Curried Goat Stew
This amazing curried goat stew is intriguing and spicy without being overly hot. It’s enjoyed in the Caribbean and Africa with rice and plantains.
Okay, I know that goat meat can be off-putting, and you may have some reservations about eating it. But please don’t be so quick to dismiss it. You’d be surprised that it’s a must-have at parties, birth celebrations, weddings, and huge gatherings in the Caribbean, Latin America, and throughout Africa.
In fact, did you know it is the most popular meat throughout the world, and, as a bonus, it’s healthier than the standard meat choices because it’s lean and has less saturated fat, calories, and cholesterol.
The Best Way to Cook Goat
There are many ways to prepare goat meat. However, low and slow is the best way to bring out its full flavor and tenderize it. Curry is my favorite way to cook it because there’s something about the spices that mellows the goaty flavor.
Be careful when shopping for goat meat, as the older the goat is, the gamier it will taste. Some people love that gamey taste, others not so much. That gamey taste can be attributed to the gender; females are less gamey, while males have a stronger flavor.
Organic, free-range goat is better if you can get it. And the younger the goat, the more it tastes like a cross between lamb and beef. So feel free to replace it with lamb shanks or beef brisket in this recipe.
How to Make Curried Goat Stew
- Cook the goat meat for 60-90 minutes, depending on how you like your goat cooked. A pressure cooker will shorten the process. Strain the meat and reserve the stock for later.
- Brown the goat for 5-10 minutes. (Photo 1)
- Add onions, ginger, and garlic to perfume the oil and meat, and continue frying for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn. (Photo 2)
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, curry powder, white pepper, smoked paprika, hot pepper, thyme, and parsley. Continue stirring to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add about 2 cups of the reserved stock, along with salt and bouillon to taste. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water or stock as needed. (Photo 3)
- Serve – Finally, add the green onions. Adjust seasonings and sauce consistency with water or stock and salt. Serve warm with the desired side dishes. (Photo 4)
Recipe Tips and Notes
- How long it takes the goat to cook tender depends on your altitude and the age of the goat. Once it took 5 hours, so keep that in mind when calculating dinner time.
- You can cut the cooking time in half by using a pressure cooker, especially for the tougher cuts of meat.
Make-Ahead and Storage
This stew tastes even better the next day. So go ahead and make a double batch; one for now and one for the freezer for a stress-free weeknight dinner later. It will last 3-4 days in the fridge or 3-4 months in the freezer.
What Pairs With Curried Goat Stew
Enjoy this traditional stew with coconut rice, fried plantains, or a vegetable side of your choice (stewed spinach is terrific).
More Spicy African Recipes to Enjoy
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”TBjk7cGw” upload-date=”Mon Aug 06 2018 19:57:54 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Curried Goat Stew” description=”Curried Goat Stew — An amazing recipe for goat stew that is intriguing and spicy without being overly hot . A stew widely consumed in the Caribbean and Africa.”]
Curried Goat Stew
Ingredients
- 2½-3 pounds (1-2kg) goat meat, cut into small pieces
- salt and pepper to taste (see notes)
- 1 medium onion, chopped (half for cooking the goat and half for the stew)
- water, enough to cover the meat
- ¼ cup (60ml) cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon (4-5g) minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon (5g) minced garlic
- 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 3-4 teaspoons (7-10g) curry powder
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) white pepper
- 1 teaspoon (3g) smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon (8-9g) chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons (4g) parsley
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (adjust to taste or replace with any hot pepper)
- 1 tablespoon (10g) Maggie bouillon (optional)
Instructions
- Boil goat meat with salt, pepper, half of the chopped onions, and water to cover in a stock pot until tender. It takes approximately 60-90 minutes or more, depending on how you like your goat cooked. I sometimes use the pressure cooker to shorten the process. Strain the meat and reserve the stock for later.
- Add ¼ cup of oil to the pan and brown the goat for 5-10 minutes.
- Then, add the rest of the chopped onions, ginger, and garlic to perfume the oil and meat, and continue frying the meat for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
- Next, add diced tomatoes, curry powder, white pepper, smoked paprika, hot pepper, thyme, and parsley. Stir the pot frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking.
- Add about 2 cups of the reserved stock, along with salt and bouillon to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Stir occasionally, adding water or stock as needed.
- Finally, add the green onions. Adjust seasonings and sauce consistency with water or stock and salt.
- Serve warm with the desired side dishes.
Tips & Notes:
- Be careful when shopping for goat meat; the older the goat is, the gamier it will taste.
- Feel free to replace goat meat with lamb shanks or beef brisket.
- A good average for salt to taste is ¾-1 teaspoon or 4-6 grams of salt per pound. If you start with ½ a teaspoon per pound, you can always add more later.
- The goat meat is slow-cooked for 1-2 hours, but you can cut the cooking time in half by using a pressure cooker. Tougher cuts of meat take about 35 minutes, with a 10-minute natural release to finish the job.
- You can thin the sauce by adding more stock or water.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Awesome recipe! Easy to follow and very tasty. I have naan bread to soak up the gravy!
My husband and two boys asked for seconds
I cooked the goat meat in the pressure cooker with water just covering the meat with the cut up onion after cooking it I strain out the meat and saved the juice to make a gravy with two table spoon of cornstarch and one can of coconut milk. I made long grain basmati rice did a scoop of the curry on top then topped it off with the coconut milk gravy and fresh coriander
Woohoo! Sounds like you had a fantastic dinner, Shan. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
This is the best Iv tasted. Can I ask, can I cook this in a slow cooker? It is perfect but just wanted the meat even softer?
Yes Jo. You definitely can! 🙂
This is a tasty easy recipe. I add a few cardamoms, raisins and a few small cubes of potatoes. Even a tsp of goat curry powder along with all your wonderful spices. Made this about 5 times now so got it down to perfect. Family love this.,Many many thanks
I’ve made this a couple times and I’m addicted to it. Thinking of making it for some friends/family over the long weekend. Do you know if the recipe doubles well? Thank you for this amazing recipe!
I haven’t tried it, Mark, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Enjoy!
What is the type of goat meat I need?
Hello Jessica! Any goat meat, bone-in is what I use, if you can get organic goat meat, I personally like that, too. Enjoy!
The recepie was amazing! My family really enjoyed it
The recepie was amazing
Thank you, Erica! 🙂
I have a question. The receipt says to boil for 60 to 90 minutes. Should it have said bring to a boil and then let simmer for 60 to 90 minutes? I’m making this for Christmas dinner and started early because everything I’m reading about goat says cook it long and slow. And then it dawned on me that boiling for 90 minutes is not long and slow. Should this have meant to simmer?
Yes simmer until desired temperature has been reached .Adding liquid as needed.
This is DELICIOUS!!! I misread the recipe, and added ALL the onions at the beginning, but it still turned out AWESOME! Tomatoes were out of season, so I used a can of Rotel instead. My husband raved over this! My friend, every single recipe I have tried of yours is INCREDIBLE!! Thank you for all the effort you put in to bring delicious recipes to those of us who never knew how *incredible* Afro-Caribbean food is! You are a true GIFT to cooks everywhere! I love you and your recipes!!!
You can never have too much onion! I usually add all onions at beginning because it will flavor both meat and stock!
I made this yesterday and it was absolutely delicious. My boyfriend loved it! I will definitely make this recipe again.
Soldier fo)
Is there a video for this recipe?
Yes, there is. Please see the video above the recipe box. Enjoy!
Can I replace thyme with fresh rosemary?
Yes you can.
Wow your Recipe was amazing. Me and my husband we both cook a wide variety of carib food. We both loved the recipe. I added a bit of lemon juice and orange zest, served it over rice with yam and Cabbage. these all goes to you…
Hello…my West Indian and AFRICAN roots love goat meat dishes. However, I was recently served mostly big pieces of skin and bones at Abuja Restaurant in Union. They claimed the skin is always used???? I was shocked! Tough, bones and skin are not the intended results of this dish! What do you think s another expert?
– Foodie in jersey
GoAfricaNetwork.org
In Ghana they do that as well, but when done right (tender meat and skin) then this dish is delicious, so much aroma and flavor
I love YOUR quick and easy recipe for curried goat..1 question..do you marinate the goat w/the seasonings befor you begin cooking it?
Kim Gregory
It’s best to marinate for optimum flavor. However, when in a hurry I do not marinate.
Can this be done in a Crock-Pot
Hi James. Given the different steps involved, it would be better to use a regular heavy bottom pan instead of a crock-pot. Thanks for stopping by!
Do I use boneless goat or bone in goat cubes? The meat market I go to only has bone in goat cubes. Is there another step I shod take when using bone in goat cubes? Like cutting the bone out at some point in the cooking process?
Most places sell goat with bone in. If you cook the goat until tender the bone usually falls off . I serve my goat with bones- some people like to nibble on the bone.
Hi, I am so glad to find your blog! You have SO MUCH delicious dishes to try, with the flavors my family loves. A big SCORE for me. Bc you also manage to make them sound easier than others. And I have an amazing Mediterranean/middle eastern fresh food market right cross the street! w/everything. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve stared at goat wishing I knew what & how to make it; then I spot “goat curry” on my favorite new blog?! Yours! Thank you for sharing and for laying it out the way you do. The photos are inticing too. ♡
I do have a question though, hope you don’t mind, but is there a way that you can add WordPress as an option for easier sharing? Like with the fb, twitter, Pin, etc.? That’d be sweet. Either way I’m still grateful you share. Peace
Hi Dawn. Welcome to the blog. Yes, I do have share buttons at the bottom post part of each post.
So I consider myself someone who cant really cook, haha. But Imma your recipes are so hustle free, I cooked lamb stew using this recipe yesterday and hey have I seen people licking their fingers. I wish you long life. You make me feel like a real woman. Now I stay on this website. God bless you.
You are wonderful as you are! And thank you for the time. See you around the blog. 😉
Hi there. I am cooking goat for a friend from Uganda and have cooked a lot with lamb, but not goat (I was raised in France). Do I really need to boil the goat first? In water? Or broth? Can I use red curry instead of yellow curry?
Hi, I always boil goat using water. Red curry works as well here. Happy Cooking!!!
This is a wonderful dish. Savory and sweet with just enough heat to be interesting. We can’t wait to make it again. We used half and half young goat and lamb. I have recommended this to my friends and family.
Thank you so much Andrew!!! Glad to hear it worked out well for you
Hi Imma!
First things first. YOU ROCK!!! I’m a chef/foodie and I’m always looking for something different and exciting to eat. I was introduced to a African/Caribbean restaurant by son. The curry goat stew was love at first bite! To make a long story short, the restaurant closed and was unable to find another. All other online recipes fell short on taste. Yours is SPOT ON! I paired it with your African Rice and Beans (Black). It was a hit. As a matter of fact… my wife said that the rice was a favorite childhood dish that she has craved and missed for over 30 Year’s.
This will most definitely be a go to dish in my house. I can’t wait to try my next dish.
Thanks Again!
Thank you so much Burr! Glad to here it worked out well for you. So happy that you would take the time out to share this with me. Happy Holidays!!!