Last Saturday as I looked into our impossibly stuffed pantry, full of spices–reds, yellows, greens stacked and crammed into our cabinets, I contemplated what to make for a big meal that would last the workweek. I found myself pulling spices like a hipster at Trader Joe’s yanking half-off cans of organic San Marzano tomatoes and devised this lamb stew with the resulting jumble.
The results? A Caribbean-style stew that is delightfully spicy and easy to boot. The active time is pretty low impact. You just have to marinate the meat for a while, and later throw the whole pot in the oven and forget about it for a couple of hours. Then, voilá! Deliciously tender lamb stew for vegging on the couch and miscellaneous weeknight Netflix binge sessions…Er…that’s not what we did after making this…heh..heheh…
We’ve made quite a few stews on the blog–Chicken Peanut Stew, Beef Stew, and Chicken Gumbo, just to name a few. This one isn’t the showiest of them all, but it definitely holds its own. As the weather cools down, it makes for a comforting one pot meal.
You’ll need:
- 4 lbs lamb or goat shank, cut into 2-3 inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3 cups beef stock
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
- 5 medium carrots, cut into chunks
- steamed rice, to serve
- a handful of chopped cilantro (optional)
Put the meat in a large bowl, and toss with all the spices and salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
After the meat has had a chance to marinate, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven and sear the meat in batches until browned.
Remove the meat from the pot and set aside on a plate. Add the onions, garlic, and tomato paste and fry until the onions are softened.
Add the meat back to the pot, along with the beef stock and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to the oven for 2 hours. Remove the pot from the oven and stir in the carrots and potatoes.
Transfer back to the oven and cook uncovered for another 45 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
Serve over steamed rice and garnish with cilantro.
Caribbean Spiced Lamb Stew
Ingredients
- 4 pounds goat or lamb shank (1.8kg, cut into 2-3 inch chunks)
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 onions (thinly sliced)
- 5 cloves garlic (minced)
- 6 ounces tomato paste (170g)
- 3 cups beef stock (700 ml)
- 2 cups chicken stock (475 ml)
- 3 medium potatoes (cut into chunks)
- 5 medium carrots (cut into chunks)
- steamed rice (to serve)
- a handful of chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Put the meat in a large bowl, and toss with all the spices and salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- After the meat has had a chance to marinate, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven and sear the meat in batches until browned. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside on a plate. Add the onions, garlic, and tomato paste and fry until the onions are softened.
- Add the meat back to the pot, along with the beef stock and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to the oven for 2 hours.
- Remove the pot from the oven and stir in the carrots and potatoes. Transfer back to the oven and cook uncovered for another 45 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
- Serve over steamed rice and garnish with cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
R Lar says
Fantastic recipe! Found a lot of spare time whilst on lockdown. This recipe just made it a lot more enjoyable. Thank you
Sarah says
You’re welcome! So glad you enjoyed this one. :)
Sarah Gilkes says
I made this today, I didn’t have time to marinade the meat but wow it was so delicious.. I would 100% have it again.. I used sweet potatoes as I thought that’s what was in the picture rather then a white potatoe but even so lovely jubbly
Thank u for the recipe
Sarah says
You’re welcome, Sarah! I actually think the sweet potatoes are a great counterpoint to the spices in this dish. Happy accident! Thanks for trying our recipe and coming back to leave us a comment. :)
Alistair Brown says
I have made this 4 times now and it’s absolutely delicious! This time I have put it in my slow cooker for 6 hrs there are9 of us and monday is a busy day we have an adopted family of 7 special needs young adults & 1 child!
Kaitlin says
That’s awesome, thanks Alistair! Glad the whole family likes it :)
Monica W. says
I can’t wait to try this recipe. When I went home to St Thomas USVI. My uncle took my sister and I out to eat. He ordered the stew lamb. I said when I got back to Georgia I aS going to make the lamb stew. I can’t find my grandmother’s recipe but this is close. Thank you
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Monica! Hope you love it :)
Pam says
Made this today for family game night. Spicy without burning our mouths, really delicious.
Sarah says
Love that, Pam! Glad you and the family enjoyed it. :)
Cei Cei says
I’ve made this many times with Lamb or Beef and its amazing. My go to stew recipe. It packs a lot of flavor. I try to be healthy so I generally sear the most of the meat on a BBQ that’s been sprayed with coconut oil. Spray dutch oven with coconut oil to sear a little batch of the meat so the onions get some of the flavor. I don’t add salt and use no salt added stock. As well use Butternut Squash instead of potatoes. It turns out great and still haves a lot of flavor to it.
Sarah says
Thanks so much for sharing, and we’re so glad this has become a go-to for you Cei Cei!
Laura Finch says
I love this recipe, especially for new moms (who can handle the spice), because lamb has so much iron. How would you recommend adapting it for the freezer?
Judy says
Hi Laura, I do freeze stew dishes and they re-heat well too.
Michelle says
This is a really good recipe. I used a leg of lamb, and cut that up. I only let the meat marinade for about an hour and a half, because we needed this for dinner today, lol! I also sauteed the potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic, and when they werw done I added the seared lamb pieces, then let it all marry together. I love the spice blend too! Thanks for the recipe.?
Judy says
Superb! It’s a great dish for the colder days ahead.
Laura says
So, I think I just taught myself how to French trim a lamb shank, and I never want to have to do that to a piece of meat ever again. Then again, the shank was just from a grocery store (rather than a butcher) and possibly not the highest quality. Should it have taken so long to remove the fat? Or maybe I should have left more fat on?
Kaitlin says
Hi Laura, hahaha yeah lamb shank can be a bit tricky. Generally, with lamb, we trim a decent amount of fat off because that’s what can contribute to a very “lamby” flavor, but it does help keep things tender, generally. With this recipe, we weren’t too precious about getting rid of all the fat and were more concerned about getting the right-sized chunks. Good luck!
Sarah says
Hey Laura, I generally don’t trim off to much fat at all. Without it, the meat can tend to be quite dry.