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.
Guinness Lamb Stew with Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
Course: Main DishesDifficulty: Easy6
15
minutes1
45
minutes2
hoursIngredients
3 lbs. lamb stew meat (boneless leg of lamb or lamb shoulder cut into 1 ½” pieces will also work)
1/3 cup organic unbleached flour
Extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
1 yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
14 oz. Guinness beer
2 cups carrots, peeled and cut into ½” thick pieces*
2 lbs. yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
4 cups beef broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 1/2 tbsp salt, divided
1 tbsp black pepper
- Buttermilk drop biscuits:
2 cups organic unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk
Directions
- Salt. In a large bowl, combine the lamb with 1/2 tbsp of salt. For best results, salt a day in advance and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook.
- Sear the lamb. On the stovetop, bring a 6 qt. dutch oven to medium-high heat and add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom. Before adding the lamb, toss it with flour until all the pieces are evenly coated. Transfer half the lamb to the dutch oven and sear a few minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Remove the lamb and repeat the process with the second half. Remove the remainder of the lamb and toss in the garlic and onion. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn translucent. Add the Guinness to deglaze the pan.
- Bring it all together. Add the lamb back into the pot along with the carrots, potatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, 1 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp pepper. Give it a quick stir to meld the flavors.
- Preheat the oven to 325 F. Bring the pot back up to high heat on the stovetop. Once boiling, cover the pot and transfer it to the preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the buttermilk drop biscuits. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a food processor and pulse to mix. Then add in the pieces of cold butter and blend again until the butter is broken down to pea-sized pieces. As the food processor runs on slow, pour the buttermilk through the feed tube. Now you should have a nice, sticky batter.
- Once the 1 hour and 15 minutes is up, remove the stew from the oven, uncover, and turn up the heat to 350 F. Remove the bay leaves. Use a cookie scoop (roughly 1 ½ tbsp) to even drop the dough onto the stew, leaving some space between each drop. If you have extra dough, drop it on a baking sheet and place in the oven along with the stew.
- Place the stew back in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.
- To reheat: Store the biscuits separately from the stew. When ready to reheat, place them on a baking sheet. Pop them in the oven at 350 F for about five minutes. Place the dutch oven on the stove top on medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until warm.
Notes
- 2 cups of chopped carrots is roughly 6 whole carrots.
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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.
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