Scouse is a kind of lamb or meat stew. The word comes from lobscouse ( originally lob's course )  as well as lapskaus, Norwegian for "stew" and pertains to a beef based stew frequently eaten by sailors all though Northwards Europe, which became favored in seaports like Liverpool. In the eighteenth and 19th centuries Liverpool, being a major seaport, found itself snowed under with foreign seamen, particularly Norwegians, looking out for a berth on any ship. Scandinavian seamen's churches expanded in several English ports in the latter 19th century, and it's so possible that these incomers brought their recipes to Liverpool.

A "pan of scouse" became a common meal in working class Liverpool. A thickened stew, generally of mutton or lamb with veggies slow cooked to tenderize inexpensive cuts of beef; it takes its name from the Norwegian for stew, "lapskaus". The shortened, anglicized version of this Norwegian word is "scouse" and is a component of a category of jargon terms which refer to folks by stereotypes of their nutritional habits, i.e. Pom, Limey, Rosbif ( Australian, American and French jargon respectively for the English ), and Kraut (a British colloquial ethnonym for a German).

Scouse is still a preferred dish in Liverpool, where it's a staple of local boozer and café menus, though recipes change significantly and frequently include ingredients which are not consistent with the frugal roots of the dish. In its short form, "Scouse", the name ultimately came into common English use to explain the local accent of Liverpool, and a resident of Liverpool (as "Scouser”). The standard recipe for Liverpool Scouse is composed of an inexpensive cut of lamb, or in earlier days, mutton ( like breast, forequarter or "scrag end of neck" ), removed from the bone and browned in a big pan, to which are added chopped onions, carrots, and water or meat stock, to which are added as many potatoes as practicable. The sauce isn't thickened, and it's common to serve with saved beetroot or red cabbage and processed bread with butter.

A more pauperized spread of this dish is 'blind Scouse ', which features no beef. Either recipe should more correctly be considered to be a potato stew. An alternative Lobscows or Lobsgows is a standard dish in North Wales, typically made with meat as braising or stewing steak, potatoes, and any other plant available, this recipe was brought by the canal barges to Stoke-on-Trent where it is named "Lobby" the shortened version of "lobscouse". The grub was historically thought of as food for farmers and the working class folks of North Wales, but is now popular as a dish all though Wales.

In Norway, which had a long sea-trading organization with the North English seaports, the dish ( known domestically as lapskaus ) is just about a countrywide dish using the weekend's remaining food, often carrots, potatoes, pork sausages in slices or meat cut little and served with flatbread (unleavened bread all the way back to ancient times). The name of the North German hash Labskaus comes from the English word lobscouse. Labskaus is customary in the Lower Elbe area, particularly in the port town Hamburg.