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
This is one of my favourite recipes – I have been using it for more than 1 year. what if any adjustments would you make to cook 3 lbs. of lamb stew meat vs. 1.5 to 1.75 lbs of stew meat? Thanks!
Glad this is working for you Theresa. You could just double the recipe?
AMAZING, the most tasty lamb stew ever! the process was easy and not much effort needed. I did add extra garlic (about 1/2 cup (i love garlic I guess) I did not add the chickpeas since i’m eat paleo. I measured the ingredients and used 1 lb of lamb meat. I used the insta pot. I would add 1 1/2 cup broth when I make it again. The bottom of the pot was a slightly burnt.
thanks Esther, glad you enjoyed this!
Made this for our special ‘Supper in Bethehem” meal for my family on Dec. 23, 2021. I used both a leg and shank of lamb for this. BTW, I raise sheep and now that I have an Instant Pot I was delighted to find a really great lamb recipe that I could make in the pot. The combination of spices were awesome. I did not put in onion since my husband can’t tolerate onions. I rubbed Ras el hanout on the meat (2 teaspoons) as a marinade and let the coated meat sit in the fridge for 8 hrs. Also made some tahinia (yogurt and sesame seed paste) as something they could add to the stew for those who wanted a little milder flavor (Middle Eastern spice combination was new to them). Served over Isralie couscous. It was not only a big hit but the IP made the meat super tender. I couldn’t have asked for better. This is a keeper recipe. Thank you so much.
Love it and glad it turned out!
Would this recipe work with chicken? If so what cuts and how long would I cook it using the oven technique?
Thank you very much.
Hi Donna- if making with chicken- I would use whole thighs and shorten the pressure cooking time to 20 minutes? Pull the chicken part with two forks. I actually haven’t made this with chicken so just guessing here. 😉
Your recipe was on point and it was delicious everyone loved it. I used fresh chickpeas so I had to soak them overnight. I had extra broth so I infused my couscous with it came out really great. Thank you
Perfect Gene- glad you enjoyed this!
Can I substitute Ras al Hanout spice mix? If so what is the substitute amounts? I want to make this for our family on the day before Christmas eve. We are calling it dinner in Bethlehem. I have two small legs of lamb from a local provider and will be using that to make the dish. There are 8 of us so I will scale up the recipe. I’m excited about your IP recipe.
Thanks Rosemarie, I think it should work fine but have not personally tried it -so can’t really attest to how much to use.It sounds good though!
I did use Ras al Hanout as a rub marinade. Worked great. See my most recent comment on the success of the recipe (I used Shepherd as my name).
Love this recipe. I’m wondering if you have ever frozen it and how it holds up! Thanks!
I haven’t tried freezing Rachel but my guess is it would be fine!
We loved this! The spicing is just right. Looking forward to some leftovers
Thanks Karen- Happy you enjoyed!
Made this for our Friday night ‘treat night’
It was delicious and so easy to make,
I’ll definitely be making this next time we have friends over.
Thank you Sylvia for your amazing recipes.
Thanks Anna! Glad you liked it!
This was very good! I replaced the tomato paste with harissa and it’s so yummy!
As an added treat I sprinkled the cilantro on top along with lemon zest. Thanks!!
This recipe is amazing, my whole family loves it! It was a winner with my best friend also who now raves about it. My daughter makes sure she is always here for dinner when she knows I’m making it.
It’s on the menu again tonight and for the first time I’m adding some carrot and sweet potatoes in, so it will be interesting and still delicious I’m sure 😁
Love it Tina! Glad everyone is enjoying it!
Very bland and overly sweet…
Oh shoot Bryan. Is it possible you left out the vinegar?
Sylvia!
This recipe was superb! My husband and I both felt like we were dining in a Mediterranean restaurant only without the $100+ bill at the end of the meal! The smells, the tastes, the ease of cooking the lamb to juicy, tender, instant pot perfection! There are so many wonderful things about this recipe. This recipe has all you need for an impressive yet easy world-class meal at home! Will definitely make this again!
Thank you!
Thanks April!
This is delicious! Easy to make and so much flavor, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Kathy- glad you enjoyed this!
Loved this dish! Followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious! Will be making it again for sure.
This has quickly become a favorite recipe in our home. I have used both lamb and beef to prepare it and it is very good with tons of flavor. I might even try it with faux beef crumbles or tofu for a vegetarian version when my son visits. I have recommended this recipe to others and my husband raves about it.
Thanks so much Mary- glad you enjoy!
Do this in the instant pot but add potatoes, carrots, mushrooms & you will thank us. The seasonings & preserved lemon make this stew a gourmet treat.
Prepare rice or couscous.
We served it to a group of 11 to 13 years old as one of our around the world dishes & it was a hit. Have prepared at least 6 times & it never gets old.
Thanks for the suggestion Mary! Will have to try that.
Really outstanding! I had a lamb neck roast from a local farm and was worried it would be too tough a cut for this dish but it was perfect–so tender. And the flavors were awesome. I used apricots and beef stock, as I didn’t have chicken stock on hand. Served with a side salad of cucumbers and feta. THANK YOU. I will be making this many, many more times in the future!
Awesome Stacy!
This recipe is amazing, and easy to make. Every time I make this for guests, they love it. Definitely one of my favorites!
Lovely lamb dish. I’m making it again for dinner tonight.
Hello! I just made this tonight and was huge hit. Very easy, delicious and aromatic. Served it with south indian dosas. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks!
This was a really good recipe. I think it might be the first one that I was motivated enough to actually comment on. I do enjoy middle eastern food, having visited the region for work on many occasions. I thought that the honey and raisins might make it a bit too sweet, although that is part of the character of these dishes, but the balance was really good.
I might just check out some of your other recipes!
Thanks, Conlin- glad you enjoyed it.
I made this recipe recently and truely loved it! Thanks so much! Only challenge I had was that for me it burnt a bit in my pressure cooker when I left it on high for so long… I was still able to save the dish… but I wonder if more liquid could help here?
I had replaced the chickpeas with 2 carrots instead for easier digestablity and I thought it went together well.
Also have you tried doubling this recipe… what would this mean to the cooking time? I’m having guests over soon so would like to make it for them.
Hi Bettina- not sure why it burnt here, sorry about that. In theory, you should be able to double recipe with same cooking time, but I haven’t tried, and I personally might add a couple more minutes. 🙂
I was wondering if I could make this recipe with chicken?
I haven’t tried this with chicken but- if you did, timing in the instant pot would be much less.
Amazing!!! The flavors are melt in your mouth! I used golden raisins to sub for apricots. Huge hit.