Lamb Stew Recipe Step by Step (2024)

FAQs

What are the steps to making a stew? ›

The Ideal Stew Ratio: Two Parts Meat, One Part Vegetable

Most meat-based stews call for tough, inexpensive cuts of meat, while vegetarian recipes include the same onions, carrots, and celery typical of a beef stew. Two parts meat to one part vegetables is the perfect ratio for a meaty stew.

The best cuts for stewing are shoulder, leg or neck fillet – it needs to quite a hard-working muscle with some fat marbling through it that will break down during the slow cooking to create tender meat. It's also best with economical cuts that are boneless – keep saddle, rack and lamb chops for roasting.

What can you do to make stew more flavorful? Finish it with fresh herbs, of course! Except for thyme, herbs lose their flavor as they simmer. So add dried spices at the beginning of the cooking time and fresh spices (like parsley, dill, tarragon or rosemary) at the end to add a punch of fresh flavor.

Stewing is a moist heat, slow cooking method, where small uniform pieces of meat and/or vegetables are cooked in liquid, and then served in the resulting gravy.

Choose a heavy-gauge ovenproof pan with a lid, such as a Dutch oven or soup pot that is just large enough to hold all the ingredients. The first step in all stews is to cut the food into uniformly sized pieces.

Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, pork, venison, rabbit, lamb, poultry, sausages, and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, stock is also common.

A formula is your recipe, but converted to exact weights. These weights are then converted into percentages, to make sure you have the exact amount of each ingredient every time you (or your co-packer, or your employees) manufacture your product. It is often based on pounds, grams or other weight measurements.

Fresh rosemary, fresh garlic, lemon zest, black pepper, and salt are simple but amazing flavors that pair amazingly with the lamb! Each of these ingredients adds its unique warmth and depth to enhance the flavor of the dish.

What is a lamb stew? ›

Lamb stew is a classic dish consisting of slow-cooked lamb meat with vegetables in a broth.

Place the lamb in the oven and roast for 1 hr 40 mins for rare meat, 2 hrs for medium and 2 hrs 30 mins for well done (see our temperature guide below). 2. Carefully lift the lamb onto a board with a moat, or a warm platter, then leave to rest for 20 mins.

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.

Chuck meat is your best bet for beef stew, but it's also a pretty tough cut so it needs time to break down and become tender. Rush the cooking process and the beef will be tough and chewy. Follow this tip: For really tender meat, cook the stew low and slow, for approximately two hours.

Add A Starch

Add 1/2 cup rice or pasta per 4 cups of liquid, providing just enough time for it to cook before serving (typically about 20 minutes for rice or 10-12 minutes for pasta). Adding rice or pasta too early can cause it to over-expand and thicken your soup into a stew.

Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables, such as carrots, potatoes, beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc., and frequently with meat, especially tougher meats suitable for moist, slow cooking, such as beef chuck or round. Poultry, pork, lamb or mutton, sausages, and seafood are also used.

Stew is a dish made using two cooking techniques: Ingredients are first sautéd; if there is meat it's usually browned for texture and flavor. All the ingredients are returned to the pot and simmered in liquid (often a stock). The simmering can be on the stovetop or in the oven.