Lamb Stew Recipe

As the weather cools down, I love warming up with a good ole stew. Most people turn to a slow-cooker chili or classic beef stew, but I have a recipe that’ll bring new life into winter evenings: lamb stew.

Many folks shy away from cooking with lamb meat because it’s not as common in recipes as, say, chicken. But as one of the top 10 Biblical foods, lamb meat is great for us both spiritually and nutritionally. It’s the most revered animal in history and its meat is naturally rich with protein, vitamins and minerals. For this recipe, I suggest sticking to grass-fed, local meat if possible.

This lamb stew might have a few steps, but it’s really quite simple and includes lots of hands-off cooking time. If you’re thrown by the “bouquet garni,” don’t be! It’s a fancy way of saying “bundle of herbs.” The fresh herbs are tied together with string and added to soups, stews and casseroles to impart loads of flavor, then removed before serving. In this lamb stew recipe, we’ll use a fresh bouquet garni of fresh thyme, oregano, parsley and bay leaf for maximum taste.

So if you’re ready for a cozy meal that’s different from anything you’ve made before, easy to make and perfect for company, it’s time to dig into this lamb stew.

Let’s kick things off by adding your choice of broth, water, canned tomatoes (go BPA-free!), tomatoes, onion and homemade bouquet garni to a large pot over medium-high heat and covering it.

Next, add grapeseed oil, excellent for cooking at high temperatures, in a large skillet until the oil is shimmering; that means it’s hot enough. Add in the lamb shanks and sear for 3 minutes on each side, just long enough to give them a nice color.

Then, remove the lamb from the pan and add it into the pot with all the other delicious lamb stew ingredients. Bring the pot almost to a boil, and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for the next 2 hours.

Grab your fresh lemon halves next and squeeze the juice into the pot; watch out for seeds! Then toss in the lemon halves and the olives right into the pot. Let them work their magic for the next 15 minutes.

Time’s up! Remove the pot from the heat and let the lamb stew rest for 15 minutes before removing the bouquet garni and tossing it out. Pull the lamb off the bones and toss the meat back into the pot. Either discard the remaining bones or (my choice!), save them for making a homemade stock.

Pro tip: This lamb stew recipe is easily adaptable for crockpot cooking, too. Set it up in the morning and dinner will be ready before you know it.

Add in the ingredients, including the seared lamb, into a crockpot and cook on low heat, covered, for 8 hours. Then, add the lemon juice, lemon halves and olives, cover the pot again and remove from heat. Discard the bouquet garni and pull the meat off the bones before serving.

Lamb Stew Recipe

Total Time: 3 hours

Serves: 4–6

Ingredients:

4 cups lamb or chicken broth
4 cups water
One 32-ounce can crushed tomatoes, BPA free
Bouquet garni of thyme, oregano, parsley, bay leaf
1 large red onion, diced
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
3 lamb shanks
1 lemon, halved and seeded
1 cup Niçoise olives, pitted

Directions:

In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the broth, water, tomatoes, bouquet garni and onion and cover.
Heat the grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the lamb shanks and sear for 3 minutes on each side.
Add the seared lamb to the pot and bring almost to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 2 hours.
Squeeze the juice from both lemon halves into the pot and then add the rest of the lemon along with the olives. Cook for 15 minutes more, uncovered.
Remove from the heat and allow the stew to rest for 15 minutes.
Remove the bouquet garni and discard. Pull the meat apart and discard bones (or save for making stock).
Alternatively, put these ingredients in a crockpot on low, add the lamb after searing it, and cook covered for 8 hours. Add the lemon and olives, cover, turn off the heat, remove bouquet garni and pull apart the meat before serving.