Instant Pot Moroccan Lamb Stew—a dinner that can double as an elegant night in or a hearty hands-off weeknight dinner. Infused with flavor from warm spices, garlic and dried fruit, this lamb stew is unique, comforting, and satisfying.
How to Make Lamb Stew in an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Since lamb stew uses tougher cuts of meat like the leg or shoulder, it’s essential to slowly simmer the stew for a few hours to break down and tenderize the meat.
Luckily, the Instant Pot does a beautiful job of speeding that simmer process along. Plus, everything is done in the instant Pot, making this a one pot dinner!
- Brown the lamb in olive oil in the Instant Pot on sauté function.
- Transfer lamb to a bowl and reserve the drippings in the Instant Pot.
- Cook carrot and onion in drippings on sauté function until starting to soften.
- Add the flour and spices and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add in a splash of broth and whisk to combine, scraping up any browned bits. You’re essentially making the beginning of a roux here (which will create a silky broth in the end), so very, very gradually add the broth and whisk after each addition. You want a smooth mixture, not lumps!
- Once all of the broth has been added, add the lamb and any accumulated juices back to the pot.
- Lock the lid, close pressure valve, and cook on high pressure function for 50 minutes.
- Quick release pressure and stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, and apricots and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Off heat, season the soup with vinegar, salt and pepper.
What Cut of Lamb is Best for Lamb Stew?
It’s best to use tougher cuts of meat for long-simmered or braised dishes like stew. For this lamb stew recipe, don’t be tempted to use a tender cut like lamb loin chops, it’s simply not worth it. Due to the long simmer time, stewing is one of the best ways to break down and tenderize tough cuts of meat.
For this recipe, I recommend using local sustainably raised American boneless leg of lamb, shoulder, or what your butcher might label as “stew meat.”
When cooking with lamb, I always seek out American lamb for its robust flavor and tender succulent meat. By sourcing American lamb, you support local economies and American ranchers who value sustainability, land preservation, and humanly-raised meat.
How to Make This Stew in a Dutch Oven
Don’t have an Instant Pot? You can instead make this in a large Dutch oven. Brown the lamb and cook the vegetables according to recipe instructions.
Add the broth as directed and bring to a boil, add the browned lamb and bring the stew to a simmer. Cover and transfer to a 325ºF oven and braise until lamb is tender, about an hour and 45 minutes.
Variations on This Instant Pot Lamb Stew
- Instead of dried apricots, use golden raisins or currants.
- Swap the ras el hanout for a combination of coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and cumin seeds.
- Make it gluten free by skipping the flour.
- Swap the chickpeas for diced red potatoes (simmer for an extra 5 to 10 minutes).
- Instead of rice, couscous or quinoa, serve over my favorite mashed potatoes.
What to Serve with This Moroccan Lamb Stew
- Moroccan Carrot Salad
- Modern Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Simple Fennel Salad
- Garlic Naan Bread
- Healthy Skillet Cornbread
- Shaved Fennel Salad
More recipes you may like…
- Easy Creamy Lamb Tikka Masala
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Vegetarian Madras Lentils
- Lamb Vindaloo
- Quick Chana Masala
Instant Pot Moroccan Lamb Stew
Description
Ingredients
- 2 pounds American boneless leg of lamb or shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1–1½ inches thick
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 large carrots, cut into ½-inch pieces (1 ¼ cup)
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon ras el hanout
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 2 tomatoes, cored and cut into ¼-inch pieces
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup diced dried apricots or golden raisins
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- Cook basmati rice, couscous, or quinoa
- Cilantro, parsley and or preserved lemons
Instructions
- Pat lamb dry with paper towels; season with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Using highest sauté function, heat oil in Instant Pot for 5 minutes (or until just smoking). Add lamb and cook until well browned on all sides, about 5 minutes; transfer to a bowl and reserve drippings in pot.
- Add onion and carrot to drippings, season with ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook on highest sauté function until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, flour, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, allspice, and ras el hanout; cook until fragrant, 30–60 second. Whisk in a few splashes of broth, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out the mixture after each addition. Gradually add in the remaining broth; add browned lamb back and any accumulated juices to pot, stir to incorporate.
- Lock lid in place, close pressure release valve, and select high pressure cook function; cook for 50 minutes. Turn off Instant Pot and quick-release pressure. Carefully remove lid, allowing for steam to escape away from you.
- Select sauté functions and add tomatoes, chickpeas, and apricots and simmer for 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in vinegar and season with salt (I use 1 teaspoon) and pepper to taste.
- Serve stew over rice and finish with parsley, cilantro, and/or chopped preserved lemons.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was sponsored by the American Lamb Board, as always the thoughts, opinions, recipes, photos, and content are all my own.
We tried it out a few months ago and it is delicious!!! I wish we would have learned about instapot recipes a bit sooner.
Lauren, we don’t get pre cooked chickpeas where I live-India. Should I cook them separately and add? Or with the lamb? Thank you.
Hi Anjali, I recommend pre-cooking the chickpeas separately. You’ll need about 1.5 cups or 9 ounces of cooked chickpeas. Drain the chickpeas and then add them to the recipe as directed. I hope that helps!