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….
Best lamb shank recipe! Made this last night for dinner with some risotto! Unbelievable flavors!!! Thank you so much!
This is my first foray into tomato based lamb shanks and it was the absolute best. I saved the veg mixture and used it in a penne dish with Italian sausage. It was to die for. So much flavour. This recipe is saved to my book marks for future use. Thank you. 😊
Perfect Ron, I love hearing this!! N x
Hi there. This looks so yummy! I want to try it out for Sunday lunch. I only have 2 shanks, how do I adjust the other measurements?
Looks amazing! Given that the wine cooks out… do you think it would be ok to serve this to a toddler?
Absolutely beautiful.
What a sensuous, melt in the mouth dish. Flavours abound in the meat and sauce.
I laid the shanks on a bed of low carb potato mash, accompanied by baked veges (broccoli, Brussels, carrots) in oil and balsamic vinegar, All smothered with that beautiful sauce. YUM… happy wife, happy life!
Thanks Nagi! Love all your dishes!
Signed by a very happy middle-aged Aussie bloke.
I made this last night and had friends over for dinner. I actually repurposed our rice cooker as a slow cooker. Absolutely delicious. As you recommended, I strained out the veggies and will use as a ragu base for lasagna. Your recipes are always the best. Thanks!
That’s great to hear Marshall – I love hearing this!!! N x
I’m making this recipe for the second time. Hugely successful first time. It’s winter, I live in the country on a non working farm, it’s cold, so perfect for this hearty stew. I chop everything quite chunky, using potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic and whole brussel sprouts. I also add black beans and reduce wine by half a cup. I cook the recommended time in the recommended temperature. We like to eat it alone, with some crusty bread to mop up those delicious juices. Lasts two people, three meals. This is a great, full proof recipe. Highly recommend.
Cooked to recipe & this was the best I’ve ever made. I didn’t strain the sauce as I ran out of time & everyone loved it as was. Thanks for a another keeper recipe.
I don’t strain or blitz the sauce. Love the rustic, simplicity of it as is. Perfect.
That’s great to hear Delphina, I’m so happy it was a hit! N x
I love your recipes and I’ll be doing this in the slow cooker tomorrow. One comment; the onion, carrot, celery combination should not be referred to as “Holy Trinity”, but Mirepoix. Holy Trinity is onion, celery, and bell pepper (capsicum) used in Cajun and Creole dishes. 😉
Wow! Cleaned plates, a huge hit! Super easy, minimal cleanup and just amazing flavour & texture. Bonus is knowing I have the base for pasta in a couple of days! Win!
Cleaned plates, a huge hit! Super easy, minimal cleanup and just amazing flavour & texture. Bonus is knowing I have the base for pasta in a couple of days! Win!
Can red cooking wine be used instead of real wine?
HI Robina, cooking wine is fine here 🙂 N x
OMG Nagi – I have just followed your Note 5 re using the strained veggies (“soffritto” I think you’ve said it’s called?). I also added the leftover sauce, blitzed it with the Bamix and it tastes so rich and sensational! Wow! Have frozen for emergency pasta sauce. No need to say that how fantastic your actual lamb shank recipe is – the 92,000 hearts say it all!
It was my wife’s birthday this week so we decided to cook lamb shanks as a treat.
I used the pressure cooker for quickness as it is 41 degrees c here and I made a mistake when we moved in of not installing A Con in the kitchen.
Fresh lamb is not available in our seaside mini city so a trip to our catering superstore was in order.
2 large chest freezers of lamb products, the left, lamb from New Zealand and to the right lamb from Australia.
We picked Australian lamb.
Wonderful meal Nagi, great recipe.
Sorry Dozer the meat just fell off the bone, nothing for you.
Beautiful! This is now my go-to lamb shank recipe. I saved most of the sauce, whizzed it with my hand held blender and used it as the base for a spaghetti sauce – it was amazing!
Have cooked this recipe many times now and guests always love the flavours.
Many thanks.
This recipe is a hit! It was my first time making lamb shanks and they had perfectly tender meat and an awesome sauce!
Just cooked the lamb shank in red wine was fantastic and the recipe and pictures exactly !!!!!!
Thank you,
Hi Nagi. This is the best lamb shank recipe. Thank you! We love it so much that we’ve made it every Saturday for a month now. 😊
This was sooo good!! Highly recommend this recipe. Perfect winter meal and easy to cook
My 1 year old and husband loved it. So great for the whole family. I removed the salt but did everything else the same.