Simple, quick and delicious traditional Irish Stew. Real, fresh ingredients are the only things needed to flavor this dish that is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any day of the year

Beautiful and fresh ingredients for traditional Irish Stew. What a gorgeous picture to look at.  Stew is a dish that has been in existence for centuries dating back to the ancient Romans. Mutton, being the traditional protein used to make Irish Stew, is not as commonly used today.

Like many of the best foods that have long withstood time with the Irish, the art of stew is no different.  Irish Stew was born out of poverty in Ireland during the late 19th century. Anyone who possessed a hot fire and a hanging pot was able to make stew and was an easily obtainable meal by even the poorest of the land. Typically containing only three ingredients: mutton, potatoes, and onions.  Root vegetables were added by families that could afford to do so.

Irish Stew in modern times….

Today, we have the luxury of using whichever protein we like.  Beef, Lamb, Veal, Pork….I have seen stew made with many a different protein base.  For this particular recipe, I chose beef.  When my grandmother passed, I was given some of her cookbooks.  One book that she had was titled “A Bite of Ireland” from the Ohio Chapter of the Daughters of Erin.  Not only does our family have Irish roots, I thought the recipes in this book for Irish Stew sounded delicious.  I have adjusted the recipe a bit to fit our families preferences.

That is the beauty of stew.  You can trade ingredients, add or delete ingredients, and make it perfect for you.  As a general

You want to start prepping your Irish Stew ingredients by peeling the carrots and the turnip.  I personally like to leave the skins on the potatoes as they provide additional nutrition and taste that I personally enjoy.

Dice the turnip into 1/2 inch cubes and the carrots into approximately 1-inch lengths.

Trim any excess fat from your stew meat and dice into 1-1/2 long cubes.  Season liberally with pepper and kosher salt and then add in your flour. Stir to combine and distribute the flour evenly coating each piece.

Over medium heat, heat butter in a 12 quart Stock Pot. Once butter has melted, add in diced onion and cook for 5 minutes or until translucent.  Add in your flour coated beef and saute the onions until beef begins to brown on the outside, about 10 minutes.

Add in water to cover (6-8 cups).  I prefer to use filtered water.  You could also use beef stock for this, however, I find the flavor is spot on using just water. Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beef is tender. Add in the carrots, turnip, and potatoes and simmer until carrots are fork tender, about 30 minutes. Before serving your Irish Stew,  add in parsley and additional salt and pepper.  Finally, serve with fresh bread.

The perfect pairing for our Irish stew is our Irish Soda Bread.  Additional toppings we enjoy are sour cream and additional fresh parsley on top.

I hope the luck of the Irish is with you this St. Patrick’s Day and beyond!

Live, Love, Eat!

xoxo

Print Recipe

The Best Irish Stew for St. Patrick's Day

Simple, quick and delicious traditional Irish Stew. Real fresh ingredients are the only things needed to flavor this dish that is perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any day.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 10 mins

Course: Stew

Cuisine: Irish

Servings: 8 -10

Author: Oven Struck

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 large onion
• 3 pounds beef stew meat
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 6 Carrots
• 1 medium turnip
• 4 large russet potatoes
• Additional Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions

• Heat stock pot over medium heat. Add in the butter. Once butter is melted, add in the onion and cook for 5 minutes (or until translucent)
• While stock pot is heating and onions are cooking, dice stew meat into 1-inch cubes. Add kosher salt and pepper as well as flour. Stir to combine so that all stew meat is well coated.
• Once onions are translucent, add stew meat to stock pot and brown with the onions. About 10 minutes.
• Once stew meat is browned, add in water to cover beef completely. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until meat is tender.
• Once meat is tender, add in peeled and cut carrots, peeled and cubed turnip, as well as potatoes. Let simmer for an additional 30 minutes or until vegetables are fork tender.
• Add <g class="gr_ gr_102 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_run_anim Grammar only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="102" data-gr-id="102">in </g>chopped parsley and stir to combine.
• Serve with fresh bread, sour cream and additional salt and pepper.