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….
Im so impressed with this recipe. Thanks for the slow cooker version, meat was falling off the bone. This will be my go to recipe for lamb shanks from now on.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Cathy!! N x
This turned out absolutely beautiful. I used beef stock instead of chicken, and just scooped the veggies and sauce over the whole thing. This is a stand by recipe for sure!
Nagi,
You talk about your Chasseur dutch oven. Time we bought one. What specification do you suggest i.e. size L, any other detail. Appreciate the advice. BTW we love your recipes! I swear by them. Keep it up
I made six lamb shanks, in a roasting tray covered with two layers of foil as per your directions. I maintained the amount of sauce, but reduced the wine to 1.5 cups (replaced the rest with stock) because I cook for three little ones five and under. Everyone loved it!
Love your website Nagi – inspirational. Came here to see what to do with lamb shanks and you’re making me want to buy more before I’ve even cooked these. I’d sketched out a recipe from BBC Good Food Guide but your comments have made me amend – particularly “Pinot is too light”! You do making cooking sound fun..
I always come straight to your site for inspiration Nagi. You’re the best. The meat was almost gelatinous and the sauce was luah. I strained out the vegetables and look forward to using them in my next lasagne as you suggested. Thank you for another delicious recipe..
*sorry..lush not luah.
Looking forward to cooking this!
If I half the recipe (just cooking for 2 people) how much would you reduce the cooking time by?
Hi Lauren, the cooking time will still be the same as it’s the size of the lamb shanks that determine the cook time. N x
So Nagi, I made your Red Wine Lamb Shanks a few weeks ago, delicious thank you. I squished everything in that sauce , and froze the leftovers.
Tonight I cooked shanks with the squished sauce. It was so easy and the best ever.
Thank you , Thank you. 🥰
This was amazing! first time cooking lamb shanks and my family loved it!!! I did the non-alcoholic version. Thank you Nagi for sharing such a wonderful recipe!! now just ready to cook new recipes from your website X
Thank you for your amazing recipes. You are my go to whenever I’m in need of some inspiration. This was so delicious and that sauce was the best! Saving the veg for a bolognaise tomorrow night. Yummo you are a superstar.
I made this recipe last night, I started making it at around 5pm and even in a bit of a time crunch. Dinner was on the table by 8, little bit late. But it was 100% worth it !! I served with garlic infused mash potato, sautéed spinach and crunchy bread rolls. Little to say there was none left. The sauce was absolutely beautiful. We get lamb shanks for free ( house mates parents own a farm ), so we will for sure be making this a stable at least once a month. I love RecipeTin eats recipes, I have made a few but this one is one of my favourites. Along with the tuna mornay which was epic. Thanks Nagi for providing me a young girl with a big heart for good food with such an awesome platform.
I made this today in my slow cooker and it was really good however even after 9 hours the wine flavor was still overwhelming and drowned out most of the lamb and veggie flavor. I just used a $6US bottle of Yellow Tail merlot but it was still too strong. Maybe next time I will use half merlot and half broth or switch to a milder red wine. Either way, I would not hesitate to make it again.
This is THE BEST recipe!!! My husband has rated this his number one favourite dish – I may have to cook this at least once a month now. Gorgeous, melt-in-your-mouth meat, and the sauce is beautiful. Glad we made the decision to not strain out the veggies because it was lovely eating it as a chunky gravy.
Hi Nagi, thank you. Do you think this exact recipe would be possible with a whole leg of lamb? Maybe adjust the liquid amount just a bit?
Hi Jacques, you would need to top up the liquid as you’d need to cook for much longer (depending on the size of the leg), but yes, definitely possible! N x
Hi Nagi
Is it 180 convection or fan forced?
Thanks
Mark
Hi Mark, 180 all oven types, where it matters I usually state the two different temperatures. 🙂 N x
Wow….it was unbelievably delicious. Will keep this as a family favourite for sure !! Thank you .
Hi Nagi, if I made this the day before, what is the best way of heating it up before serving? Thank you – it is a delicious recipe
Hi Howard, I usually reheat covered in a microwave. N x
Perfect winter dish, made this tonight using the slow cooker method. Reduced the sauce.
Yum
Delicious and easy recipe, thank you! Will make again.
Reading this recipe and it all sounds amazing but questioning the tomato side of things. I’m a huge fan of Red wine Demi glaze – I know, different thing but it sounds like the flavor would be similar, except for the tomato. Seems like it would make it very marinara tasting. Is it for acidity or flavor? Have you made it without tomato paste or crushed?
Hi Marcy, the red wine gives this a rich flavour, it’s very different from a marinara. The tomato is the base of this sauce and is needed here, it wouldn’t be the same without it. N x