Healthy Irish Stew

Traditional recipes for Irish stew use a tough, fatty cut of lamb and only potatoes, onions and herbs. This up-to-date version with lamb leg steaks is leaner, and more colourful with the addition of carrots.

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Servings Prep Time Cook Time
4servings 20minutes 2hours 20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4servings 20minutes
Cook Time
2hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: servings
Units:
Ingredients
Servings: servings
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC). In a large casserole dish, make layers of the lamb, potatoes, onion and carrots, sprinkling each layer with parsley, thyme, chives and pepper. Finish with a layer of potatoes, then pour over the stock.
  2. Cover the casserole with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven to cook for about 2 hours or until both the meat and vegetables feel tender when tested with a skewer.
  3. Increase the oven temperature to 400ºF (200ºC). Remove the casserole lid and cook for a further 20 minutes or until the potatoes on top are golden-brown and crisp. Serve Irish stew hot, sprinkled with more thyme and parsley.
Recipe Notes

Irish stew variations: Add 120 g whole small button mushrooms, layering them in the casserole with the onion and carrots. • If you want the cooking liquid to be slightly thickened, sprinkle 1 tablespoon pearl barley between the first few layers along with the herbs. • For a real taste of Ireland, you can replace half of the stock with Guinness.

Per serving: 383 calories, 33 g protein, 10 g total fat, 5 g saturated fat, 89 mg cholesterol, 39 g total carbohydrate, 12 g sugars, 9 g fibre, 583 mg sodium

Carrots are not traditional in Irish stew, but they are well worth including, both for their colour and flavour and also their nutritional properties. They provide vitamins A and C as well as potassium.