Slow Cooker Lamb Stew
Slow-cooker lamb stew with tender, fall-apart lamb chunks and hearty vegetables has a rustic flavourful thick broth. This rich Lamb Stew recipe is surely going to keep you warm in the winter.
A warm comforting bowl of stew is a winter staple. While Beef Stew is the ultimate stew for the winter, this Lamb Stew is equally delicious. Lamb and vegetables are cooked in the slow cooker until really tender and Juicy.
Lamb is cooked in a flavourful broth along with herbs, cinnamon, and bay leaf. I am having a big bowl of this Lamb Stew right now while writing the post. It is so much comforting and satisfying.
Cook everything low and slow in the crockpot and you will have a delicious dinner ready. That’s the reason I make these slow cooker recipes quite often Mexican Chicken Soup, Quinoa Chicken Broccoli Casserole, Honey Chipotle Chicken Taco.
Why This Lamb Stew Is The Best?
Of all the other variations in the lamb stew recipe that I had tried, this is the best. Just dump and cook method of slow cooking isn’t enough for building a robust flavor profile. Here is
- It starts with browning the Lamb pieces. The caramelized brown bits of the lamb add so much flavor that this extra step would seem worth the effort.
- Caramelize onion, garlic, and celery in the same skillet after the lamb is seared. Flavor ++
- Though I love the extra depth of flavor wine adds to any dish, I am not a fan of the strong alcohol smell. So to avoid strong wine flavor in the stew, Deglaze the pan with red wine, let it simmer, and reduce to half. Once the alcohol smell has evaporated, then add the lamb pieces to it.
Instead of dumping everything to the crockpot, try making Lamb stew with the above-mentioned changes and I bet you will rave about it for days
Ingredients
- Boneless Lamb – and you can read below about the best meat for lamb stew
- Salt & Pepper– to season the chunks of lamb.
- Flour – To coat the lamb chunks and also help thicken the stew.
- Beef Stock – Good quality low sodium beef stock
- Minced garlic, Onion, Celery, & Tomato paste to saute and make a flavourful broth for the stew.
- Carrots, and potatoes to make the body of the stew. You can add mushrooms, green peas too if you like.
- Bayleaf and fresh thyme provide the flavor to the broth. For different flavor, add a stick of cinnamon or a teaspoon of roasted ground cumin.
- Red Wine gives umami and it adds a mild acidity and complex flavors to the stew. I always prefer adding wine to the stock.
How To Make
If you are short of time or don’t own a slow cooker, you still can enjoy this incredible Lamb Stew. You can either use a heavy-bottom Soup Pot or Instant Pot to make this stew. Here is a quick walk-through of the steps with a few tips, detailed recipe with measurements is below in the recipe card.
- For the lamb chops to get coated evenly with flour, make sure pat dry pieces very well.
- Brown the meat in a large skillet on medium-high heat to get that perfect brown sear. If the pan is overcrowded, then instead of browning it will stew, release water, and not sear perfectly.
- In the same skillet, saute onion, garlic, and celery until aromatic. Then cook tomato paste for it to caramelize a bit.
- Time to deglaze the pan with red wine and bit a beef stock. Don’t love the strong taste of wine in your food? This is the trick that works. Simmer the mix for 1- 2 minutes for the alcohol smell to evaporate, then add the rest of the ingredients. You would see a huge difference in how the stew tastes compared to adding red wine directly to the lamb.
- Last step is to add everything to the slow cooker and wait for the crockpot magic to happen.
Cooking Lamb Stew On Stove Top:
Take a heavy-bottomed Dutch Oven. Heat Oil and brown seasoned Lamb chunks in batches. Follow rest of the steps for the slow cooker.
Then add the rest of the ingredients. Once everything comes to a boil, simmer and let it cook on very low heat for 2 hours. You might need a little bit more stock because of more evaporation while cooking on the stovetop.
Commonly Asked Questions
For stews, I would always go for lamb shoulder cuts, since they have got a lot of connective tissue, more fat, and flavor. Rib cuts would be a great choice too. Trim any extra fat while getting it from the local shop.
Even though lamb leg parts look meatier and would do fine, I believe the shoulder cuts win with flavor and get tender a tad easier.
The trick with any frozen meat is to let it thaw so it comes to room temperature. When all parts of the lamb are at around the same temperature, it cooks evenly too. Leave it on the kitchen counter for a maximum of two hours. Else, you can also thaw it in the fridge (not the freezer) section of your refrigerator overnight. Make sure you pat dry the pieces very well.
Tip – While thawing the meat, I keep it in a colander and place it in a bowl to collect the liquid.
Beef stock is what I have gone with. You can opt for Lamb stock if it is available. If neither of the above is available, Chicken stock would work too.
The best in terms of imparting flavour would be lamb stock or beef stock. It would be great if you can make beef/lamb stock at home but it takes a lot of time mind you.
When it comes to buying beef stock, make sure that the stock is not made of artificial flavors and so get one from a well-trusted brand. Many brands do not go for the long-simmering process of making stock by breaking down joints/cartilage and go for artificial flavors.
If you are not sure, a chicken stock made at home from scratch or one from the store would be fine, as chicken stock is not that difficult to make so brands would be honest at that.
The basic rule behind stews is to let them simmer for a long time at low heat. The “low heat” part is the key here. We do not want to put it on medium/high for a long time. This makes the chunks lose all the moisture and dry up. The end result would be that the pieces would be chewy and grainy to eat.
For making stews with fall-apart tenderness of lamb chunks in it, I would recommend for 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on medium heat.
Initially, while cooking, you would notice the lamb chunks getting firmer. Do not worry for there is science behind it. The meat has water and connective tissue in them. The connective tissue forms gelatin on cooking and this makes it appear firm initially.
Let it simmer and the meat would slowly break down and become tender to the touch.
Storing Lamb Stew
Stews and curries taste so much more delicious the next day. I would always save a bit of stew and have it thick and rich with some mashed potatoes the next day.
You can store this safely for 4 – 5 days in the refrigerator or keep it in the freezer for upto 3 months.
When you need to take frozen stew for serving, just take it out, and thaw outside for an hour. While heating it, stir it very gently so that it doesn’t break the lamb chunks.
What to serve with lamb stew?
Serve this Lamb Stew with Crusty bread or with a fresh green salad. You can also serve this along with mashed potatoes.
Enjoy…
Few Other Lamb Recipes to try
More Comforting Soups and Stews
Slow Cooker Lamb Stew
Ingredients
- 750 Grams Boneless Lamb 1.5 pounds
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 large Onion
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 1 stalk Celery
- 3 tablespoons Tomato Paste
- ½ cup Red wine
- 2 large Carrots
- 2 cups Baby Potatoes halved
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 3 Cups Beef Broth
- 2-3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Pat dry Lamb Chunks to remove any extra water. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour and toss well lamb pieces are well coated. ( If the lamb stews are pat dried well, flour will coat evenly).
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add Lamb chunks. Brown lamb chunks in two batches, without crowding the pan. Sear it for 2-3 minutes on medium high heat, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Keep aside the browned lamb pieces aside, covered so that they don't get dry.
- To the same skillet add chopped onion, garlic, and celery. Saute until onion has softened and a bit.
- Add tomato paste to the skillet and saute for one minutes on low heat.
- Deglaze the roasting pan with 1/3 cup of wine and 1/2 cup of beef stock. Scrap any brown bits stuck at the bottom. Let the mix simmer for 3-4 minutes for the alcohol smell to evaporate.
- Add browned lamb chunks, sauteed onion, garlic mixture, rest of the ingredients, remaining stock to the slow cooker.
- Check the seasoning. Slow cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
- Serve with crusty bread.
To cook on the stovetop
- To cook on the stovetop, use a thick bottom soup pot or dutch oven to brown lamb, and followed by onion, garlic, and celery.
- After deglazing the pot, add rest of the ingredients. First, cook on medium-high heat until the mix is on the verge of coming to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook on low for about 80-90 minutes. Alternatively, place it in the oven and cook until the lamb is fork-tender.
Video
Notes
- Always add hot/warm beef stock to the pot.
- If adding mushrooms, saute them separately and add to the pot 30-45 minutes before the end of cooking time. If using green peas, stir them just 15 minutes before its done,
Nutrition
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Should be yummy, pretty similar to our GOAT stew recipe (Greatest Of All Time in honor of Tom Brady) which I have made with goat and lamb on different occasions. To take the stew to an East Africa / Ethiopia theme coat the meat in a Berbere spice rub, let it sit overnight and then sear it and follow the same recipe. For convenience we use Gryffon Ridge’s Booda’s Berbere (Litchfield, Maine) which consists of paprika, chiles, cumin, Fenugreek, black pepper, cardamom, coriander, ginger turmeric, cassia, allspice and ajwain
Can’t recommend this recipe enough. I made some earlier this year and portioned it up for the freezer. With the downturn in the weather and trying to watch those fuel bills, I dug one out to thaw overnight. Popped it in the microwave and topped it with small suet dumplings. Meal on the table in 10minutes using only a tiny amount of electricity. Tasted even better the second time around.
Thanks, Jackie. Stews taste better when reheated.
May I just say, this stew is kick-ass! I made it with left over leg of lamb that we had as a roast. I took the juices and meat and put it into the recipe with everything else. Darling BF loved it. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks Jinnie. Happy Stewing 🙂
I made this a second time and had a few more notes that I thought might help other users:
1. Toward the end of cooking I added a cornstarch slurry to thicken up the broth, by whisking 1 tbsp cornstarch with 1 cup water then slowly stirring it into the slow cooker. My slow cooker only has a low and high setting, and I discovered that the thickening only works when cooking on high.
2. I added some sour cream also, which gives the broth a nice creamy aspect.
3. I made the mistake of adding FROZEN peas 30 minutes prior to serving while cooking on low, which noticeably lowered the temperature too much.
4. I did not include any mushrooms this time and they were missed, I will definitely put them in again next time.
5. Lastly, I added some salt toward the end as the broth was a little on the sweet side without it.
Another delicious stew and a couple of good cooking lessons for me for next time! I hope these tips help others.
This was absolutely delicious, thank you so much for sharing. It was even better reheated the second night! I was all out of peas so I substituted chopped asparagus, and I did add some mushrooms as recommended.
The only part of the recipe that confused me a bit was ‘Once the wine has reduced, add another ½ cup of stock to the pan and mix,’ because there had been no previous mention of incorporating the stock yet. Eventually I figured it out but just thought I’d mention it.
This is going to be my go-to lamb stew recipe from now on, it’s just perfect. Thank you so much.
Glad that you liked it. Thank you for pointing the issue, I will do the neccessary changes.
Hi – in step 6 am I right that it’s the first time adding the stock? The “another” refers to having previously added wine? Looking forward to trying this! Looks delicious! Thank you.
Hi Samantha, It is the first time adding the stock. Updated it. Thanks.
What does &frac13 mean ?
This seems to be like technical issue. It is 1/3 cup
I love all the recepies I love to learn new things all the time and this food are amazing and easy to make thanks Bahia
Say I’d rather just finish off this in the dutch oven instead. Kinda new to all of this what would 8hr slow cooker equate to for a low simmer on the stove? Thanks in advance