Lamb Guinness Stew

This dish is special.  This dish will take you into a rustic stone cottage and shelter you from the rain and cold.  Irish fiddles will play and the stomping of dancing feet will be heard.

This dish is a great excuse to by a 6 pack of Guinness beer and drink the ones you don’t use.  Like you need an excuse to buy a 6 pack of Guinness. 

I was in Dublin this past summer (2024) quite by accident.  I wrote about it HERE.  I can’t say I’ve ever gone deep into that beautiful green nugget, but it is certainly on my list to explore more.

One thing for sure, I never once had a bad meal while there.  Be it fine dinning, or good ol’ comfort pub food, you simply can’t go wrong.

But on to this very accessible stew:

Carrots, Parsnips and Leeks are a quintessential base for Lamb Guinness Stew.

Here’s what you need:

1 1/2 LBS Lamb stew meat cut into bite size pieces

2 bottles Guinness

1/4 cup flour

1 TBS Beef flavored Better than Boullion

1 onion, diced

4 - 6 cloves of garlic, minced

3 leeks, diced

3 carrots, rough diced

3 parsnips, rough diced

1 lb small fingerling potatoes (use can sub any potato, just dice them into bite size)

2 quarts, Beef Stock

2 springs Fresh Rosemary

2 springs Fresh Thyme

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Here’s what you do:

Cut lamb into bite size pieces.  Liberally salt and pepper the meat and coat with flour. 

Place fresh rosemary and thyme in a piece of cheese cloth and tie with butchers twine.  Alternatively, you may use 1 TBS each of dried rosemary and thyme and add to the onions and leeks when at that stage.  (The Bouquet)

In a large dutch oven, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Brown the meat (in batches if necessary) to develop color.  Set aside on an unlined plate.

To the hot oil add onions and leeks and cook until soft - about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, carrots and parsnips and cook to coat in the pan drippings, scraping the bottom of the pan to pull the fond.  (NOTE:  Add dried rosemary and thyme here if you're using it vs. fresh). 

Add 3 to 4 TBS of the flour and coat the veggies.  Cook for about 1 minute to cook off any raw flour taste.

Deglaze with the beer being sure to scrape the bottom to remove the fond for flavor development.  Add potatoes and cover the mixture with the beef stock.  Add the Bouquet.

Cover, bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook until all veggies are tender.  Serve with crusty bread.

A great excuse to buy a 6 pack of Guinness, like you need an excuse right?

NOTES: 

Not a fan of lamb?  Use beef stew meat instead.  No worries!

The fond, if you've done it right, you'll think you'll NEVER get the flavor up off the bottom of the pan after browning the meat.  Keep working it, add a bit more beer or even a splash of red wine if needed.  Keep working it, it's worth it. 

You could use a slow cooker – but you may need to adjust portions here to make it fit depending on the size of your cooker.  Personally, I would still brown the meat off first, but you may lose some of the flavor of the fond and sauteed veggies, but it could be done. 

This should be thick.  If your flour and roux didn’t reach the stew consistency you were looking for, make a “slurry” by mixing 1 TBS corn starch and 3 TBS water and drizzle that in a bit at a time until it gets to where you want it.  If it gets too thick, simply add a bit more stock or water to adjust. 

MEAL PREP?  Of course, this will freeze in containers quite well and reheat quickly. 

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