A classic Irish Stew is simple and flavorful. It comes together easily with hearty chunks of meat, potatoes, and carrots. And it brings ultimate comfort.
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If you’re like me and you (a) don’t like corned beef and cabbage and/or (b) don’t want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a dish that isn’t even Irish, then let me introduce you to one that is.
Irish Stew is one of my yearly kitchen traditions. It’s super easy to stir up, the slow cooker does most of the work, and it tastes amazing. Seriously.
I made it a few weeks ago and I just could. not. stop. eating. it.
Believe it or not, it’s got only a handful of ingredients. Just goes to show, you don’t need a lot to make something amazing for dinner.
And amazing, this Irish Stew is.
So why do we have this for St. Patrick’s Day? Well, I’ll tell ya.
One of my favorite parts about teaching my kids at home is the great reading we get to do together. A book that we read early on in my homeschooling career was St Patrick: Pioneer Missionary to Ireland. For years it was an annual reread.
The biography tells the story of Patrick, how he was kidnapped by Celts, how God saved him, how he escaped from Ireland, and how he later returned to Ireland to preach the good news of Christ. It’s a great read aloud. (Though it’s really heavy on Christianese which annoys me, so I edit heavily as I read.)
While I think that leprechauns and rainbows are fun, and I have been known to buy a box of Lucky Charms for St. Paddy’s Day, I prefer to focus on the real story or spiritual significance behind a holiday or special occasion. It makes any celebration we do a little more interesting and genuine.
By now my kids all know that Patrick lived very simply; for many years he was enslaved by a Celtic chief, working as a shepherd. Later he lived a humble life of a clergyman, shepherding a different kind of flock.
I imagine that this stew might be something like what he might have eaten.
So, for our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, we enjoy Irish Stew and Soda Bread. But we also love our Whole Wheat Beer Bread. If I’m feeling extra “splurgy,” I might buy Irish butter or Dubliner cheese to go with. (Costco sells both of these made by Kerrygold. ALDI has their own brand.) For dessert, I go apple with an easy Apple Crisp or a Slab Apple Pie.
And sometimes, when I want a variation, I make this Guinness Beef Stew that is also amazingly good. It’s got mushrooms and stout to give it a twist of flavor.
What is Irish Stew?
This stew is simple to make and it’s more or less authentic to the occasion. Tradition would say to use lamb in Irish Stew, but that’s not super cheap or readily available in the States, so I use a chuck roast instead. Truly authentic Irish Stew consists of mutton, potatoes, onions, and parsley. Sometimes it has carrots, like here.
Ironically, I’m using what I have (beef), just like Irish-American immigrants did so many years ago when they adopted Jewish corned beef to replace the pricier bacon to go with cabbage.
You do what you can, right?
Since beef is more readily available here in the States, I’m only going to address beef for this recipe.
What are some traditional Irish meals?
Traditional Irish meals and recipes include Irish Stew, colcannon, Dublin coddle, champ, brack, farls, and boxty.
My friend, Gale, born and bred in Northern Ireland, and I have discussed this at length. Here are some of her favorite recipes:
What meat do you use in stew?
The best beef cuts for stew are not those marked “stew meat” at the grocery store. That’s typically rubbish. I’ve never had a good experience with those.
Instead, use beef chuck or beef cross rib roast. These cook up super tender in stews.
How do you make Irish Stew?
Irish Stew is pretty simple, containing few ingredients and cooking in the slow cooker. I cube the beef and toss it in flour, salt, and pepper. You can omit the flour if you are cooking gluten-free, but it does a great job thickening up the gravy.
Saute the beef cubes in a bit of oil in a skillet until well browned. Then transfer the meat to the crock of a slow cooker.
Saute chopped onion in the drippings left in the pan and add those to the slow cooker. Add some beef broth and a bay leaf and cook for several hours until tender.
Add the vegetables in the last two hours of cooking so that they don’t get super mushy. You can add them earlier; just know that they will have a much softer texture come serving time.
I leave the baby carrots whole and chop the potatoes rather large, but you can chop them how you like them. You can also use whole carrots and chop those. Stir the veggies into the pot and cook until tender.
Is Irish Stew easy to make?
This stew is super easy to make!
Here are some tools I use to make things super easy:
- plastic cutting boards
- good chef’s knife
- large nonstick skillet
- cooking tongs
- 6-quart slow cooker
- vegetable peeler
Is Irish Stew expensive to make?
Stew has been considered “peasant food” for ages as it usually features cheaper cuts of meat that benefit from long, slow cooking. The big ticket item here is the meat, especially if you’re going to use lamb. However, even beef prices have been pretty high these past few year.
Consider these strategies to reduce your costs for making Irish Stew:
- I buy the meat when it’s on sale. In fact I stock up and buy several packages at a time so I always have some in my freezer. Hint: watch your grocery sales as beef chuck roasts and steaks often go on sale this time of year.
- Likewise, watch the sales for good prices on potatoes and beef broth. While not “expensive”, they can get pricey in certain seasons.
- Use up your leftovers! This stew stretches beautifully with more broth and veggies. So, if you’ve got just a portion or two left, know that you can stretch it to feed more.
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to share a picture on social media and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Irish Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lb boneless, beef chuck roast cut into 1-inch cubes
- ¼ cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- ½ cup beef broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cup baby carrots
- 4 russet potatoes peeled, and cut into 1-inch chunks
Instructions
- Place the beef cubes, flour, and salt and pepper in a large ziptop bag or bowl. Seal and shake to coat all cubes with flour or stir gently.
- In a large skillet, heat oil until shimmering. Add the beef cubes and brown on all sides. Do not crowd meat in pan. Do this in batches if your pan is not large enough to accommodate all the meat at one time. As the meat browns, remove it to crockpot.
- Add the onions to the drippings in skillet and sauté until tender. Add the onions to the crockpot.
- Stir in the beef broth and bay leaf. Cover and cook on LOW for four hours.
- Add the carrots and potatoes and stir gently to combine. Cook on LOW for another two to four hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.
- Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on January 8, 2015. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Shaun
I loved the recipe, the flavor was amazing and it looks absolutely delicious, I do want to note though, I did a stove top cooking because I didnt have a crock pot, and noticed that the potatoes were still hard after the thirty minutes, is there anyway that we can put the vegetables in earlier than 30 minutes on stove top??
Jessica Fisher
Yes, definitely add them earlier. The longer cooking time that yours took may be a result of the size of the pot or the size of the vegetable. You can either increase the cooking time or cut the vegetables smaller. I’m assuming you stirred the vegetables into the stew when you added them. If they only sat on top, they would take longer to cook.
Bev
If cooking gluten free, you can replace the regular flour with a gluten free flour blend. I use Wal-Mart’s Great Value gluten free all purpose flour. I’m going to try this recipe in my electric pressure cooker, adjusting the time accordingly. I may make it a meatball stew, using ground beef, since I have no stew meat on hand.
Jessica Fisher
Great GF tip, thanks! Let us know how the pressure cooker goes! I’ve been meaning to try it. I’d love to know what time works for you!
Madi
I’ll have to make this on Sunday! We always go to a family friend’s house for St. Patrick’s Day, where they make corned beef, cabbage, the whole shebang. I think bringing some of this stew will really round out the meal.
Thanks for the recipe!
Jessica Fisher
Yep! Ralphs (a Kroger company) has the chuck roast on sale. Yay!
B
Just wanted to give a heads up. When I made this for our book club, the vegetables did not get tender in 4 hours.
Jessica Fisher
That’s really interesting. I just made this last week and they were well done in that time here. Did you stir it all up when you added them?
Rebecca
I made this on Sunday for a freezer meal that never made it into the freezer because it smelled so good and was equally delicious. At our house we always have corned beef, cabbage and red potatoes smothered in mustered.
Jessica Fisher
So glad you enjoyed it!
Jodi
We do this stew, or a variation, and colcannon, a cabbage and potato dish that is fabulous. Here is one recipe. We usually add a little bacon. Because, bacon: http://www.irishcentral.com/culture/food-drink/colcannon-traditional-irish-recipe-118184429-237376811.html
Jessica Fisher
Bacon sounds like a great addition!
Deb Harris
I’m a follower that usually doesn’t comment but have a question. I love this Irish Stew & have made ones very similar. What I’m wondering is about freezing it. I’ve started slowly freezing meals & love having meals in the freezer. I’ve never frozen stews or things with potatoes because I’d always heard they didn’t freeze well. Does this freeze well? I really hope so. I’m half Irish, my mother was born there. My biggest dream is to visit, don’t know if it’ll happen but I keep hoping. Love your site & use lots of recipes & info. Thanks
Jessica Fisher
Good question. Yes, sometimes the potatoes get a little mushy, particularly if you use regular russets. Red potatoes have a different texture, so they hold up better on freezing. Another alternative is to make the stew without the potatoes and then serve it over mashed potatoes, champ, or colcannon.
Jacky Hackett
Love finding new St. Pat day’s recipes, thanks for sharing. Here is a fun meal fit for a leprechaun, the kids love all the green. As a bonus it is super easy to make!
http://jackkhcktt.blogspot.com/2010/03/meal-fit-for-leprechaun.html
Slainte!
Amy @ Raising Arrows
ROFLOL! When people tweet something I figure they are current! Thanks for the smile this morning.
Amy @ Raising Arrows
Hmmm…not seeing a link, so I’m probably totally doing this wrong (or it’s over and I missed it), but anyway…
Here’s the link to our Irish Supper Menu:
http://www.raisingarrows.net/2010/03/irish-supper-menu.html
Jessica Fisher
@Amy @ Raising Arrows, this is last year’s post. Mr Linky had some issues back then, but I was able to recover the links people shared. Thanks for sharing yours!
Rebecca
I was introduced to the “Carnival” concept this week, so your blog is the first time I used Mr. Linky’s Magical Widgets. I mistakenly added #28 without the recipe name, so I added #29. If you would like to delete #28, please do so!
Thank you for hosting this sharing!
Jen - Balancing beauty and bedlam
And as I keep checking Mr. Linky around midnight ECT, I just realized that you are a west coast girl now. That means that us East Coast girls will be in poor shape to home school if we wait for it to post on thursdays at midnight. :)Bummer.
Christy
Hi there! I feel that the 1/2 cup broth is not enough? Should I add more or is it enough to be very little liquid?
Jessica Fisher
I find that the beef cubes release enough juices for it to be “soupy” enough for us. Some people prefer more. Feel free to add more if you like.
Jen - Balancing beauty and bedlam
Oh, I have that book…and definitely need to go pull it out as our read aloud for the month. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
CountryMama@The Cozy Country Home
We’re a big Irish family and this is the stew I grew up on… the exact same one!! I make it all the time! How funny…food brings people all over the country and world together!!
Katchmo
We always make Blarney Stones:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1610,146177-232202,00.html
To make them gluten free, just substitute your favorite gluten free flour mix for the flour and add 2 t xanthan gum. This year I have the added challenge of making them without refined sugar. If I succeed, I’ll post the recipe on my site.
Jenna
to answer your question about cheese type in green mac n cheese,
yup, you could add the spinach puree to any cheese sauce base. i’m not sure it would work if you just added shredded cheese to the spinach puree as you might not get a smooth sauce that coats the pasta. thx for hosting a recipe swap, thursday is one of my favorite blogging days 🙂
Snow White
that recipe looks great — I didn’t think about having Irish Stew in honor of St. Patty’s Day!
Jill
I left a link to a soda bread that isn’t exactly “traditional” but really, really delicious! I also celebrate this holiday as a way to teach my children about this missionary and follower of Christ. Here is a link to more info and some books we like http://praiseworthythings.blogspot.com/2008/03/remembering-patrick.html
Karen Connell
What is your recipe for the Irish soda bread?
jolie
The stew sounds yummy and simple! What ages would you recommend for the book? Any book ideas for preschoolers?
Hoosier Homemade
Thanks for hosting!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
~Liz