In 2017 my family was living in Virginia. My daughter had a school field trip and went for the day to a theme park. Midway through the day I received a text from her with a picture of her lunch. I was surprised and proud and surprised again as she had decided to try Irish stew. Honestly, it looked messy and like something none of my kids would go near without a bribe for a great dessert afterwards. I figured with all of the options at a theme park and limited accessibility in our own home to junk food that she would eat something a bit more unhealthy. What was more, she loved it! At the time we had no idea we would be moving to Ireland at the end of the year. Once we arrived in Dublin she was excited to try the Irish Stew here and has ordered it from several restaurants. She has tried both lamb, which is traditional and also beef. I decided to try making a beef stew at home for our family. I tend to make soup in big batches as I also have a teenage boy who seems to be endlessly hungry. This way everyone has plenty and there are leftovers for the next day. This recipe could easily be split in half as it serves around 10-12. I added the weight of the ingredients that I used as the size of onions and potatoes can vary so much.
Irish Stew
A nice hearty stew that is great for a cold winter’s day!
- 2 pounds of cubed stew meat (.9 kilograms)
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic – peeled and minced (.45 oz /13g)
- 1 white onion- medium to large (6 oz /170 g)
- 1 red onion -small (2.5 oz/70 g)
- 6 cups beef broth (600 ml)
- 1 cup water
- 2 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme chopped
- 1 stalk celery (2oz /58g)
- 3 carrots (9oz/255g)
- 2 lbs white potatoes (.9 kg)
- 2 lbs red potatoes (.9 kg)
- salt and pepper
- Chop the onions and mince the garlic and set aside.
- Heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium to medium high heat. Add the meat in small batches to brown on each side. If you put all the meat in at once it can start to steam. I found that browning it in 5 batches worked well. As one batch is done, remove it on to a plate and repeat until all the meat is browned. About half way through you will need to add about 1 tbsp more of olive oil. When your meat starts sticking too much to the bottom of the pan, add the oil.
- Turn burner to medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan and add the chopped onions and garlic. Saute the onion and garlic until soft – about 2-4 minutes. Be sure just to soften and not caramelize the onions. Scoop out the onion and garlic into a bowl or plate.
- Add 1 cup of the broth (100 ml) and turn up heat to high. Stir the beef broth and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to pick up the flavors on the bottom of the pan. This should take less than 30 seconds or so.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Add the rest of the beef broth along with 1 cup of water (100 ml) and 2 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste. Stir together.
- Add 1 Tbsp fresh parsley and 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme. Add the onions and garlic back to pot. Add the meat and any juices that have run off onto your plate back into the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer covered on low to medium low for 3 hours.
- Once it has been three hours add chopped carrots and celery to the pot and stir.
- Peel the potatoes and chop into chunks. Separate about 12 oz (.34 kg) of the potatoes and add the rest to the pot. Stir everything together and cover to simmer again.
- Boil the separated 12 oz of potatoes for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain the potatoes and mash with fork or potato masher. Once mashed stir into stew to thicken broth.
- Simmer for another 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender. It is ready to serve!
I used a dutch oven on the stove top and this worked great.