Simple & Delicious, Middle Eastern Lamb Stew with chickpeas and fragrant spices- a fast flavorful wholesome meal, that can be made in an Instant Pot!
Here’s a recipe for Instant Pot Middle Eastern Lamb Stew with chickpeas and fragrant spices that will warm you to your bones. It takes 15 minutes of hands on time before finishing off in an Instant Pot using the pressure cooker setting. This can also be made on stove top, then finished in the oven, but know it will take twice as long. Which ever way you choose to go, the flavors will satisfy. Serve the stew over rice or quinoa, or if going grain free, try cauliflower “rice”.
Here I’ve used stew meat- cut from lamb shoulder. I’ve opted for local, sustainably-raised American lamb, which seems more meaty and sweeter in flavor than imported lamb. It’s also fresher, having traveled far fewer miles to get here.
This week I’ve partnered with The American Lamb Board who is offering great prizes this month in celebration of Friendsgiving! If you are a fan of lamb, you won’t want to miss out on this, so make sure to enter!
If Middle Eastern Spices are not your thing, this simple Irish Lamb Stew would work great in the Instant Pot too!
If using an Instant Pot, brown the onion and lamb using the sauté setting. Once the rest of the ingredients are in, set the pressure cooker on high for 50 minutes. The lamb will turn out perfectly tender and infused with the most delicious Middle Eastern Spices.
If cooking stove top, sear in a dutch oven, add the rest of the ingredients, then place in a 325F oven for 1¾- 2 hours hours.
Serve alongside quinoa, basmati rice or even roasted cauliflower or cauliflower rice.
Instant Pot Lamb Stew infused with Middle Eastern Spices….a fast and easy weeknight dinner that requires only 15 minutes of hands on time before letting the Instant Pot work its magic.
For more Instant-Pot recipes, be sure to check out my favorite Ethnic Instant Pot Recipes from around the Globe!
If you try this recipe, be sure to let us know by leaving a comment, rating, and tagging a picture #feastingathome on Instagram.
Cheers, friends!
PrintInstant Pot Middle Eastern Lamb stew
Instant Pot Middle Eastern Lamb Stew with chickpeas and fragrant spices- a simple flavorful wholesome meal. Serve over quinoa, basmati rice or cauliflower “rice”. | www.feastingathome.com
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Main
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, butter or ghee
- 1 ½ -1 ¾ pounds lamb stew meat ( shoulder) cut onto 1 ½ inch cubes
- 1 onion, diced
- 4-6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon of each: salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and cumin seeds ( seeds are optional, add another teaspoon ground cumin if no seeds)
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes ( Aleppo Chili flakes are nice) and more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 x 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup raisins or dried apricots (chopped), or even dried currants
Serve with cooked quinoa, cous cous or basmati rice & garnish with fresh Italian parsley or cilantro leaves and extra chili flakes.
Instructions
Turn the Instant Pot on and set it to the Sauté function. Heat the butter or oil and saute the onions for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add the lamb, garlic, salt and all the spices and saute for 5 more minutes until fragrant. Add the vinegar, tomato paste, honey, stock, chickpeas and raisins and stir until combined.
Cover and set the Instant Pot (or pressure cooker) to pressure cook setting for 50 minutes on normal/high. Naturally release.
Let the pressure release and give a stir. The lamb will be tender and break apart easily. If you prefer it less juicy, return to saute function and cook off some of the liquid. ( Note that it will thicken a bit as it sits)
Serve over quinoa, rice or cous cous with some fresh cilantro or parsley.
The leftovers taste even better the next day as the flavors have more time to meld.
Notes
Alternatively you can cook this on the stove top in a oven proof dutch oven. Pre heat the oven to 325. Brown the onions in the ghee or butter then add the garlic, lamb, salt and spices, cooking for 5 -6 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients – all except the raisins, and bring to a simmer. Cover and place in the oven and bake 2 hours, adding the raisins about an hour or 1 ½ hours into the baking time.
After two hours the lamb will be supper tender. If you like a little more browning, give a quick broil to the pot uncovered.
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I am confused on the cooking time. Does it mean that if you use the meat/stew setting, you let that at the default time of 35 minutes, but if you are using manual setting, cook for one hour? Or adjust the meat/stew setting to 1 hour as well?
Sorry, yes adjust to 1 hour cooking time. I will adjust recipe and make it more clear. Thanks!
I tried this tonight, but I only used 1 tbsp of honey and also only about 2/3rds the suggested amount of vinegar, because one of my children doesn’t like vinegary flavors.
The stew was quite flavorful and my family liked it. Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Sylvia
I am a big fan of your site, have cooked many of your recipes and always love the results. If I don’t eat lamb how do you think substituting veal or chicken breast fillets will taste? I assume less cooking time for chicken breasts or all on the stove top….
Thank you!
Hey Rhonda, I think beef would be the best substitute. I’m not sure about chicken… you could give it a try (and cooking time will be shorter.)
I adored this recepie, I will do it again for sure. It was so easy to make, my husband looked how I did it and told me next time he’ll cook it himself. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed and happy your husband will be making it next time! Thanks Lynn.
Simply loved it, added to my favorites.
This is our first instant pot recipe and we will definitely have it again. So easy and delicious!!
I would like to try this but with a 1 hour pressure cook time I am wondering if canned chicken peas turn to mush? I am curious if dried would work with added liquid as I cook those in under an hour in the Instant Pot? I have only cooked them on their own however. I don’t want a disaster and ruin delicious lamb!
I would like to try this recipe. Curious if dried chick peas could be used (with added liquid) given the one hour cook time in the Instant Pot as I cook them in less time than that on their own. Do canned ones turn mushy at all? I don’t think I have used canned ones for that long in the pressure cooker.
I made this recipe exactly as written with my instant pot, using the pressure setting. The prep was super easy and the result is amazing! So delicious and full of flavor, and I love all the spices – you can taste each one. Mine turned out with more liquid than I expected, probably because of the pressure cooker, so I would adjust the amount of chicken broth if you want a less soupy consistency and more like a thick stew.
★★★★★
We loved it!
I loved this recipe but will make one change the next time. I’ll reduce the amount of stock by half or more. It came out very liquid-y which diluted the delicious spice mixture. A much thicker sauce will make it seem more like an entree and less like a stew. Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe!
Thanks Barbara, such a good suggestion, really appreciated!!!
J’ai fait ta recette dans un plat à tajine en terre( l’habitude de la cuisine arabe.
Cette recette peut se faire en cocotte minute( nom français pour une cuisson sous pression). Toi, tu l’as fait dans une mijoteuse ,je suppose.
En tout c’est bon. Bisous Chris 06
Translated: I made your recipe in a clay tajine dish (the usual Arabic cuisine.
This recipe can be done in a pressure cooker (French name for a pressure cooking). You did it in a slow cooker, I suppose.
In all, it’s good. Kisses Chris 06
Thanks Chris! I love that you used a Tagine, lovely! I made this in a pressure cooker. Here it is called “Instant Pot” . 🙂
Hi Sylvia, I can’t wait to try this recipe and wonder who your ‘go to’ source for local lamb is in our Spokane area?
Thanks, Patty
Hey Patty! I bought a 1/4 of a lamb a while back from someone at the farmers market. I’m spacing out the name right now…. Rocky Ridge Ranch??? So have it frozen and thawing as needed.
Delicious! Flavors were lovely and my kids loved it!
Thank you for this recipe. I added carrots and used a pressure cooker over the stove for 30mins. Everything came out perfect! The carrots were filled with the flavors from the gravy, as well as the canned chickpeas (not mushy). This recipe is a keeper!
I love this recipe!! For those who thought there was a lot of liquid after the cook time, here’s what you can do (with all your IP stew/soup recipes): once pressure is released, put the pot in sauté mode and boil it with lid open for about 10 minutes to reduce some of the liquid.
Delicious! This will make a repeat appearance in our home.
★★★★★
Thanks so much!!
An hour sounds long in the instant pot- everything will turn to mush
Anna, give it a try, it really works well tenderizing the tough lamb stew meat.
how do you make a comment like that without ever having cooked a stew in the IP?
★★★★★
Can you please clarify how long you set the Instant Pot pressure cooker on high. Is it 40 min or 1 hour? Also do you let it naturally release the pressure? Thanks- I’m going to try this tomorrow!
Sorry Lori, I fixed it… thanks!
You didn’t mention what size Instant Pot to use. Could you please let me know? The recipe looks great!
I used a 6 Quart Instant Pot
I made this in a mini instapot (measurements as listed in the recipe) and it came out great (just in case anyone is wondering).
★★★★★
This stew was awesome! Super flavorful & easy to make. I would probably put half as much honey next time as I’ve cut out most sugar & it was almost too sweet for me. Would definitely make again & highly recommend it!!
★★★★★
One of the best Insta Pot recipes I have tried. Delicious! lamb was tender and succulent with layers of spice flavours but not over powering. Liked it so much we are making it a second time.
★★★★★
Awesome Todd, glad you liked it!
Great recipe. Very flavorful/intense taste. I used about 3/4 cup of the chick stock and added 4 carrots. Still needed to boil out for about 5 minutes to get the sauce a littler thicker. I also added some potatoes.
Lovely! I used the stove top method and mine reduced a lot more than the picture indicates, but it was still a delicious dish, my partner loved it. I did roast cauliflower as a side. Leftovers the following day were also great for lunch at work.
★★★★
Outstanding. First time visitor to this site, but I’ll be back.
Modified only slightly — went a little lighter than called for on honey and cumin. Used chopped medjool dates instead of raisins or apricots. My Lamb was cut in thinner strips for shawarma, not cubed, so I lowered the cooking time to 30 minutes. Could eat this every day.
Easy and really delicious!
★★★★★
This was outstanding! Thank you so much for sharing. I was nervous about adding the raisins since I don’t care for them, so I didn’t include them. However, I will definitely try the recipe again and give them a shot.
★★★★★
I made this for dinner tonight and it was excellent!
awesome! so glad yo liked it!
★★★★★
If I double this recipe would I need to up the cooking time, or would it remain the same? Also would I double the liquid as well? Thanks!
Emma, my guess is cooking time would be similar, maybe add 5 more minutes. I would double the liquid to be safe. I’ve never tried doubling it so I’m guessing here….please leave feedback if you do double this, it would be helpful to know!
Absolutely loved this!! Made it for my boyfriend to take to work for a world food tasting day, and it went down a storm.
Can’t wait to make it again just for us! It’s absolutely perfect for me, with the right balance of heat, acid and sweet. Love it!
Thank you so much for an outstanding recipe 🙂
★★★★★
Really delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, except I used Craisins instead of raisins because that’s all I had. Wonderful middle eastern flavors, sweet, mildly spicy, with cinnamon. Definitely recommended.
So glad you liked it, thanks!!!
Amazing. I doubled the recipe because I had to feed a lot of people, and it turned out perfectly. Everyone loved it! I will definitely be making the again! Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
★★★★★
I think it taste great, no cooker though. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmvb5_9lQeI/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1ipoyoikiuhyx
★★★★★
Love it! thanks and glad you liked it!
I made this for dinner yesterday, it was a hit! We loved it! The recipe was extremely easy to follow along and the steps weren’t many yet it was so so flavorful. Thank you!
★★★★★
Oh good! Im so glad you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight in my instant pot! So easy and so delicious! So happy I found your site and your recipe!
★★★★★
Yay, I’m so happy you found it too!! Thanks for the comment and review.
This was really great. I used only half the cinnamon though. I’m not so into overly cinnamon meat dishes. Anyway, it was PERFECT. I live with two “middle eastern” men that thanked me at least 35 times for making it.
★★★★★
My mother grew up in Iran, the daughter of missionaries, and has always loved a lamb and apricot stew. I made this (with apricots, obviously) for her and her dinner guests last night and it was absolutely delicious. Even my husband, who generally says he doesn’t like fruit and meat together, raved about it. My local farmer was out of lamb stew meat but sold me some shanks which worked just fine. I made the recipe as printed except for omitting the chickpeas (which would have been fine, I’m sure, but not something she was used to) and adding some chopped fresh mint. Thank you.
★★★★★
This was delicious!! So glad I found this, very easy and couldn’t believe I had made something so yummy myself. My boyfriend was so impressed and scarfed it down in seconds! The only thing I left out was coriander and dried currants. Unfortunately, I didn’t have either of these on hand but I will make absolutely sure I do for next time, still terrific without! Served over quinoa with a glass of red and felt so healthy and clean. All of the spices, as well as meat falling off the bones, really gave it a 5-star taste! The next time I have dinner guests, I will use this dish and add a side of hummus or baba ganoush with baked pita. Thank you, Sylvia!!
★★★★★
I love lamb, and I’m always looking for ways to make it in an Instant Pot. Due to some poor planning on my part, I did not have chickpeas on hand, so I left them out. And since I was leaving them out, I decided to use the lamb shoulder chops whole—bones, fat and all. I used currants. Otherwise, I made this as written. Oh my heavens, it was sublime! I served with orzo, naan bread and power greens sauteed with garlic. Will definitely bookmark this recipe, and next time I’ll remember to buy chickpeas.
★★★★★
Is there a way I could use ground lamb vs. shoulder? Thank you.
Honestly, I would not recommend. Would totally change it.