A fudge that is silky and delightfully flavored. Walnuts could be used in place of pecans. The entire office adored this fantastic recipe that a coworker shared with me.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 1 (2 1/2 pound) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ teaspoon caraway seed
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle dark beer (such as Guinness®)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 12 Brussels sprouts, halved
- 3 cups mashed potatoes, or as needed
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Season pork with salt and black pepper.
- Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Working in batches, cook and stir pork in hot oil until browned on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer pork to a bowl.
- Melt butter in the same pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in hot butter with a pinch of salt until onion is softened and translucent, 7 to 10 minutes. Add garlic; sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir flour into onion mixture; cook and stir until flour is completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add bay leaf and caraway seed; cook for 2 minutes more. Pour in beer. Cook and stir until thickened, 1 to 3 minutes.
- Stir browned pork, broth, carrots, and celery into beer mixture; bring to a simmer. Stir 1/4 cup parsley and balsamic vinegar into stew; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until pork is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook Brussels sprouts in boiling water until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Drain.
- Stir Brussels sprouts into stew and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Divide mashed potatoes between 6 bowls. Ladle stew over potatoes and garnish with 1 teaspoon parsley.
- You can use baby cabbage instead of Brussels sprouts, which can be hard to find. No one will know the difference, mainly because there isn’t one.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 401 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 68 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 20 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 769 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 19 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’ve made this a few times and it’s excellent! The only change I’ve made is I roast the brussel sprouts with oil and salt at 375 for 20 minutes instead of boiling.
This was SO GOOD. My husband took a bite and his eyebrows went up. “Restaurant quality” was his response :o). I made a few changes bc I didn’t have everything…no beer so I just used beef broth instead, no caraway seed so I used mustard seed. I also didn’t have any Brussel sprouts and I wish I did because I bet it would have been even better! And serving over mashed potatoes was genius! The only thing I wish I had done was be a little less overzealous with the salt…I didn’t account for the salted beef broth adding to the overall salt content. No one complained but it could have been less salty. Next time I think I’ll add in mushrooms as well, and make a double batch! Thank you Chef John!
This Irish Stew was beyond wonderful. It has such great flavors. Everyone I serve it to wants the recipe. I make it every St Patrick’s Day and beyond. Yum.
I made this recipe with the brussels sprouts. I didn’t care for the taste of the brussels sprouts and think I would prefer using cabbage. I omitted the caraway seed and used regular beer instead of dark. I thought the stew itself was very tasty.
Amazing recipe and super easy to do for all skill levels! The only changes I made was roasting the brussels in the oven at 400 for 20 min with butter, salt and a drizzle of balsamic for a toastier and crisper baby cabbage. I also added a bunch of garlic to mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes as a base layer is absolutely genius and as unique as it is fun. This the families new standard stew recipe. My only recommendation is to at least DOUBLE the recipe as it goes quick and you will want more!
Love this recipe! I have made it several times for family and friends. Everyone has also loved it.I put in about twice the amount of Brussel sprouts. It takes time to cook the carrots and celery to a soft stage. It’s very flavorful and delicious. Be sure to try it!!
Loved the different techniques for the meat, potatoes and sprouts, really helped separate the flavors in each.
Loved it!
I made this yesterday so that I would have it for a St Patty’s party today. I may need to make a second batch today since what I made yesterday is almost gone. It is so good! Love this stew! The caraway gives this a great flavor.
I made the dish per the recipe. After tasting, my wife’s first comment was, “ this is good, please keep this recipe”. I have to agree with my wife.
good base recipe. I’ll probably change it for the Instant pot because at 5800ft it takes about 3 hours to get done.
Followed the recipe but omitted the caraway seeds and Brussels sprouts since my husband doesn’t like them and substituted additional broth for the beer and it was amazing. cooked for 2 1/2 hours and the meat was so tender and flavorful. Will make again.
Made this last night and it was exceptional! Used all of the noted ingredients but changed up two things: 1) Used an IPA only because I didn’t have any dark beer on hand (not sure how it changed the flavor but it was great) and 2) Roasted the sprouts before adding to stew. Will absolutely make again!
I made this recipe tonight for St. Patrick’s Day. It was fantastic- so much so that I had a second helping, and husband had three! The only changes I made was adding a half cup of white wine instead of the beer ( I don’t like beer) and I didn’t have any caraway seed, so I used dry thyme. I will definitely be making this again!??
I basically followed the recipe. Did not use parsley or the vinegar. Also I had fresh cabbage that I used for the Brussels Sprouts. Used lots of cabbage. Served this to 5 other ladies. We all loved it. Don’t know why some people give low ratings if a recipe is “bland”. Not everything has to be spicy. This had great flavor. What we often call comfort food is usually flavorful, but “bland”.
Easy and awesome!! Only change I made was roasting the brussels sprouts instead of boiling. Otherwise, made recipe as written (served sprouts on the side because hubby isn’t a fan). The gravy is irresistible. This recipe will be added to my regular menu options.
The wife and I really liked this stew. It highlighted our St. Patrick’s Day meal along with Chef John’s Irish cheddar spring onion biscuits
Possibly the best Irish Stew I’ve ever had, let alone made. Simple, tasty, hearty, and even better the next day! Thanks, Chef John.
I tried this out the other night with the ends pieces of a pork loin that I had in the freezer and it was absolutely delicious! I think the balsamic vinegar added a slight sweetness to the sauce. The flavor was perfect. I didn’t see anything about covering the pot as the stew cooked for the 2 hours so did not.
2nd review for this (wanted to post a picture). Fantastic! Tasted like something my Irish Nana used to make. Comfort food at it’s best! Gonna try it with beef next time because one of my kids doesn’t eat pork.
This was delicious! My husband who hates left overs asked me to save some and freeze it in a container for lunch. I made it exactly as written but served it over garlic mashed potatoes. So delicious! I will make it again.