Tender, fall off the bone Lamb Shanks braised in a luxurious red wine gravy is your new family dinner recipe! Includes 4 cooking methods!
Slow cooked lamb shanks are a family favourite dinner ordered at restaurants and pubs all over Australia year round. Simmered in a rich, Bourguignon inspired red wine sauce, the meat just slides off the bone!
You choose how to cook them! In the oven, on the stove, in a slow cooker or Instant pot (pressure cooker). Whichever one you choose, you will not be disappointed!
LAMB SHANK
Lamb shanks are an inexpensive cut of meat begging to be slow cooked. Slow cooking turns this tough cut of lamb into the most tender, succulent, fall off the bone meat, while creating a luxurious depth of flavour in this delicious gravy.
Along with ingredients you already have on hand, like garlic, onions, beef stock, herbs and tomato sauce (tomato puree), you’ll have a heavenly stew simmering in your kitchen.
The perfect Sunday afternoon is a slow cooking pot of lamb shanks. This is one recipe where you want to take your time cooking, while enjoying a glass of wine or two waiting for its arrival to your dinner table.
HOW TO SLOW COOK LAMB SHANKS
Inspired by our Beef Bourguignon, we’ve added one or two extra ingredients to make a spectacular lamb recipe.
No matter which cooking method you choose from the recipe below, your starting point consists of 5 easy steps:
- SEAR: When cooking stews (like Slow Cooked Balsamic Pot Roast, Beef Bourguignon or Chicken Au Vin), the best flavour develops when browning the meat first, creating layers of flavours right from the beginning. Browning lamb shanks can take up to 10 minutes with their uneven shape, but it’s worth every minute in the end results.
- AROMATICS: Onions, carrots and garlic are cooked in the same oil and pan juices left behind from the shanks ensure the flavours continue to develop.
- FLOUR: Allows the stew to thicken while it cooks.
- LIQUIDS: Wine, stock and tomato puree are added to submerge the shanks, give them flavour and tenderise the meat.
- HERBS: Rosemary, parsley and bay leaves complete the flavours in this sauce. This recipe is very versatile in that you can use your favourite herb combination, or leave them out all together. Thyme and oregano work well here!
WHAT WINE CAN I USE:
Inspired by our Beef Bourguignon, I recommend a good quality dry red for this lamb shanks recipe. We always use a $15-$20 bottle of Pinot Noir as we love cooking with that particular wine. It’s not too strong and yields our favourite flavour when cooking, but you can use any dry red you have on hand.
It doesn’t need to be expensive, but try to get a good quality brand.
WHAT DO YOU SERVE WITH BRAISED LAMB SHANKS?
Lamb shanks go so well with creamy Easy Creamy Mashed potatoes, Mashed Sweet Potatoes or a buttery cauliflower mash!
You can also serve lamb shanks with plain rice or pasta. Anything to drizzle all the gravy/sauce with. There is so much flavour here, you need a fairly plain side to go with it.
HOW TO THICKEN THE GRAVY
Simmer the liquid for about 10 minutes to turn it into a glossy, thick gravy.
Or to cheat time, mix 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch with ¼ cup of the sauce from the pot until completely dissolved. Pour the slurry into the simmering sauce, stirring quickly until completely blended.
Let simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until thickened to desired consistency, and pour all over your lamb shanks to serve!
Love lamb? Try these recipes!
Greek Lamb Chops
Sundried Tomato and Garlic Roast Lamb
Lamb Ragu on Parpadelle
Lamb Shanks
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 4 - 6 lamb shanks trimmed of excess fat
- 1 white onion large, diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 large carrots sliced ½-inch thick
- 1 pinch coarse salt
- 1 pinch cracked pepper
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 ½ cups red wine like Merlot, Pinot Noir, or a Chianti - optional. Substitute with extra stock
- 14 oz passata (tomato puree or American tomato sauce)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 beef bouillon cubes crushed
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped (divided)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pinch salt to season
- 1 pinch pepper to season
Instructions
OVEN METHOD:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Wash and pat dry lamb shanks with paper towel.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy based pot over medium-high heat. Sear two shanks in the hot oil until browned on all sides. Repeat with remaining shanks and oil. Transfer to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm, set aside.
- To the pan juices, sauté the carrots and diced onions until softened, (about 3 minutes), then add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Return the shanks back into the pot; season with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and ½ teaspoon ground pepper. Sprinkle with flour, toss well and cook for 4-5 minutes to brown the flour.
- Add stock, wine, puree, tomato paste, bouillon and herbs. Bring to a simmer on the stove.
- Cover, transfer to lower part of the oven and cook for 2 ½ hours, or until the meat is fall apart tender (adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly).
- Gently transfer the shanks onto a plate; tent to keep warm.
- Discard the bay leaves from the sauce and place pot onto stove. Simmer sauce over medium heat until thickened to your desired consistency. OPTIONAL: skim off any additional fat which rises to the surface.
- You should be left with about 3 cups of sauce thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. *If the sauce is too thick, add a few tablespoons of stock. If the sauce is too thin, boil it over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until reduced to the right consistency. (See notes about thickening.)
- Taste for seasoning and adjust salt and pepper, if desired. Add the shanks back into the pot of sauce.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.
- To serve the following day, allow the casserole to cool completely, cover and refrigerate. The day of serving, remove from refrigerator for at least an hour before reheating. Place over medium-low heat and let simmer gently for about 10 - 15 minutes, basting the shanks and vegetables with the sauce.
Notes
- Wash and pat dry lamb shanks with paper towel.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy based pot.
- Sear two shanks in the hot oil until browned on all sides. Repeat with remaining shanks and oil.
- Transfer to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm, set aside.
- To the pan juices, sauté the carrots and diced onions until softened, (about 3 minutes), then add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Return the shanks back into the pot; season with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and ½ teaspoon ground pepper.
- Sprinkle with flour, toss well and cook for 4-5 minutes to brown.
- Add stock, wine, puree, tomato paste, bullion and herbs.
- Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is falling apart.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes or rice.
- Set Instant Pot or Cooker to SEAR function (or use a pan on the stove over medium heat of you wish).
- Wash and pat dry lamb shanks with paper towel.
- Sear two shanks in the hot oil until browned on all sides. Repeat with remaining shanks and oil.
- Add all shanks to the pot. Season with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and ½ teaspoon ground pepper. Sprinkle with flour, toss well and cook on SEAR for a further 4-5 minutes to brown.
- Add in the onions, carrots, wine, stock, tomato puree, tomato paste, garlic, bullion and herbs. Stir well, cover and lock the lid into place. Press Keep Warm/Cancel to stop the Sauté function, then set to MANUAL mode. Choose HIGH PRESSURE for 30 minutes cook time.
- After cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally for 8-10 minutes. Open the valve and allow and remaining steam to escape (for Instant Pot, turn the valve from sealing to venting to release the pressure).
- Change the Instant Pot or cooker setting back to the SEAR setting (or SAUTE) stir well and allow the sauce to thicken uncovered, for a further 5-10 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.
- Wash and pat dry lamb shanks with paper towel.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy based pot over medium-high heat.
- Sear two shanks in the hot oil until browned on all sides. Repeat with remaining shanks and oil.
- Transfer to 6 quart (litre) slow cooker bowl.
- Add in the onions, carrots and garlic. Season with ½ teaspoon coarse salt and ¼ teaspoon ground pepper, tossing well to combine.
- Pour the red wine into the pan or skillet and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes, then whisk in the flour until free from lumps. Allow to reduce and thicken slightly, then pour it into the slow cooker along with the stock, tomato puree, tomato paste, bullion and herbs.
- Mix well to combine all of the ingredients. Cook on high heat setting for 6 hours or low for 8 hours, or until lamb is fall apart tender.
- Remove shanks, transfer sauce to a pot and let simmer for 15 minutes over medium heat to reduce to desired thickness.
- Garnish with fresh parley and serve with mashed potatoes or rice.
Debra C. says
Made this for a dinner party tonight for 15 people and it was a huge hit! So delicious! Followed the recipe with no changes. The sauce was amazing. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Antoinette Squibb says
Just made this dish and the sauce is unbelievably delicious! Definitely a keeper!!
Dean says
I’m a big hunter and II used venison shanks for this recipe. Hands down it’s the best venison dish I ever made, and I use a lot of venison. My wife loves the carrots, so I fill up the pot with as many carrots as possible and still keep everything covered in that amazing sauce. Words can not describe the taste, and you won’t be disappointed with whatever kind of meat you cook this in. I put this over of a bed of mashed potatoes, restaurant quality!!!! Well done to the person who posted this recipe!
Karina says
Hi Dean, thank you so much for your kind words! I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and that it worked well with venison shanks. The addition of a bed of mashed potatoes sounds like a delicious pairing!
Polly says
Wow, wow, wow! I have never cooked lamb before, but reading the reviews I went for it to try to impress some friends who are great cooks and it was amazing from the first mouthful! The only thing I wouldmdomdifferentlynwouod be to ask the butcher to trim the shanks for me
Michael S says
I’ve made this recipe or used it as base to riff off of several times. It never fails to please my wife and I and anyone we entertain. My tweaks from yesterday were to use a little ventriche (French version of pancetta) to get some grease in the pan before sautéing the onion. Substituted 3 tblspns Knorr Pro Demi-glace powder for the beef bouillon. And, to thicken I take the carrots out and then blend the onions, celery, ventriche, etc in my Vitamix and between that and the Knorr I don’t need any thickening agent. This time I added some sautéed mushrooms after cooking.
So, every time I make it I tweak a little something based on what is in the pantry. Regardless what exactly I use, this is always delicious.
Suzanne says
Absolutely delicious! Made this in the slow cooker, however, to thicken I skipped adding the flour into the wine and added 3 tablespoons cornflour with 1/4 cup water 1/2 an hour before finish and turned the heat to high. YUMMO!!
David Girolmo says
OMG! The meat fell off the bone, and the sauce was… unbelievable. With the leftover sauce, and lamb I made a Ragu with some homemade marinara for another dinner with pasta! YUMMY!!
Thank you, thank you Karina!!
Chris says
Delicious recipe. I made two shanks with the stovetop method using about 3/4 of the liquid amounts described here and they turned out lovely. After removing the shanks I lifted the flavor of the thickening gravy by adding some lemon juice and about 1 tbsp brown sugar. A keeper for when I’ve got time for a hearty, slow-cooked treat
David says
I love lamb and shanks and have tried a number of recipes in the past but this is far and away the most delicious version I’ve made. I can tell its super special because my wife said, ” This may well be the best meal you’ve ever made. Could be served at the finest restaurants!” Need I say more. Enjoy!!
Niall says
My wife cleaned off her plate and she NEVER does that.
There is just the two of us and if there is a recipe for just two shanks I could not find it. Still, I looked at the recipe and decided that I could find a use for all that extra sauce. Even hamburgers could be gourmet with that sauce on them. Sure enough, the next morning I added some to our omelets. Yum.
What I will do different the next time: I will not cut up the rosemary. The flavor will permeate the dish and it can readily be removed at the end.
What I MIGHT do the next time: Make a stew of it, cooking the potatoes and other veggies in it. That probably would not work so well with 4-6 shanks unless you increased the size of the sauce recipe.
Mark says
OMG this was a fantastic dish! My first time to make lamb shank and everyone raved about the absolute tenderness of the fall off the bone lamb. Such wonderful flavors melding together. Do not substitute the red wine. A few changes I would make: flour and season the lamb prior to searing and 350degrees in my oven was much too hot…next time 275 for 3 1/2 hrs. I served over creamy cheese Polenta…YUM! I will make again.