Simple & delicious Instant Pot Lamb Stew with chickpeas and fragrant Middle Eastern spices- a fast, flavorful, wholesome meal that can be made in an Instant Pot!
The ego loves being “offended”. ~Eckart Tolle
Here’s a recipe for Instant Pot Lamb Stew with chickpeas and fragrant Middle Eastern 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 the stovetop, then finished in the oven, but know it will take twice as long. Whichever way you choose to go, the flavors will satisfy. Serve the stew over basmati rice, or everyday quinoa, or if going grain-free, try our cauliflower rice.
Why You’ll Love This!
- Invigorating Middle Eastern flavor! Cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and chili flakes come together harmoniously to create rich, complex, and warm flavor.
- Only 15 minutes of hands-on cooking. This recipe requires minimal prep time before cooking in the Instant Pot for 50 minutes. Your home will smell amazing as the dish stews and becomes rich with flavor!
- Comforting and wholesome. This warm and cozy dish is perfect for cold nights. It is full of nourishing ingredients, warm spices, and aromatic flavors. It’s meaty and satiating and will fill you up after a long day.
- Can be enjoyed in so many ways. Serve over rice, quinoa, couscous, or riced cauliflower. Add a side of warm pita bread or roasted cauliflower. There are so many delicious ways to present this stew.
- Leftovers taste even better! Make this in advance and enjoy leftovers on a busy weeknight. This stew tastes amazing after the flavors have had even more time to blend together.
Instant Pot Lamb Stew Video
This is one of my favorite lamb stew recipes because of the complex and fragrant Middle Eastern spices! If Middle Eastern Spices are not your thing, this simple Irish Lamb Stew would work great in the Instant Pot too!
Lamb Stew Ingredients
- Lamb stew meat: Use lamb shoulder, lamb leg, or lamb shank cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. The lamb meat provides a hearty and savory flavor to the stew. It becomes tender and flavorful after cooking.
- Olive oil, butter, or ghee: This fat is used for browning the lamb meat and adds richness to the stew.
- Onion: Adds a sweet and slightly tangy flavor to the stew. It also contributes to the overall texture of the dish.
- Garlic cloves: Adds a pungent and aromatic flavor to the stew. It enhances the savory profile of the dish.
- Spices: Cumin provides warm and earthy flavor, coriander adds a citrusy and slightly sweet taste, turmeric brings in vibrant yellow color and a mildly earth and slightly bitter taste, cinnamon adds warmth and sweetness, and chili flakes add a spicy kick.
- Tomato paste: Adds a rich, tangy flavor and helps to thicken the stew.
- Apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar): Adds a tangy and slightly acidic taste to balance the richness of the stew.
- Honey or brown sugar: Adds a touch of sweetness and helps to balance the flavors in the stew.
- Chicken stock or broth: Forms the liquid base of the stew and adds depth of flavor. It helps to tenderize the meat and infuse it with the other ingredients. You can also use beef broth.
- Chickpeas: Provide a creamy and nutty texture to the stew. They also add protein and fiber.
- Raisins, dried apricots, or dried currants: Add pops of sweetness and chewiness to the stew. They provide a nice contrast to the savory flavors.
What is the Best Meat Cut for Lamb Stew?
This recipe is designed for “tougher” cuts of lamb that need longer cooking times to tenderize. Please don’t waste already tender lamb chops or lamb loin on this recipe. Beef stew meat or even goat make good substitutions too!
Use lamb stew meat- cut from lamb shoulder, leg, or shanks. also good options. I’ve opted for local, sustainably raised American lamb, which is meatier and milder in flavor than imported lamb. It’s also fresher, having traveled far fewer miles to get here.
How to Make Instant Pot Lamb Stew
Sauté. 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, scraping up any browned bits.
Pressure cook. Cover and set the Instant Pot (or pressure cooker) to pressure cook setting for 50 minutes on normal/high. Naturally release.
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 the saute function and cook off some of the liquid. (Note that it will thicken a bit as it sits).
Taste and adjust. Adjust seasonings to taste. If it is too sweet, add a few drops more vinegar. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
How to make Lamb Stew on the Stove top
- Alternatively, you can cook this on the stovetop in an oven-proof Dutch oven.
- Preheat the oven to 325 F.
- Brown the onions in the ghee or butter over medium-high heat, then add the garlic, lamb, salt, black pepper, and spices, cooking for 5-6 minutes. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining ingredients – all except the raisins, and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering covered, on low heat, until lamb is tender, about 1 ½ hours, adding more liquid as necessary.
- Alternatively, you could cover and place in the oven and bake for 2 hours, adding the raisins about an hour or 1 ½ hours into the baking time. After two hours, the lamb will be very tender. If you like a little more browning, give a quick broil to the pot uncovered.
What to serve with Lamb Stew?
- Basmati rice
- The Best Quinoa!
- Couscous
- Grain-Free Moroccan Cauliflower Couscous
- Cauliflower rice
- Simple Homemade Pita Bread
- Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic, Lemon and Parsley
FAQs
Yes, absolutely, it will get even more delicious as the flavors meld.
It’s important to let the instant pot come to pressure, cook, and naturally release. The natural pressure release will result in the most tender texture.
To retain the rich flavor of the stew, pressure cooking is best.
Yes! In this recipe the lamb sautés for 5 minutes with the spices and aromatics before pressure cooking.
Yes! Veggies like carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabaga or celeriac are wonderful options. Even potato would make a delicious and hearty addition.
Storage & Freezing
Lamb stew will keep in the fridge up to 4 days. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container. You can freeze this recipe for up to 6 months. Remove from the freezer to thaw in the fridge when ready to eat. Perfect for busy weeknights!
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.
We hope you enjoy this Instant Pot Lamb Stew Recipe!
Cheers, friends.
More Recipes you may enjoy!
Instant Pot Lamb stew
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Simple & delicious Instant Pot Lamb Stew with chickpeas and fragrant Middle Eastern spices- a fast, flavorful, wholesome meal that can be made in an Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, butter or ghee
- 1 ½ –1 ¾ pounds lamb stew meat ( shoulder, leg or shank) cut onto 1 ½ inch cubes
- 1 onion, diced
- 4–6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin ( or use 1 teaspoon ground, and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric,
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 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)
- 1–2 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, couscous 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).
- Adjust seasonings to taste. If too sweet, add a few drops more vinegar.
- Serve over quinoa, rice or couscous 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 stovetop in a oven-proof dutch oven. Preheat 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 very tender. If you like a little more browning, give a quick broil to the pot uncovered.
LAMB: This recipe is designed for “tougher” cuts of lamb- shoulder, leg, etc., that need longer cooking times to tenderize. Please don’t waste already tender lamb chops or lamb loin on this recipe. You can also use beef stew meat or even goat.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ½ cups
- Calories: 580
- Sugar: 33.3 g
- Sodium: 299.7 mg
- Fat: 20.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 51.7 g
- Fiber: 7.7 g
- Protein: 47.2 g
- Cholesterol: 113.1 mg
Made the Instant Pot method. Dee-licious. Followed the recipe as printed, except used Brown Truvia instead of honey, and I didn’t use any cilantro at the end. I hate the stuff. The liquid in the pot was fabulous and would make a great soup! Great recipe !
Great recipe! So delicious! I had some harissa paste on hand, so I subbed that for the tomato paste.
This recipe is very nice. But it was too sweet for me. I will cut the honey/sugar next time I make it. The raisins make it plenty sweet.
Cheers! This was such a delightful recipe! I made some minor substitutions (I am, unfortunately, one of those people who cannot have very much cilantro/coriander, as it tastes like soap, so I essentially doubled up on some spices and then added a pinch of some paprika/cloves and a dash of mint), but it came out so well and was a hit with both myself and my roommate, who actually went back for seconds (an absolute ringing endorsement from her). I will definitely be checking out more recipes on this site 🥰
Great to hear!
Sensational! Just had this for lunch today. I’ll make this dish again for sure. Your recipes are absolutely great. To date I’ve made so many. I love your blog. Thanks heaps Sylvia!
thnaks so much Lucy!
Flavors r amazing! I served mine over roasted sweet potatoes (tossed in dab of butter and 1/2 tsp garam masala spice). LOVE!!!!
Thanks so much Katie!
Delicious spice profile!! Will save this to make again. 😍
Absolutely scrumptious! One of the best recipes I’ve ever made. Thank you so much for sharing this gem!!!!
This dish turned out incredible! Subbed red wine vinegar for apple cider, and used stewing lamb leg with the bone (the bone marrow in this stew was unreal. Gave it this rich butteryness). So good. Thank you !
So happy this worked for you! 🙌
This recipe was delicious! I especially appreciated the inclusion of the Apple cider vinegar. It gave the dish a nice sweetness to cut the spice from the chili flakes. I did end up using lamb chops because that’s the meat that I had but I adjusted the time on the pressure cooker to 25 minutes and the meat came out perfectly tender for the stew!
Great to hear!
I love this recipe. It’s very easy to make and it’s delicious, especially the next day after all the spices marry. I’ve used leg of lamb and lamb stew meat (cheaper, I think) and they both worked great. I serve with extra raisin. I do not put the chili flakes in the stew but also serve on the side as I don’t like hot but my husband does. I serve with bread or cornbread, and salad. One of my favs! Thank you!
What A wonderful flavor, so easy to make, yet such an exotic dish.
Thank you so much.,
Elizabeth
Hi i want to make this tonight but my lamb is frozen, do you think I can put it in there and skip the sauté step?
I wouldn’t! You may get the burn error, especially if frozen in one big piece.
Oh my goodness this was a win. It was easy to make. My husband loves it so much that he ate everything on his plate and dished up more for him. Which it doesn’t do. He told me that this is his favorite meal and I would love to each it every single day lol 😂😂😂😂. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Hahaha! 😂 the true test! Glad it worked for you both!
This was a big hit! I busted my husband “drinking” the leftover juices out of the instapot! I was concerned about the 50 minute cook time so I reduced to 35 minutes and it was perfect! I used home-grown lamb stew that is processed locally, so maybe we just grow tender sheep. We’re cooking with a limited pantry at the moment, I made a pretty big tweak to your recipe. I didn’t have any dried fruit, so I substituted a can of peaches and their syrup and left out the honey. We’re going to try this again as written when we have the ingredients, but the doctored version is going in the recipe file too!
Perfect- thanks for sharing Christine!
I’ve been looking forward to trying this recipe but only realized tonight that all I have is lamb leg meat! How long would you recommend cooking it for with this recipe?
If you want to use it, cut it into 1-2 inch chunks. It should work fine!
Thank you!! Still 50 minutes?
Yes!
I’ve looked all over and nobody sells lamb shoulder around here. Only thing I can find is leg of lamb, would that work for this recipe?
yes! leg is fine! or Lamb “stew meat”.
Why does the lamb take 50 minutes? I have never done that long in instant pot on pressure cook high? Are you using pressure cook high setting or the stew or slow cook function?
Great question Mary. Because this cut of lamb (lamb shoulder, shank, stew meat) is very tough and needs to get tenderized through long cooking. This would take 2-3 hours on the stove. If using lamb chops, or lamb loin, this is totally different story, these are very tender cuts and cook very quickly. You would not want to use lamb chops or loin in this recipe (it is kind of a waste). This stew is designed intentionally for tougher cuts. Does that make sense? Yes, cook on high pressure- not slow cooker.
Thank you, will try tonight
It came out great! Thank you. Definitely needed the 50 minutes if using stew meat which normally takes hours to braise in oven in a Dutch oven , or a slow stew on stovetop). I added mushrooms, baby carrots, zucchini (but that got mushy) and a little more spice (a tsp of my Lebanese 7 spice mix and a tsp or Ras El Hanout as we like our food very spiced up) plus did 1 1/2 vs 1 1/4 broth because my partner likes extra sauce/broth. Overall, this is a super recipe! (and I am a trained chef, they never would have allowed an Instant pot in French Culinary School, had to do the old fashioned braising way, but hey I’m retired so I do what saves me time and gives me same flavor.!)
Would love to send photo but comments don’t seem to allow me to attach a photo .
Glad it worked for you Mary.
I made tonight – I doubled the recipe except for the chick peas and the liquid. After 15 minutes I released the pressure and that was due to the comment the meat would be falling apart. I wanted to have some chunks. There was a lot of liquid in bottom so as recommended I did put on sauté but then I added corn starch. The flavoring was OK. It was OK overall but not something I would make again. I am not sure why it got such excellent reviews but I guess everyone’s taste is different.
Jane, I think shorting the pressure cooking time was the problem here. It really needs the full time. Also I’m wondering if the recipe multiplier was accurate? Sometimes it malfunctions. Sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Jane, When I cooked it the full time the lamb was still in chunks. And I would try again without doubling it. It IS a really good recipe.
Excellent, need to press the meat/stew button first
Absolutely divine. One of the best recipes I have ever had.
this effortless and so delicious! loved the recipe thanks. i didn’t have chickpeas so i used some butter beans and fresh green beans and still came out perfect.
Perfect Candice!
The flavor was fantastic! I love this recipe. Do you think any veggies would be well suited in it?
Any root veggies!
If I wanted to substitute the chick peas for potatoes, would I have to change anything? Also for the vinegar, can I use distilled white vinegar?
I would lessen the vinegar a little if using white. Your potatoes will get mushy. You could roast or cook separately then add.
I’m making it now and it smells divine!! How long does the natural pressure release take? I’m clocking about 20 min and it hasn’t gone down yet. I can’t wait to open it!
Usually 25?