Irish Stew
A pot of Irish stew simmering on the stove is a delicious comfort food option for St. Patrick's Day or any day! Add some Irish soda bread to round out this hearty meal.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs lamb shoulder chops cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 large onion chopped
- 32 oz vegetable stock
- 12 oz Guinness Extra Stout
- 1 cup barley rinsed under cold water
- 6 carrots peeled if you want and cut into thick slices
- 8 medium potatoes peeled if you want and cut into large chunks
Instructions
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Dredge pieces of lamb in flour. I like to add salt and pepper to the flour for some extra seasoning but you can omit if you'd prefer.
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Heat the oil in a large stock pot. Brown the meat in the oil on all sides.
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Remove meat from the pan and set aside. Melt butter in the pot and use a wooden spoon to remove those yummy little browned crusty bits from the bottom of the pan.
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Saute the onion in the butter. Add the meat back in.
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Pour in the vegetable stock and Guinness.
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Add the barley, carrots, and potatoes and simmer for 2 1/2 hours or more. Note: You can add only the barley and cook this for about an hour and a half. Then add the carrots and potatoes and cook for another hour if you prefer them a little firmer. My family always just threw everything in at once and simmered on a really low setting all day.
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If you find that the stew is a bit thinner than you'd like, check out the helpful tips with 3 different ways to thicken it up at the bottom of this post.