As I’m writing this, the snow is falling, the trees are a beautiful, glistening white and it’s 34 F outside. It’s the perfect day to make this Guinness lamb stew. I’m usually not the biggest fan of stews, mostly because I find most of them to be bland and flavorless. But this one is really delicious. The combination of Guinness, beef broth, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary makes for a really delicious and flavorful broth. The lamb is incredibly tender and falls apart with a fork. And the buttermilk drop biscuits really top it all off. They soak up the broth beautifully while keeping a flaky crust.
An easy one pot, make ahead meal
And who doesn’t love a one pot meal? You can make this whole dish (besides the biscuits) right in a 6 qt. dutch oven. Often times, I will prep this Guinness lamb stew a day in advance. All you have to do is quickly sear the lamb and add in the remainder of the ingredients. Follow until step 3 and then place it in the fridge. Once you’re ready to cook, just bring it to a boil on the stovetop and pop it in the oven for 1.5 hours. Super simple.
Kitchen essentials
- A 6 qt. dutch oven
- A large mixing bowl
- A cutting board and knife
- Measuring cups/spoons
- A food processor for the buttermilk drop biscuits. You could likely make them by hand but I have not personally tried.
Substitutions
- Guinness beer: could be substituted with equal parts dry red wine. You could even omit it completely, although I don’t recommend because you will end up with a less flavorful broth.
Cooking tips
- It’s important to always salt your meat before cooking. The earlier you salt the meat, the better, but even salting right before cooking is better than skipping this step. For lamb, salting the day before is ideal. Salting in advance gives the salt plenty of time to diffuse into the meat and break down the protein. The protein is now able to retain water that would inevitably be lost without the presence of salt, resulting in a more tender and juicier cut of meat.
- You’ll notice that the first step to make this Guinness lamb stew is to sear the lamb, resulting in a nice browning on the crust. This browning is the result of a chemical reaction called the Maillard reaction. This process happens when sugar and amino acids react together under intense heat to create completely new flavor compounds. The result is a beautiful brown crust on this lamb. Then we complete it with a slow cook for a tender cut of meat. Even though this step isn’t necessary, I don’t recommend skipping it. Brown butter is another example of the Maillard reaction, like in my favorite brown butter chocolate chip cookies.



Nutrition Facts
6 servings per container
Serving Size1 servings
Calories775
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Fat
26g
40%
- Saturated Fat 10.2g 51%
- Trans Fat 0.4g
- Cholesterol 173.7mg 58%
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Carbohydrate
71.6g
24%
- Dietary Fiber 6.0g 24%
- Sugars 8.7g
- Protein 59.1g 119%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to write one.