Looking for the perfect stew recipe for a cold, dreary day? Try our Mulligan stew. It's an American twist on a classic Irish stew, and is the best way to use up all the vegetables in your fridge.
If you love stew and soup recipes, you'll want to check out our Dublin coddle and our Scotch broth recipe.
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Why This Recipe Works
- The stewing beef is seared in batches to achieve a deep, dark color. Avoid overcrowding the pan to keep the beef from steaming.
- The pot was deglazed twice, after searing and after sauteing the aromatics, to build more flavor.
- The Mulligan stew was cooked low and slow to achieve the best flavor and texture.
- For an acidic component, canned tomatoes and their juice were added.
- The green beans and cabbage were added at the end for fresh flavor and better texture.
Ingredients
Mulligan stew takes basic ingredients that you can store in your pantry or fridge. Let's talk about some of the key ingredients.
- Meat: Mulligan stew usually uses beef stewing meat or a chuck roast that has been cut up, but it can also use chicken along with the beef.
- Broth: We used beef broth for the best flavor, but in a pinch you can use chicken broth or water.
- Aromatics: We used yellow onion and freshly minced garlic.
- Vegetables: We used fresh carrots, celery, potatoes, and cabbage. We also used frozen lima beans and frozen thin green beans.
- Spices: We kept it simple and used parsley, oregano, basil, Kosher salt, sea salt, and black pepper.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Want to use other fresh vegetables? Try golden potatoes or turnip.
- Want to use other frozen vegetables? Try frozen peas and corn.
- Want to use other dried spices? Try onion powder, garlic powder, marjoram, bay leaves, dill weed, or cayenne pepper.
- Want to use additional meat? Try chicken or ham hocks.
- Want to use grain? Try adding pearl barley. This will make it have a silky texture.
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients for the Mulligan stew.
- Start by patting dry the cubes of meat with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture then sprinkle on salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven over medium high heat, heat up 1 tablespoon of oil until it starts to smoke. Working in batches, sear the cubes of meat on all surfaces. You'll want a deep, dark color. Plate when done. Add more oil with each batch and repeat the process. When finished, you'll have two plates of seared meat.
Over medium high heat, deglaze the pot with ¼ cup of beef broth by scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden turner to get all the brown bits off. Pour this over the two plates of seared meat. This will help build flavor.
2. Carefully wipe out the Dutch oven with a paper towel. Over medium high heat heat up 1 tablespoon of oil, cook the onion until a nice golden color. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, then add the dried spices and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Deglaze with ¼ cup of beef stock.
4. Add the seared beef cubes and the rest of the beef stock.
5. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Make sure to stir it every once in a while.
6. Add the crushed tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, celery, and lima beans. Stir, cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in the cabbage and green beans. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.
8. When done, remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Serve while still warm.
Recipe FAQs
This hearty stew is made of tender stew beef, carrots, celery, potatoes, beans, and cabbage. It is full of vegetables, and is a great way to clean out your vegetable drawer.
This stew is an adaption to Irish stew, thus the Irish name. It became popular during the Great Depression in America and was nicknamed Hobo stew. This meal could be assembled with a variety of vegetables, so it's very forgiving.
The main difference between the two stews is the meat. Irish stew uses lamb or mutton, and Mulligan stew uses beef. Mulligan stew also uses a lot of vegetables to clean out the fridge, so the recipe is more flexible.
A mulligan is a stew that uses all the leftover meat and vegetables you have in your fridge, freezer or pantry. It's a great recipe to use up all your odds and ends before they go bad.
Serve
Mulligan stew is hearty, so you don't need a lot of other sides, but we do recommend serving it with a crusty brown bread like our Irish brown bread or with a crisp green salad.
Store
- Make Ahead: Mulligan stew tastes amazing the second day, so feel free to make all of it the day before. To save time, you might decide just to sear the beef and allow the meat to simmer in the broth along with the aromatics.
- Leftovers: This stew will last in the fridge for up to 4 days if properly stored in an airtight container.
- Freeze: You can freeze Mulligan stew for up to one month. When ready to use, thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Reheat: You can reheat the soup in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat until heated through.
Expert Tips
- Sear the cubes of stewing beef in batches to achieve a deep dark color and to avoid overcrowding.
- To build more flavor, deglaze the Dutch oven twice: once after searing and again after sautéing the aromatics.
- To achieve the best texture and flavor, cook the Mulligan stew low and slow.
- The canned tomatoes are acidic, and will improve the flavor of the stew over time, making it taste better the next day.
- For the freshest flavor and best texture, the cabbage and green beans were added at the end.
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Recipe
Mulligan Stew
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ½ pounds beef stew or chuck roast, cubed
- 2 cups onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 6 cups beef stock
- 4 carrots, 1 inch lengths
- 4 celery ribs, 1 inch lengths
- 6 medium red potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 cups lima beans, frozen
- 28 ounce crushed tomatoes, canned
- 2 cups green beans, 1 ½ to 2 inch lengths, fresh or frozen
- 4 cups green cabbage, chopped
- ⅓ cup parsley, finely chopped
Equipment
Instructions
- Pat dry the cubes of meat with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat until it starts to smoke. Sear the cubes of meat on all surfaces until they have a deep color, working in small batches to avoid overcrowding. Add more oil with each batch.
- Turn the heat to medium high and deglaze the pot by pouring in ¼ cup of beef broth and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden turner to get all the brown bits off. Pour the juices over the two plates of seared meat to build flavor.
- Carefully wipe out the Dutch oven with a paper towel. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and place over medium high heat, then cook the onion until it's golden. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute, then add the dried spices and cook for 30 seconds.
- Deglaze the pan again with ¼ cup of beef stock, then add the seared beef cubes and the rest of the beef stock.
- Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, celery, and lima beans. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in the cabbage and green beans. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Remove it from the heat and stir in the parsley. Serve hot with fresh bread, such as our Irish brown bread.
Video
Notes
- Take the time to sear the cubes of stewing beef in batches to achieve a deep dark color.
- To build more layers of flavor, deglaze the Dutch oven twice, after searing and after sauteing the aromatics.
- To achieve the best texture and flavor, cook the Mulligan stew low and slow.
- Canned tomatoes and their juice were added for acidic component.
- For the freshest flavor and best texture, the cabbage and green beans were added at the end.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Beth
This is a hearty beef stew with lots of vegetables and a flavorful broth. It's lovely warm! I could eat seconds of this.
Emma
Thank you, Beth!
Alex
The broth is tomato-y and warm. The carrots are soft and the cabbage adds some chew. This is an excellent fall stew. The beef is soft and has a wonderful flavor.
Emma
Glad you enjoyed it, Alex!