Celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a hearty Irish Stout Lamb Stew that’s slow simmered on top of the stove with red potatoes, carrots, onions, and a smoky stout beer.
St Patrick’s Day is fast approaching so I thought I’d better get a recipe out before I missed the holiday. I figured it’s better to be almost 2 weeks ahead of time than 2 weeks after, which my usual M.O. I’m not full-on Irish but St Patty’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, probably because it revolves around good food and beer…OK, definitely because it revolves around good food and beer. I guess there’s supposed to be something about a shamrock, saints and converting pagans but let’s face it, us America use it as an excuse to eat Irish food, drink Irish beer and generally celebrate all things Irish, even if we aren’t.
I remember the days of braving the crowds at Irish bars that opened at 6:00 AM, drinking green beer and scoring some free swag. Actually, free swag was kind of my thing. I was an expert at working the bartenders and waitresses so they would hook me up with St. Patty’s Day freebies. To this day, I have a really nice set of complimentary beer glasses and some t-shirts that are now approaching “vintage” status. Oh, those were the days.
Aside from celebrating the holiday in Boston 2 years ago, I’ve left the crowds and the green beer to the youngsters. Now I ring in the holiday at home with a nice Irish pint (or two), a nice warm loaf of soda bread, and a huge bowl of hot Irish Stout Lamb Stew.
I also bust out the cool St. Patty’s Day beer mugs every year. There’s still nothing like free glassware…it makes the beer taste better too 😉
Irish food is all about hearty, stick-to-your-ribs, meat and potato goodness. This Irish stout lamb stew is not only hearty, but easy and healthy too. For this recipe, I used humanely raised, grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free lamb from my favorite local farm, Normanton Farm. The lambs are raised in small flocks and are provided a natural lifestyle, which I love.
If you have local farms around you, please do yourself a favor and check them out by visiting them to see first hand how they operate. It has been so worth it for me to buy locally sourced meat and vegetables from people I trust, not to mention that fact that it’s good for the animals, the earth, and my health. Check out the site EAT WILD to look up local farms near you.
This stew is slow simmered on top of the stove and all the flavors meld together into one tasty dish. I was going to use the slow cooker for this recipe but I honesty like a stew that has been cooking on top of the stove for a couple of hours, so I nixed that plan.
The flavor of this also improves greatly by sitting a day, or two, in the refrigerator. It’s easy to plan ahead by making dinner the day before St Patrick’s Day, then all you have to do is heat it up, eat it, and hit the road to go Irish beer drinking! Yay!
Put this hearty and delicious Irish Stout Lamb Stew on your St Patrick’s Day menu and don’t forget the Irish Soda Bread!
- 2 pounds lamb stew meat or lamb shoulder, cut into 2' pieces (grass fed is preferred)
- 2 Tb flour
- 3 Tb olive or vegetable oil
- 6 medium sized organic whole carrots, scrubbed well and diced
- 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 12 ounce bottle of dark stout beer
- 3 medium organic red potatoes, scrubbed well and quartered
- 2 cups good quality beef stock, homemade or store bought
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat 1 Tb oil over medium-high heat. Dust lamb with flour and add about a third of the lamb to the hot oil in the pan and sauté until browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat process two more times with the remaining oil and lamb. Set all cooked lamb aside.
- Turn down heat to medium, add a little more oil to the pot if needed, add the diced onion and carrots and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until onions are lightly browned. Add minced garlic and dried thyme, stir and cook for another minute. Turn heat back up to medium-high, add beer and stir until slightly reduced. Add potatoes, lamb, and beef stock. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, or until lamb is very tender.
- Enjoy with some soda bread or spotted dog and extra bottles of stout beer!
A little beer in anything can make it taste better! I think it sounds perfect in this delicious looking stew. This sounds fabulous.
I agree Kathy and thank you!
I am also a fan of St. Patty’s day for precisely the reason you mentioned…good food and beer!! I could totally see myself enjoying a big bowl of this scrumptious, hearty stew with a jug of beer and a loaf of crusty bread! This looks fantastic, Karrie!
Thank you Beeta! St Patty’s Day is such a great holiday 😉
Beautiful looking stew! Love the bright color too, Karrie. Very pretty! I bet beer must have added so much flavor to this one! 🙂
Thanks so much Anu! The beer definitely added flavor to this stew 🙂
You can’t go wrong with a hearty stew on a cold day. Especially on a day like today when we have loads of snow. Definitely stew weather!
You go that right Dannii. Love stew on a really cold day. Hang in there with the snow 😉
Hey girl! This recipe looks awesome. This has been on my radar lately ’cause hubby requested that I make lamb stew so this would be perfect! And who’s gonnna say no to beer + stew?! Certainly not me. Yum!
Hey Dawn! Thanks and you can’t say no to Hubby 😉 If you end up trying this recipe, let me know how you liked it.
I love a holiday that revolves around good food and beer! St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays too because it’s also my birthday! Woot! Double reason to party! I also used to do the bar crawl and the one they have in Charlotte is crazy, but it’s not my thing anymore either and I have plenty of beer glasses. One thing I don’t have enough of is some Irish Stout Lamb Stew and that needs to change. I prefer a stove-top stew too and it makes your house smell amazing all day long! Great pics too!
Woot woot to your bday being on St Patty’s Day!!! Thank you and here’s to beer and stew 🙂
You know, the lamb, being a baby sheep, was only humanely raised a very short time…then it became stew.
True but at least it had a great life before it became stew 😉
Ha! Ohh the good ole days of working bartenders and bar employees for free swag… actually I got free swag at the pub we went to for NYE, so I guess I haven’t lost my touch. Yet. 😉 LOVE this stew, Karrie! Looks super hearty and seriously delicious! Love lamb and I love beer, so obviously I need this stew in my life! Perfect for St. Pattys day! Pinned! Cheers, girlfriend! xoxo
Free swag is always awesome and congrats for still having the touch 😉 Thanks Chey. Beer and lamb are two of my favorite things 🙂 xoxo
Those do sound like the good old days, and I’m glad that you have a some “vintage” t-shirts and glass to remember them by. 🙂 To be perfectly honest, I’ll eat lamb but I don’t love it. This stew, however, looks so good that I really want to dig in right now! And with a nice drinkie drinkie on the side, this looks like a dish I can get into! Happy early St. Patty’s day…and there’s no harm in celebrating early!! 🙂
Thank you Thao and yes to celebrating early with drinkie drinkie! lol! Lamb can definitely be an acquired taste for a lot of people. I used to not like it as much as I do now 🙂
I can’t wait for St Patrick’s day but only because I love celebrating 🙂 And this dish looks so yummy and festive, that I would enjoy very much eating it in any occasion 🙂
Thanks Simona! It’s such a great holiday with celebrations all over the place too! I can’t wait either 🙂
This looks wonderful Karrie! I just started making Irish stew in the last year and you’re totally right about that grass fed lamb. It’s delicious! Next time, I definitely will try your version. And Beer? Heck yes! Great post!
Thank you Connie and let me know how it turns out for you. Beer is always a heck yes! hahaha 😉
Wow, what a perfect recipe for St. Patty’s Day! I’m all for a hearty stew, especially since it’s still so chilly here. I don’t cook with lamb nearly enough.
Thank you Rachel and comfort food like this is the best when the weather’s cold.
Whoa! I love everything about this stew…it’s hearty, healthy, the stout and the LAMB! Just can’t have enough lamb in my life! I love that you sourced it from your local farm. When we lived in Virginia I would make a regular trek out to my local farm for their lamb shanks. I’m gonna have to check out Normanton Farms. Thanks for the recipe and the tip!
Thanks Holly. Local farm lamb is the best 🙂
Hi Karrie
I am flying Hans solo on this comment with Nicoletta being vegetarian and all. I love farmers who treat their animals humanely and feed fresh grass it does make a world of difference although I cannot think of the ending to that story. The Stew looks wonderful I can picture dipping a good piece of rustic bread into that gravy and eating it all up. I love the way you left the potatoes pretty hearty too. Well have a Guinness for me and sing a few celtic songs for me. Have fun!
Loreto
Thanks Loreto and I hear you. I struggle with eating meat many times. I’ll def have a Guinness for you!
So hearty and warming! I could use some right now because LA is surprisingly COLD right now!
Thanks GiGi! Hope you are bundling up next to a fire to keep warm. Brrrrrrrrrrr 😉
Hahaha! Free glassware does make beer taste better! Wow – I remember those days…not as vividly as I should, cue green beer…but I remember it being a blast! And yes, scoring free swag was the best! But alas, those days are over (thank goodness) and I would happily sit down with a big bowl of this hearty gorgeous looking stew and a brew from the comforts of home! Fun post, my friend! Have a great weekend!
You are so right Annie…beer always tastes better in some free glassware! lol!
I love stews. The color and the ingredients all look lovely. I can feel the flavor and the taste. Visual treat. I love to have this with some flat fluffy breads or buns
Thank you Smitha and fluffy breads would be perfect with this stew 🙂 Yum!
YUM! This looks delicious 🙂