Skip to Content

Irish Lamb Stew Guinness Recipe [VIDEO]

This Irish Lamb Stew recipe is made by slow cooking the lamb chunks in a deep rich velvety broth. Mixed with rustic cuts of carrots and whole potatoes that make this one-pot meal a complete comfort food!

The deep rich flavor of the Guinness lamb stew is super comforting and filling with a sauce that is calling out to be sopped up with Irish Soda Bread.

Guinness Irish Stew served in a bowl

Today’s post for an Irish Lamb Stew Recipe is one of the most comforting meals I’ve made in a long time.  The rich velvety broth that swirls around the tender chunks of lamb was flavored with a bit of Guinness Stout which added a deep smoky rich taste to each and every bite.

I love how braising meat makes it fork-tender and while I love a good beef stew—-like what I shared in my recipe for Balsamic Beef Roast I like to make stews with beer occasionally to change of the flavors a bit!

What is Irish Lamb Stew?

Traditional lamb stew was made with mutton(older sheep) and bacon. Oil wasn’t an option so bacon fat to tenderize really gives it a nice rich flavor. These days it’s made with lamb shoulder or lamb stew meat and the Guinness Beer is added for an American twist.

You don’t need much of the rich beer, but it adds a very unique deep flavor to the Irish Lamb Stew Recipe.  It’s a very bold flavor that works well with any red meat.

Irish Stew Ingredients:

  • Lamb Shoulder or Leg of Lamb
  • Potatoes
  • Carrots
  • Onions
  • Stock (Chicken or beef)
  • Carrots
  • Guinness Beer (or any brown ale or stout)
  • Flour (for thickening)
  • Salt and Pepper

Optional add-ins you could also include are parsnips, turnips, celery and peas.

Love Lamb? You can find ALL the delicious lamb recipes right here!

Tips to make Guinness Irish Stew successfully:

  • Cut your lamb in large chunks.  By cutting them in this way you will still be left with larger bites of meat in the stew even after braising for over an hour.
  • If you cut them really small, the Irish stew will still taste very rich and delicious, but the meat will break down to small shredded pieces and it completely changes the texture of the stew.
  • Before creating the braise you will brown the lamb so that each piece has some deep brown crust on them.  Some recipes have you flour the beef and brown, but when I tried it that way the flour tended to burn on the bottom of the pan and left a burned taste and had burned flecks in the final stew and while not a huge deal, it is better to just brown the meat with salt and pepper on it.
  • Cut the vegetables into large chunks.  The large rustic cut carrots are pictured here, but you will cut the onions and potatoes in the same large pieces for the Irish Lamb Stew Recipe.
  • You can decide on your own whether to even peel the potatoes if you want.  I always peel them, because that’s the way my grandma made them but its fine either way. You can leave the potatoes whole too.
  • Brown the vegetables in a large dutch oven before deglazing (removing the brown bits from the bottom) with the Guinness.  You will add flour at this step so the flour will cook a little bit to release a nice nutty flavor but it will also coat all the veggies which will then help thicken the stew by giving you a rich velvety texture.
Close up of chunky vegetables in lamb stew.
Deep Rich flavorful liquid from the Guinness in the Lamb Stew

PRO TIP
Sometimes in stewing meats there may be a lot of fat released. An easy way to remove that fat is to make the stew the day ahead then refrigerate overnight.
The fat will harden and it will be easy to remove it before you rewarm it for serving. The stew gets better the longer it has to meld so if you have the time to serve it the second day it’s even better!

What is the best lamb stew meat for easy lamb stew?

I used a leg of lamb that I purchased from Costco.  You can use any lamb roast or lamb shoulder cut.

You can also use lamb shanks or leg of lamb. If you have the bone available, place it in the stew while it braises for even more flavor. You’ll remove them before serving.

Slow cooking these cuts of lamb guarantee that it breaks down and becomes fork tender.

You can absolutely sub beef if your family will not eat lamb.

dutch oven full of guiness stew for st Patricks day

Can I make Irish Lamb Stew without the beer?

You can eliminate the Guinness in the lamb soup, but it really isn’t a Traditional Irish Stew then. It will taste completely different.

There is a reason that the words “Irish Stew Guinness” are often used together.  They work VERY well together! Guinness gives a smokiness and malty driven sweetness that is great alongside meats.

You can substitute beef or chicken stock and a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce for the umami taste the Guinness gives to the Irish Stew.

You can sub other beers besides Guinness but pick something deep and rich like a porter or another stout, dark brown ales or even barly wine would work.  

Light beer will not give you the right flavor.  The alcohol pretty much is cooked out when you deglaze it, but it is a critical component of the Lamb Stew.

Irish Lamb Stew in a Slow Cooker

If you want to make the Guinness Irish Stew in a slow cooker it’s easy to adapt this recipe.  

Brown the meat as directed and cook the onions/carrots in a pan on the stove and add the flour..  (If you have a slow cooker you can brown in you may use that instead).

Deglaze the pan with the beer and then place the meat and onions/carrots along with the juices from deglazing into the slow cooker for cooking the Irish stew.  At this point follow the recipe as directed.

Cook on high for 8 hours until the lamb is fork-tender.  

This Irish Lamb Stew recipe is made by slow cooking the lamb in a deep rich velvety broth. Mixed with rustic chunks of carrots and whole potatoes make this one pot meal a complete comfort food!

More Irish recipes you might want to make for St Patricks Day:

Pin this recipe to your favorite comfort food recipe board so you have it when you need something that will absolutely not disappoint!  If you would like more comfort food recipes or tips on how to entertain without any stress sign up for the mailing list here where you see “Join the West Via Midwest Community”

Looking for other Lamb recipes?  Check out these other recipes on my site for Grilled Lamb Chops and the Pan Seared Lamb chops with a simple balsamic glaze!

Yield: 6

Irish Lamb Stew

This Irish Lamb Stew recipe is made by slow cooking the lamb in a deep rich velvety broth. Mixed with rustic chunks of carrots and whole potatoes make this one pot meal a complete comfort food!

This Irish Lamb Stew recipe is made by slow cooking the lamb in a deep rich velvety broth. Mixed with rustic cuts of carrots and whole potatoes that make this one pot meal a complete comfort food!

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2.5 pounds leg of lamb , ok to sub lamb shoulder, or any lamb roast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound potatoes, peeled, cut to large chunks
  • 2 large onions, cut to large chunks
  • 4 extra large carrots, peeled,cut to large chunks
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 11 ounces Guinness Beer, (1/2 bottle)
  • 8 cups chicken broth

Instructions

  1. Cut lamb into large chunks of equal size.  Season all sides generously with salt and pepper.
  2. In a large stockpot, add the olive oil and heat to high.  Once oil is hot, cook the lamb chunks in batches about 2 minutes per side until each side is browned. (see photo in post) Once all sides are browned remove to a side plate.
  3. Once all lamb is browned, and removed from the pan, add the onions and carrots and cook until the onions are caramelized about 7minutes.  Then sprinkle the flour over the top and cook for 1-2 minutes more.  
  4. Add the beer and deglaze the pan. Scrape up all of the lamb bits from the bottom of the pan.
  5. Add the lamb and the potatoes over the top of the vegetables.  Then pour the chicken broth over the top, stir to mix then make sure the lamb is fully submerged in liquid.    
  6. Reduce the heat to medium and cover. Avoid the temptation to cook the stew on high.  The lamb needs to cook on medium or low so it can break down slowly.  Heating too high will result in tough lamb.  
  7. Continue to cook checking and stirring often to make sure the liquid is slightly bubbling but not on a full on boil.  Continue to simmer for 75 to 90 minutes.  
  8. The stew is done when the lamb is fork tender and the vegetables are fully cooked.  

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

6 Servings

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 311Saturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 1618mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 29g

Did you make this recipe?

Be sure and tag us on Instagram (@michele_westviamidwest) to be featured in our stories or our weekly newsletter! We love it when you make our recipes and share the love!

Sign up to get recipes and tips for stress free entertaining!

we won't EVER sell or share your info!

I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

36 Leftover Lamb Recipes [Shepherd’s Pie & More]

Sunday 17th of July 2022

[…] 2.Irish Lamb Stew […]

Reuben Sandwich with Russian Dressing Recipe - Lemon Blossoms

Thursday 30th of December 2021

[…] Guiness Lamb Stew […]

Christina

Sunday 17th of February 2019

Made this lamb stew yesterday and everyone loved it! Definitely a hearty, rustic stew that screams comfort food (or perhaps Irish comfort food!). I love recipes that use Guinness, stout and even light pale ale so I knew I had to try this one! I am glad I did!. This recipe is one I will add to my collection to make again and again.

Emily

Thursday 15th of February 2018

I love the sound of this, stews like this are the best!

Betty Davies

Tuesday 13th of February 2018

Lamb is one of my favourites, especially when it is slow cooked and tender! Love all the flavors in this stew!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This site uses affiliate links, such as Amazon which pays this site a small commission if you purchase at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read full info here.

Skip to Recipe

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!