Lamb stew

Heat the oven to gas 3, 325°F/150°C fan (or 170°C conventional). Heat the vegetable oil in an ovenproof casserole dish.

Once the vegetable oil is hot, add the diced lamb shoulder in batches to brown, taking roughly 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions and carrots to the casserole dish and cook over a medium heat for 8 minutes until starting to color and soften. Add the flour and stir for 2 minutes. Then add the tomato purée and garlic cloves, and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Return the lamb to the casserole dish, along with any juice from the plate. Add the lamb stock, bay leaves, and rosemary. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat.

Cover the casserole dish with a lid and cook in the oven for around 2 hours and 30 minutes until the lamb is completely tender.

Remove from the oven and leave to settle for 10 minutes before serving.

Tips & tricks

As the cooking method for this recipe is very simple, ensuring you have the right balance and quality of ingredients is the first tip to making your lamb stew a success. In the basic lamb stew recipe above we’ve recommended using lamb shoulder for your meat cut. Either lamb shoulder or leg of lamb works well for stewing. These cuts are hard-working muscles, with fat marbling through, that will break down during the slow cooking process and create that tender meat you want for your stew. Mutton can also be used for stewing, but takes longer in the oven to break down and tenderize. We have a helpful guide on the difference between mutton and lamb when making your meat selection, to inform your choice. Boned cuts, like lamb rack or chops, are better suited to roasting instead.

Onions, garlic, and tomato purée really are the backbone of the stew adding flavor, depth, and richness to the foundation of the dish. For this reason, we’d highly recommend sticking to the recipe above when it comes to the addition of these fundamental ingredients to make your stew irresistible.

Don’t be tempted to remove your stew too early from the oven. The lamb really will benefit from an extended period of slow cooking to properly tenderize and infuse with the flavors of the broth.

How to serve it

For ideas around what to serve with lamb stew, look to classic root vegetables and potatoes. In our suggested recipe we’ve included carrots, but lamb also pairs extremely well with roast potatoes and mushy peas, for a hearty stew combination. Given it’s already a very flavourful dish, some chefs will opt to serve their lamb stew alongside a humble helping of fresh, crusty bread for that winter stew feel.

Recipe variations

There are lots of fun ways to vary your lamb stew, depending on the taste preferences of your guests. We’ve shared a relatively simple recipe above, but some call for the inclusion of red or white wine to enhance the flavors. If you want to twist the recipe and add a dash of Irish influence, it’s also possible to introduce Guinness to the stew to add a bitter maltiness that pairs excellently with the lamb.

Another step you can introduce before cooking your lamb is to marinate the lamb first to intensify the flavor and tenderness. This will add a minimum of four hours to your cooking time, but can add that extra special touch to your stew.

Finally, some recipes will call for the addition of potatoes in the stew, instead of as a side dish for a one-pot cooking approach. If you want to add potatoes directly to the pot, we’d recommend the yukon gold variety for the best cooking results.

Storage

Lamb stew is one of those rare dishes that can actually benefit from being stored and then eaten the next day. This is because the ingredients will continue to marinate, even after cooking, making it even tastier the day after. You can store lamb stew in the fridge, once it’s fully cooled, for up to three days and easily reheat it on the stove when you’re ready to enjoy your next helping.