How to Make the Best Crock-Pot Lamb Stew with Vegetables
This crock pot lamb stew recipe is adapted from our 1975 edition of the Rival Crock Pot Cooking cookbook. Not sure if it came from my wife’s mom or my mom or we found it at a book fair but it’s filled with more than “300 recipes especially for the original Crock-Pot slow cooker.
Just to clear up the name, Crock-Pot is a trademark name given to a slow cooker developed by the Naxon Utilities corporation of Chicago. Later it was bought out by the Rival company in 1970.
If not familiar with a slow cooker, it is an electrical counter-top cooking appliance that lets you cook different types of foods at low temperatures for long periods of time. Therefore, it is perfect for braising tough cuts of meat but versatile enough to prepare desserts like bread pudding.
Lamb Stew Meat
According to some chef friends, the best cut of meat for making beef stew is the beef chuck roast. I figure a lamb chuck roast would be best for lamb stew. Good luck finding a lamb chuck roast.
I tried my local butcher and two supermarkets and no one had one. My local butcher said he could special order me one. However, I needed it that day so I opted for a boneless leg of lamb that worked out well.
Lamb Stew Meat Tip – Don’t ever buy pre-cut cubes of lamb sold specially for lamb stew. For that matter, the same holds true for beef for beef stew.
These cubes come from trimmings of other cuts of meat and you have no idea what you are getting. Not that the meat is bad. It may not be consistent and come from different parts of the animal resulting in some interesting tastes or texture.
Whatever cut you purchase, be sure to trim most of the fat off it. The leg of lamb we used needed had a lot of fat that needed to be removed. As a result, the final results were much better.
You may even have to buy a bigger cut of meat to allow for the extra trimming.
Crock Pot Lamb Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds boneless lamb stewing meat well trimmed & cut up into 1/2 inch cubes
- ½ cup flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Canola oil
- 14 oz beef broth
- 3 parsnips peeled, thickly sliced and quartered
- 3 large carrots peeled, thickly sliced, and halved
- 6 pearl onions
- 10 oz frozen peas
Instructions
- In a bowl large enough to hold all the meat cubes, combine the flour, salt, sugar, thyme, pepper and garlic powder.
- Add the lamb cubes and toss so all the meat gets a light coating of the flour mixture. careful to shake off any excess flour from the lamb cubes.
- Heat up a fry pan over medium heat, when hot, add the oil. When the oil gets hot, brown the lamb cubes a few at a time then transfer to the crock pot. Continue until all the lamb cubes are browned.
- Add all of the other ingredients to the crock pot except the peas. You’ll add them right at the end so they don’t darken and overcook.
- Cover the pot with the lid and set the crock-pot to low. Let this cook all day or about 10 hours. 30 to 40 minutes before the lamb stew is done, add the peas.After a few hours, the house will begin to smell incredible. If you leave the house for even just a moment and come back in, your olfactory senses will be assaulted by the wonderful aroma of lamb stew. You will be tempted to remove the lid for an even bigger sniff of stew. DON’T!
- Lifting the lid will only slow down the cooking process. Try to remove the lid to stir or add additional ingredients as little as possible.
- When done, taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, then serve.
24 Responses
I am going to try to make this SCD/Paleo friendly by subbing almond flour for regular flour and honey for sugar. Wish me luck, I will let you know how it turned out!
Good luck Sarah and do let us know how it turns out.
What happened with the paleo stew? Dyin’ over here!
Going to try as well. How did yours turn out..any tips?
Thanks for posting this great meal, I’m looking forward to trying it, tonight!!
Just assembled it and one question. When do you add the broth?
Thanks
I think bowel should be bowl:) thanks – going to try with some mutton.
Where in the USA can you buy mutton.
Cannot find it in Floida.
Hi Ian, I never see in my markets so I would first suggest you ask your local butcher if they can get it for you and from the quick research I did on the Internet, I suggest you try any of your local ethnic markets to see if they have it or can get it for you. Good luck.
Made this tonight and it was really delicious and a big hit with the picky toddler and husband. I added 2-3 tbsp tomato paste and 2 bays leafs. instead of parsnip did small red potatoes quartered. also used leg of lamb cut in to medium/small pieces. came out great!
Thanks for sharing your adaptations to the recipe. I love it when people try new ways to optimize these recipes.
I changed just a few things in this delicious recipe. I didn’t have parsnips so I used 5 carrots and 5 potatoes, various colors. I used an entire onion instead of pearl onions, and vegetable broth instead of beef, because that’s what I had on hand. I didn’t get it started until later in the day, so I cooked it for 5 hours on high, instead of 8-10 on low. I added several cloves of whole smashed garlic and green beans as well as the peas at the end. My whole family loved this meal!
Searched for a reasonable and pantry friendly recipe for my lamb roast for awhile tonight…I’m trying yours, it looks great! Its recipe is written (thankfully) simple, and your love for food and cooking shows in your writing, and it inspires the cook and the dish!! I may experiment with Worchestshire sauce, Red wine, or lemon juice additions…(not all at once) I knew I would cook my lamb roast in the crockpot, so I started that earlier, bone in, fat on and all, with 1 can of beef broth. After a few hours (though not completely fully cooked), i’ll remove roast (let cool only slightly), peel off fat & de-bone, and separate/cut into cubes. Going with your seasoned coating! Adding common stew Veggies into used beef broth; potatoes, carrots, onions, I’d like to try parsnips too! (wouldn’t have thought of that =) then add those frozen peas in, AND a half to whole can of yellow wax beans about 30 minutes to done too. Add a half, to full cup, broth or water in, depending on what I need to mix easily, but not enough to make my stew a soup! I am delighted to try tonight/tomarrow. Thank you, for your time in the kitchen…AND put into your site. The pictures look mouthwatering, and the recipes are wonderful. You have another follower!
Well I decided to make this. First I put the lamb cubes in crock pot and put onions and seasons let cook for 6 hrs. Added potatoes and vegetables and made a side of rice. Came out delicious. Will definetly make again.
Thanks for letting me know Niecee.
Howdy – hoping to make this soon. What size crock pot are you using? I may need to scale down to for the 2 1/5 quart crock pot that i have.
I am looking forward to making this tomorrow… We had lamb for Christmas and I have a lot of leftovers, so this recipe will be perfect. Cannot wait to make it plus I have everything in the pantry which means I don’t have to go out and get anything.
I’m prepping Lamb stew now. My wife and kids love it my way.
Thanks for the recipe… but I have a question. Do I add the flour coated lamb chunks directly to the pot with the broth already in? It seems like the broth will just wash the flour off right away… Am I doing this right? Thanks!
You add the coated lamb chunks first and then the rest of the ingredients. I agree it seems like the broth would wash off the seasoned flour coating but all I can say is the recipe works and you end up with delicious lamb stew. I think the flour helps to thicken the stock and meat juices to make the flavorful sauce you get with this stew.
However, I’m going to add an additional step to this recipe by suggesting you brown the chunks of lamb in a fry pan or cast iron pan before adding to the crock pot. This is I would make most stews in a Dutch oven or cast iron pot. The browning will add another layer of flavor and give the meat a nice color. I’m going to try it both ways and see if it makes a difference. Please let me know how your lamb stew turns out Neil.
I was looking for a recipe to use up some frozen lamb stew meat, and this was the one. Pearl onions were great in this. A couple of adjustments I made were to deglaze the pan with some of the beef broth and then add that into the crock pot with the remainder of the broth. I added about a 1/2 tsp. of dried thyme to the pot as well. The end result is delicious, though I found it a bit undersalted, so added some additional salt and pepper at the end. This will be a repeat favorite during the cold months!
Thanks for sharing you experience and the tips to make the stew even better.
Mine is in the crockpot now! A few changes…lots of garlic…potatoes instead of parsnips…chopped onion instead of pearl onions…diced tomatoes…we’ll see what the family says tonight. I’m not sure which part of the lamb I used because my husband had a whole lamb slaughtered and the butchers here just cut it up without identifying the parts. But it looks really good.
I found this recipe a few years ago now and my fussy ten year old loved it. I love how easy it is, so Ive been making it ever since… with slight variations. Today Ive used deboned lamb shank. 5 hrs on high and counting!
Thanks for letting me know Cara and thank your 10 year old.