Lamb shanks are the king of all lamb cuts!! Slow cooked until meltingly tender in a rich, deeply flavoured red wine sauce, this recipe is worthy of fine dining restaurants yet is completely straightforward to make. Serve it over creamy mashed potato with a side of peas or sautéed spinach, with crusty bread to mop your bowl clean!
* Here for the cookbook version? Find it here -> the elegant Restaurant Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce.
Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks
I have a real soft spot for slow cooked lamb shanks. I just love the look of a hunk of meltingly tender meat wrapped around the bone. Hits my carnivore sweet-spot, every time.
Honestly, if you put this and a towering frosted cake in front of me, this would win every day of the week and twice on Sunday:
Cooking lamb shanks is easy!
Being a tough cut of meat that needs slow cooking to make it fall-off-the-bone tender, lamb shanks are actually very forgiving so it’s a real easy cut to cook with.
You literally cannot overcook lamb shanks.Leave it in for an hour too long, and the meat is still succulent and juicy. The worst that will happen is that the meat falls off the bone when you go to serve it.
And if you pull it out too early and the meat isn’t fork tender, just add more liquid and keep cooking!
The only key tip I have is to brown that shank as well as you can. It is a hard shape to brown evenly, but do what you can. Browning is the key flavour base for any protein that’s slow cooked in a braising liquid, like Beef Stew, Pot Roast, Chicken Stew. If you ever see a slow cooked stew recipe that doesn’t call for browning the meat before slow cooking, proceed with caution!
I love slow cooking meat on the bone. Lamb Shanks, Beef Short Ribs and Osso Buco – better flavour more succulent!
What are lamb shanks?
If you’re new to lamb shanks, here’s a rundown: lamb shanks are from the lower leg of lambs, and they are an inexpensive, tough cut of meat.
Because of this, lamb shanks need to be slow cooked – either braised or roasted – to break down the tough meat to soften into succulent tenderness.
The meat itself is full of flavour which adds to the flavour of the sauce.
BONUS: The marrow in the bone melts into the sauce, deepening the flavour and richness. We love freebies around here!!
Classic Red Wine Sauce for Lamb Shanks
Red wine sauce is a classic braising liquid for lamb shanks, with the rich deep flavours a natural pairing with the strong flavour of lamb.
The red wine sauce is super simple to make but after hours of slow cooking, it transforms into an incredible rich, deeply flavoured sauce that’s silky and glossy, and looks totally posh-restauranty.
Just a quick note on the wine – I do not use expensive wines for slow cooking. I truly believe from the bottom of my heart that even the snobbiest of all food snobs would not be able to tell the difference if you made this with a discount end-of-bin $5 bottle or a $50 bottle. (And the New York Times agrees….)
Maybe you could tell the difference using a $100 bottle. But that’s not within my budget….
Non alcoholic sub for wine?
The wine is a key flavour for the broth in this recipe. So if you cannot consume alcohol, it is best to substitute with non-alcoholic red wine.
Please do not use more beef or chicken stock/broth, even if it’s low sodium. This sauce has amazing flavour in it because it is massively concentrated down (essentially into a jus). So if you use more stock then it will end up too salty.
This is one of those recipes that truly is terrific to make in the oven, stove, slow cooker or pressure cooker, as long as its started on the stove to brown the shanks and saute the onion etc. Right now, being winter here in Sydney, I choose the oven so it keeps my house nice and warm! – Nagi x
Slow cooked lamb shanks
Watch how to make it
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Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 lamb shanks , around 13 oz / 400g each (Note 1)
- 1 tsp EACH cooking/kosher salt and pepper
- 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil , separated
- 1 onion , finely diced (brown, yellow or white)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 cup carrot , peeled, finely diced (Note 2)
- 1 cup celery , finely diced (Note 2)
- 2 1/2 cups red wine (full bodied (good value wine, not expensive! Note 3)
- 800 g / 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken stock , low sodium (or water)
- 5 sprigs of thyme (preferably tied together), or 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 dried bay leaves (or 4 fresh)
To Serve:
- Mashed potato , polenta or pureed cauliflower
- Fresh thyme leaves , optional garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types – fan and standard).
- Season shanks – Pat the lamb shanks dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Brown – Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Sear the lamb shanks in 2 batches until brown all over, about 5 minutes. Remove lamb onto a plate and drain excess fat (if any) from the pot.
- Sauté aromatics – Turn the heat down to medium low. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same pot. Add the onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Add carrot and celery. Cook for 5 minutes until onion is translucent and sweet.
- Braising liquid – Add the red wine, chicken stock, crushed tomato, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
- Add shanks – Place the lamb shanks into the pot, squeezing them in to fit so they are mostly submerged. (Note 1)
- Oven 2 hours covered – Turn stove up, bring liquid to a simmer. Cover, then transfer to the oven for 2 hours (see notes for other cook methods).
- Uncovered 30 minutes – Remove lid, then return to the oven for another 30 minutes (so 2 1/2 hours in total). Check to ensure lamb meat is ultra tender – if not, cover and keep cooking. Ideal is tender meat but still just holding onto bone.
- Remove lamb onto plate and keep warm. Pick out and discard bay leaves and thyme.
- Sauce – Strain the sauce into a bowl, pressing to extract all sauce out of the veggies (Note 5 for repurposing the veggies). Pour strained sauce back into pot. If needed, bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce slightly to a syrupy consistency (see video) – I rarely need to. Taste then add salt and pepper to taste (Note 5 on sauce taste).
- Serve the lamb shanks on mashed potato or cauliflower puree with plenty of sauce! Garnish with thyme leaves if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published August 2015, updated with new photos, video and a slightly refined recipe in 2018. Previously the base recipe said to blitz the sauce at the end. It looks much posher (ie fine dining style) and actually does taste nicer just to strain it because the sauce stays glossy – if you blitz, sauce becomes more matte and is not as smooth. 🙂 Recipe then further improved when it was decided to include this lamb shanks in my debut cookbook Dinner – that “restaurant” version is exclusive to my cookbook!
Life of Dozer
And I stuck my tongue right back at him….
What is the best way to reheat the lamb shank and serve if I need to make this all the day before? I want to keep as much of that delicious taste and texture to the shank as possible
I would reheat this in the oven covered with foil. N x
Made this last night, so easy and delicious! Another winner, just like all of your recipes Nagi!
Just wondering if you (or anyone else!) have any recipe suggestions to use the leftover (blitzed) sauce?
Thanks 🙂
I think it would make an amazingly tasty pasta sauce Caitlin!! N x
Update: couldn’t decide what type of pasta to make so popped my leftover sauce in the freezer. Decided to use it to make lasagne tonight and jr was SO GOOD! It was a belated Mother’s Day dinner for my mum and she said it’s the best lasagne she’s ever had!
(I used the leftover lamb shank sauce plus a tin of tomato soup, some tomato paste and herbs to simmer the meat in, then loosely followed the rest of your lasagne recipe).
Thanks (as always) Nagi!
This recipe was easy and it tasted amazing. I highly recommend!
That’s great Fern! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! N x
It was great for EASTER!
Woo hoo Misa!! I am so glad that you enjoyed it!! N x
5 star excellent
I’ve got a Dutch Oven for a lengthy camping trip to Uluru and was looking for a Lamb Shank recipe to have on cold nights in the desert. Your recipe looks perfect for the job. And the Dutch Oven will add another dimension to the taste (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever used one). Though I might drop the part where the vegetables are strained:-)
Campfire cooks are PERFECT with this recipe! Enjoy your trip!! N x
First time cooking lamb shanks, only because I have only been able to find them in a ready made sauce in some paper packaging and I don´t want that nonsense, no cheating, but I found a pretty good butcher the other day so we made this last night and my oh my, it was amazing and I actually managed to make it look like restaurant style on the plate, that doesn´t happen with me very often. Had to snap off some pictures and the other half was not allowed to touch anything until I was finished, he was drooling and nearly crying at the same time “HURRY UP WILL YA” you can´t rush art though Nagi, can you? Thank you and have a good weekend x
I’m happy you both loved it so much! N x
Another spot on recipe Nagi, thank you! I used non alcoholic red wine which still delivers on flavour and served with creamy cauliflower puree, deelish!
is it possible to substitute the celery with mushrooms or capsicum, just anything other then celery?
You can just leave it out Melissa! N x
I’ve made the is before and it was wonderful! I’d like to make this again but I cannot track down any lamb shanks in my area… can I substitute it for chicken thighs you think?
Hi Mandy – you would be better off substituting another slow cook cut like beef cheeks rather than chicken which doesn’t work well in this sort of recipe. If you want to do chicken in red wine sauce, do my coq au vin recipe here: https://salesdock.info/coq-au-vin/%3C/a%3E N x
This is one of the best slow cooked lamb shank recipes I’ve ever tried. Full of flavour. Thankyou Nagi. Definitely a favourite recipe. Great for a Sunday feast.
I am so happy you liked it Dave! N x
Can I substitute beef stock for the chicken stock, or will that degrade the flavour?
Yes Gail you can in this recipe. Just be sure that it’s low sodium or homemade! N x
The lamb shank was a big hit! I’ve had great success with all your recipes, from chocolate cake to Vietnamese chicken salad to this one, and many others. Thank you!
I’m going to make this today, can you tell me the recipe for the left over veg tossed with pasta please?
Absolutely amazing. So so easy and the meat just fell off the bone. I used my pressure cooker and then thickened the sauce at the end. Hubby gave this dish a 10/10. As with all of your recipes Nagi, they are consistently tasty and easy to cook. You’re a legend and I’m so glad I stumbled across your page. Thank you so much!!
Hi Nagi. Thank you for all your deliciousness!!! I’d love to serve this Tuesday night and wanted to know if it’s ok to cook Saturday and freeze?
Hi Andrea – you don’t even need to freeze it – it will be fine on Tuesday as long as you cool it down right when it’s done and keep it in the coldest part (bottom) of your fridge in an airtight container! But you can freeze it if you prefer! N x
Finger licking good!
I’ve made these twice now and it’s been decided that it’s our new special birthday meal for anyone in the family!
Also made a delicious pasta afterwards with the celery mix and added some extra bacon, chorizo, olives and fresh spinach from the garden. I actually doubled the sauce n veg just to make more leftovers for the pasta the second time.
I didn’t have a giant baking dish, so just bought two of those bbq foil disposables from Coles and they worked out great for the larger batch.
Wish it had a 10 star rating 😁👌🏻
Awwww I am blushing! 😊 Thank you! N x
what is a sick blender ???
WOULD BE GOOD TO CKECK YOUR SPELLING
A sick blender is a fabulous one e.g “that’s one sick blender”. Your spelling mistake however, I can’t give an explanation for.
And yet you typed check the way you did lol
My blender AND my spellcheck need a doctor!! 😂😂 (I am assuming you spelled “check” that way on purpose??!!) N x
Don’t be so rude
Absolutely delicious. I’ve made this receipt several times using my slow cooker for 8 hours, but there was always too much liquid. Last night I cooked the shanks exactly per Nagi’s recipe in the oven for 2 hrs covered and 1/2 uncovered. The sauce is richer, thicker and and way more delicious!!! The only difference is I used boneless lamb shanks as that is all I could get at the time (COVID supply issues). So I’ve stuck to using the boneless – 2 packs of 4 giving 8 servings so perfect for a dinner party. The meat was ULTRA TENDER under both methods. Love your recipes. Thank you
I am glad you enjoyed it Shona!! N x
Hi I want to make this for 8 people all my cooking pots and slow cooker feed about 6 max any suggestions or does this work if done in 2 bathches in slow cooker and reheating?
You can absolutely do it as 2 batches in the slow cooker and reheat! N x