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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, I have a couple of packs of lamb loins and tired of the same recipes. Can I use the loins in a stew?
Hi Mildred, that should work here. I don’t see why not.
Hi, I have a question. I apologize, I couldn’t find the place to ask questions. I am planning on making this for the first time, for my 80-year old parents. My mom has an absolute aversion to garlic and onions, so I will have to leave those out, sadly. Is there an alternative (not leeks, obviously) that will give it some additional flavor?
Also, this calls for boneless lamb. I have some bone-in lamb chops in the freezer that I’d like to use – I can always remove the bones at the end… Will that be ok? Thank you so much, I’m beyond excited to make this.
Hi Tessa, I haven’t tried any substitutes for onions and garlic in this stew, but possibly leeks might work well. We have a tutorial on how to prepare them in our Mushroom Leek Pasta Recipe.
Regarding onions and garlic aversion, we have a daughter with the same affliction. Chives replace garlic and green onions stems down to the white bulbs replace onions. Depending on the recipe we just slice the above ingredients smaller or larger. They work well though when she is away we quickly revert back to regular onion and garlic.
I’m not sure if you mean aversion as in allergy or just visceral hatred, so please double check the substitutions if it is an allergy. I would say your best bet would be adding some chives at the end. If that’s not what you’re looking for, just leaving the onion out would be the safest bet. Another option would be to use shallots instead. Or leaving out an option for the onions and adding carrots and some celery when it calls for adding the aromatics. Even just adding some butter and melting that in after the tomato steps will yield the same effect of reducing the acidity of the tomato base like onions do. For garlic? There’s not really a fantastic substitution.. Something like a bit of cumin could give the recipe a little kick, but it wouldn’t be a direct replacement. I would again turn to adding chives at the end if it’s not an allergy. I don’t remember if the recipe calls for parsley or cilantro at the end, but chopped parsley could also be a good way to boost flavor of a different type. It should be fine to leave the bones in while cooking, but be sure to count how many bones are going in so you know how many to get out. Also be aware that leaving the bones in can cause the meat to cook faster when you’re browning it, so turn often during that part.
Might try diced scallions and dribble them on at the end for those who want them. I would definitely add celery. A self-styled local cook says always double the celery to make your soups better.
I cannot eat onions. One replacement for onion flavour is asafetida, also known as “hing”. It is found generally in oriental or middle eastern grocery stores. Although I live in a multicultural area and my local Walmart carries it. Just use EXTREMELY sparingly! (Read about it before you use it).
Made for dinner this evening and it’s delicious. I was a little hesitant of this recipe, only because I’ve never had bacon with lamb. I read many reviews about how delicious and I’m very happy that the reviews and recipe were spot on. If you’re having any hesitation please don’t and make this recipe. Serve with some crusty bread! 😋
I’m so happy you enjoeyd that, Rita! Thank you for that wonderful review!
OMG… made this for dinner last night. The lamb was so tender, it melted in my mouth and the smell in my house was Devine. I served it with rice, only because I wanted to soak up the delicious juices. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Pat!
I made a small change to the recipe. I cooked about 2 lbs of lamb neck bones in some bacon fat, then added 3 cups of beef broth, salt pepper parsley and simmer for 2 hours to extract the flavors from the bones. After cooling I removed the bones and gristle and reserved the neck bone meat and remaining broth. The next day I followed your recipe adding the neck bone broth and meat to your recipe. It was awesome.
That sounds fantastic! Thank you for sharing your experience making this recipe, Patrick!
My family wants me to make this stew everyday! I made a couple changes: I added 3 more cloves of minced garlic, and 1.5 teaspoons of paprika to the lamb along with the salt and pepper.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Anu! It sounds like you found a new family favorite!
Made this recipe for Christmas dinner. Second time making it! The house smells so good! Plan to serve over jasmine rice ! It is absolutely delicious. Lamb and veggies are super tender!
Great recipe!!!!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Barbara!
Wonderful. I agree about freezing it, that the potatoes tend to disintegrate but I don’t mind using a spoon!!!! The Bay Leaves (fresher the better) add a wonderful taste to it all.
I’m glad you agree, Ray. Thanks for your input and feedback!
Simply the best lamb stew I have ever eaten!
Love it! Thank you so much, Freida!
Wow…this was nothing short of FABULOUS! My whole family(6,8, and 10 year old kiddos included). Loved it!! Definitely a keeper.
That is the best when kids love what we moms make, Sarah! That’s so great!
I made this for the first time yesterday… absolutely delicious!
Thank you Natasha.
I’m glad you loved it, Barbara! Thanks for your great feedback.
Lamb lovers delight! Great recipe! However, I did not have bacon so substituted with rosemary infused olive oil. Guests raved!
Sounds great, Brian. I’m so glad you enjoyed this lamb stew recipe!
Any tips for making this in a slow cooker?
Hi Suzanne, 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!
Just stumbled across this recipe – thanks to lockdown restrictions here in Ireland, we’ve been cooking a lot more (not allowed to travel more than 5kilometres, so at home cooking it is!). All this to say, I had no idea what size a 5quart dutch oven was, so I just used my medium one. Whoops! Once I added the wine, I realized I had no room for the rest of the goodies. Even so, after letting the wine cook down (and a tiny bit of it drained), I was able to get everything in. Turned out great! Even with an almost 50/50 share of wine and broth! ha!
Awesome, glad you enjoyed makeing this recipe, Therese!
Hi Therese, also in Ireland about to make this. Hang in there! We’ll get there in the end. Have a wonderful Christmas
This recipe ROCKS! Only change I made was to transfer everything to the slow cooker — low and slow for 12 hours. Next time, an extra half pound of lamb.
Awesome, glad you loved this recipe, Phil!
This was so good. Followed recipe as is. Will share with friends.
I’m happy to know that you loved it! Thank you for your great review, Brenda.
Mine is in the oven now. Will it freeze well?
Hi Brenda, haven’t tested with freezing this recipe to advise but here is what one of our readers wrote to advise ” I’ve made this several times and always freeze portions! Just a reminder, potato doesn’t freeze well as it goes all weird and floury in a very inedible way, so for the second batch I used sweet potato so I could freeze without chucking out thawed tatties.” I hope that helps.
The best stew I have ever had! Great flavors and aroma, everything was done to perfection. I followed the recipe exactly, but I did add a tablespoon of corn starch for the last 45minutes in the oven, because it seemed a little thin. Turned out fabulous!
Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful feedback with me John! I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Can i check do i need to wash the meat in salt and lime juice? I tried the lamb stew by the smell of the lamb is too strong. Please advise
Rhank you
Hi Anne, we followed the recipe as written and we loved it. If that is your preference and you happen to try it I would love to know how you like it.
Wow the aroma from the stove with the deglazing drew my daughter into the kitchen! I highly recommend Using the bacon and mushrooms. Made this for after work Monday but had to sample and this is Delicious!
Hello Tracy. Glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your great feedback.