mom’s irish stew

Classic Irish Stew is easy to make but is incredibly delicious! It’s made with basic ingredients like potatoes, carrots, beef broth, and beef or lamb stew meat. Cooking this dish in the oven makes the meat fall-apart-tender, the veggies saucy, and adds so much flavor to the dish.

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Mom’s Irish Stew for the win! My mom has made this for St. Patrick’s Day for as long as I can remember, and now, I do the same! It’s incredibly simple to make, is so delicious, and requires minimal effort to make. And, as we all know, I love low-effort, high-payoff recipes. This is certainly one of those!

How to Make Easy Irish Stew: 

Start with your chopped veggies – carrots, onion, celery, and potatoes. A traditional Irish Stew wouldn’t actually have the celery, but I always add it because it’s a good way to use up those last few stalks we always seem to have in the fridge. 

Add the meat, some beef broth, spices and pop it in the oven! You can use beef or lamb stew meat for this dish. Lamb is the traditional option, but if you want something a little more budget friendly, you can certainly opt for beef. 

Cooking Irish Stew in the Oven: 

At the 1 hour mark, your stew will probably look like the photo below. At this point, it’s not quite done – give it a stir and add another 20-30 minutes. The beef should be very tender, along with the veggies, when it’s done. The broth won’t look super brothy anymore either – it will have thickened up a bit.

I like to take out a piece of carrot or potato and a piece of meat and set them on a plate to cool a tad, then I taste them to see if the stew seems done! If they’re tender to your liking and the broth has thickened up a bit, it’s done.

Not the prettiest food, but it’ll look a bit more like this when it’s ready. Full disclosure – I photographed the stew when it was a tad underdone (things were cooked through, it just didn’t get that extra 30 minutes to really get everything all saucy and tender). This happened for a variety of reasons, including me being a distracted person, and that photographing stew when it’s fully cooked is hard, because things can get a bit mushy and they don’t look as photogenic.

I took the shot below the next day because I really wanted you to see what you’re looking for when the stew is done – even if it isn’t “picture perfect”. So, that’s my confession for today! I hope we can still be friends ☺️.

Can I make Irish Stew in the slow cooker?

I know this seems like the type of recipe that can be made in a slow cooker/crock pot BUT I really prefer letting my stew cook for 1.5 to 2 hours in the oven in a dutch oven. It gives such a great flavor to the dish – and the meat is SO tender. It also might not thicken in the same way in a slow cooker. 

I got the dutch oven pictured from Target a number of years ago – but here’s a very similar dutch oven that I highly recommend. I use it multiple times each week for so many things. I also love Lodge’s dutch oven. 

Oh – and good news on the leftover front. This reheats very well and holds up in the fridge for about a week. I mean, you’re going to love it and I don’t think it will last that long but on the off chance – it makes for a good desk lunch.

The only way this dish can get better is if it’s served with Irish Soda Bread – it’s an absolute must. I recently discovered that Soda Bread is SO easy to make at home and I’ve got a pretty scrumptious recipe for it, if I do say so myself.

More St. Patrick’s Day Recipes: 

Guinness Chocolate Cake – A rich chocolate cake made with Guinness and brown butter, and topped with the creamiest cream cheese + brown butter Guinness frosting

Layered Mint Chocolate Brownies – Layered with a rich, fudgy brownie base, a creamy mint buttercream filling, and a luscious layer of chocolate ganache.

Bacon Cheddar Chive Scones – These scones are loaded with cheddar cheese, smoky bacon, fresh chives, and creamy salted butter.

Beer Braised Short Ribs with Cheddar Mashed Potatoes – A restaurant-quality meal you can make at home. They’re surprisingly easy to make and pair perfectly with fluffy cheddar mashed potatoes.

Cheesy Potatoes from Our Balanced Bowl

So, what are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day? I’d love to know! And I hope they involve stew, bread, Guinness, and some good Irish music! 

Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo and leave a comment! 

Be sure to follow bluebowlrecipes on instagram and tag @bluebowlrecipes with your photo – I’d love to see what you make! And, be sure to leave a comment + rating below if you make this recipe.

5 from 8 votes

Mom's Irish Stew

A delicious, classic Irish Stew Recipe made with simple ingredients! It's perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any time you want an easy, delicious dinner! This is healthy comfort food at it's finest.

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 2 hours hrs

Total: 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 1/2 to 2 lbs lamb or beef stew meat, fat trimmed
• ▢ 2 TBS flour, can sub a gluten-free flour blend
• ▢ 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, or diced
• ▢ 4 stalks celery, chopped
• ▢ 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed, Sometimes I don't peel them!
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/4 tsp pepper
• ▢ 1 tsp thyme, divided
• ▢ 1 and 1/4 - 2 cups beef broth

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Instructions 

• Prep: Spray your dutch oven with non-stick spray (mine is non-stick but I just wanted to be safe). Don't preheat the oven. 
• Make the stew: Cut all your veggies, as noted above in the ingredients. Mix together in a bowl and add the garlic.

  Toss the meat with the flour, some salt and pepper to taste, and 1/2 tsp of thyme in a bowl. Add 1/3 of the meat to the bottom of the dutch oven, then 1/3 of the veggie mixture. Alternate this with the remaining meat and veggies. (The layers don't need to be perfect here!) Add the spices and beef broth. 
  
• Bake: Place the covered dutch oven in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 425 degrees. Bake for about 1.5 - 2 hours, stirring at the hour mark (see note, below, and photos above for reference!). Taste, and add extra seasoning if desired. 

  Enjoy warm with soda bread!
• Serve + Store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. 

Notes

NOTE: If you sub a gluten-free flour here, I don't recommend almond or coconut flour. Try a gluten-free flour blend that you use and trust. 

NOTE: I've gone all the way up to 2.5 lbs of meat here without increasing the other ingredients (well, I did add an extra tbsp flour) - so feel free to increase the meat or any of the veggie quantities if desired!

NOTE: I think that the baking dish you use and your oven (they're all a little different) can affect cooking time. Make sure to set your timer for only one hour to begin - and when you stir the stew at the hour mark you can see how much longer it really needs to cook. Pierce the veggies + potatoes with a fork - if they're tender, it's likely done! The meat will be fork tender, too, when done, and the broth will have thickened up a bit. Again, reference photos above. 

Nutrition

Calories: 368kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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