly more salt, thyme and spices, also some chutney. I did everything on stove top (after step 4, I simmered the stew for 1.5 – 2hrs) and it still came out perfect, meat falling off the bones etc 🙂”
I wish there was a way to give this recipe 10 stars!!! I didn’t have bacon on hand and only had about half a glass of red wine, but it still turned out to be the best stew I have ever had. There’s no stinky lamb smell. Thank you so much for this recipe.
You’re so welcome, Lena. That’s amazing feedback, thank you!
Great recipe! I ended up halving the recipe and doing everything in the instant pot. 30 min at high pressure with 10 min natural release turned out wonderfully.
Good to hear that it was a success!
I made this wonderful stew with some lamb provided by my son in law. It was stew meat from a local meat processing plant. It was delicious. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!
If making a half recipe do you still cook for the 1 hour and 45 minutes ?
Hi Mary, when halving the recipe, you may not necessarily need to cook it for the full duration specified, but it may take longer than half the time. I recommend watching it closely, and generally we recommend checking for doneness, use an in oven or regular meat thermometer to check on the doneness to ensure it reaches safe internal temperature. I hope this helps.
I’ve made this 3 times and it’s always delicious. I don’t have much history with lamb, but my husband has brought home lamb loin chops from Costco on occasion. I browned the chops in flour and added them to the pot, then followed the recipe just as written. When the stew came out of the oven, I removed the chops (with the bay leaves), took the meat off the bones, and returned the meat to the stew. Delicious! I have to say, I generally love Natasha’s recipes. Thank you.
Great to hear that it was a success and that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for this review, Chris.