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….
Looks lovely!! Can’t wait to make this for easter. Just wondering if it can be made a day ahead? I know that’s the case with some lamb shanks recipes. Thanks!
Gosh YES! I swear anything slow cooked is even better the next day 🙂 N x
Why would you pour off the lovely lamb fat and add olive oil instead? The fat gives so much more flavor.
Hi Charles! You’re right, the fat has intense lamb flavour 🙂 It’s because of this reason I pour it off – because lamb drippings can overwhelm sauces. It’s for this reason that you don’t find, for example, lamb broth sold at stores. Chicken, beef, vegetable and fish stock but no lamb broth. 🙂 So by removing the drippings, it makes the sauce flavour cleaner – and believe me, there is still plenty of lamb flavour from the slow cooking!
I have it in the oven now. I have a little over two pound of shank, but I made the same amount of sauce for your recipe. Will it brown o.k. ?
Hi Theresa! It will work fine – you’ll end up with more sauce than you need for the shanks but that’s a GOOD problem to have! Try tossing pasta through leftover sauce – great side for another night! N x
Hi Nagi, Another winning recipe…thank you. I doubled the amount of shanks and froze half for future quick meals. Still have quite a bit of sauce left over, so I am going to use your meatball recipe using ground lamb instead and serve over pasta. I love your recipes. I lost my desire for cooking for a while and you have inspired me to start again. Thank you so much, Sue from the States 🙂
LOVE HEARING THAT!! Whoot! N x ❤️
I made this on Valentine’s Day for my husband. Loved it! Thank you. My daughter ate the leftover sauce in pasta and was the first to finish with no complaints. Brilliant. Thinking of making this for friends tomorrow xx Many thanks for this
I love hearing that! So glad your husband enjoyed this! N x
Hi Nagi! Wondering if this will store/freeze if I make a double batch?
Yes yes yes! Slow cooked stewy type things freeze brilliantly 🙂 N x
My god I’ve just made this for my family it was beautiful 😀😀🍷🍷
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Kerry! Thanks for letting me know – N x
hi I don’t use wine in my food what is he alternate of wine
It’s my understanding that the wine provides the acid for a braise. You might try substituting red wine vinegar plus dried fruit for flavor. I often use prunes, rainsins, or craisins for a lamb braise.
Or google ‘wine substitutes for braises’
Hi Gis, I’m sorry to say that’s a bit tough for this recipe because it is a Red WINE Sauce! 🙂 N x
Can this recipe be used for lamb chops as well?
This recipe looks amazing! I could only find 1/2lb. shanks and bought a total of 4 (aproxx. 2lbs. total). Would suggest changing the cooking time or temperature? Thanks
Hi Ruth! Just start checking the shanks at 1 hr 30 minutes, you want them super tender / “falling off the bone” but you don’t want them to actually fall off when you plate them up because it doesn’t look as ice 🙂 Easy to adjust the cook time for this recipe, just take the shanks out when done then finish off the sauce i.e. thicken it 🙂 N x
I have never cooked lamb so in looking for recipes for slow cooker I ran across yours but my son gave me a couple of shanks weighing 5lbs. so I will cut the ingredients in half. what do you think?
Hmm, if it’s 2 shanks that total 5 lb, I would stick to the recipe as it is in terms of sauce, but you will need to cook for longer to get them tender so you may need to add more water. 🙂
If I wanted to use a crock pot instead, does the timing change? use the high setting? I have all the ingredients and Im about to dive in…
Note 7 has slow cooker directions!!
Can you share how you prepared your side dish of zuccinni strips?
Hi Susan! I use a potato peeler! 🙂
Hi Nagi,
I am cooking your recipe right now, and at the moment I am currently just over half an hour into the slow cooking process. I am using the stovetop method. I just checked it and the liquid is extremely watery, with not even a little bit of thickness or density. Is that how it’s supposed to be? I’m just worried because I can see in your photo (which looks amazing, by the way) that your sauce is thick, with no element of ‘wateriness’. Is that because you pureed it? Or is it because I’m just not far enough into the cooking process?
Also, one more thing I am worried about is that I just tasted it (half an hour into the cooking process) and it still tastes quite noticeably like wine….will it evaporate by the end of the allotted cooking time?
Hopefully you can help me with these questions. 🙂
As a side note, I’d just like to say that I am extreemely impressed with all you recipes. I am only 13 years old (and I absolutely LOVE cooking) and I find them generally quite easy and hugely enjoyable to make. And most importantly, the end product is immensely delicous!
Thank you,
Layla
Layla,
Too cool. Keep it up. Cooking is an art, and you’re going to love every minute of perfecting it.
Only thing I’m changing, Polenta. It’s a natural.
Hi Layla! Sorry I missed this while you were cooking. The sauce definitely gets thicker as it cooks longer and yes I pureed the sauce, I really like thickening it that way. And yes the wine flavour evaporates with the longer cook time, you won’t taste any wine flavour by the end! N xx PS SUPER impressed you’re cooking this and you’re only 13!!!
Hey do we turn down the oven at all during the 2 1/2 hour cooking process?
Nope! it’s for a standard oven though, so turn it down a bit if you have a fan or convection oven 🙂
Made this last night, on stove top then oven. Delicious rich sauce and very tender shanks. I used cask red wine (“inexpensive” rather than “cheap” hahahha). It worked very well. Once again a roaring success Nagi! Thanks for sharing this recipe. Kind regards, Marg.
Fantastic!🙌🏻 I’m so pleased to hear that Marg! N xx
Thanks for a great recipe. I used it in my slow cooker so only used 1/2 the tomatoes. At the end I reduced some of the cooking liquid and it made a beautiful sauce. Delicious.
That’s wonderful to hear Lulu! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
Hello Nagi
How do you make the sauce? I’ve already started cooking but now I can’t find anywhere you talk about the sauce.
Please help me asap
Hi! The sauce is what the shanks are cooked in! 🙂
This was easy and absolutely delicious! I was first introduced to lamb shanks at a wonderful little restaurant in Mountain View, CA. Go there every time I go back for work. Living so far away now, I decided to look for a recipe and this fit the bill. Excellent recipe with awesome flavor! It’s on my tried and true recipe file on Pinterest. ☺️
I love hearing than Jan!!! I absolutely love that you went hunting for a recipe that reminds you of that restaurant’s 🙂 And so I’m extra pleased this delivered for you! N xx
Hi nagi i was looking for a good non experience shank recipes thanks i sounds amazing.looked a lot of your recipes only just found your blog tonight love it looking forward to cooking them and thanks for the cook books.keep up your good work. Kerry
I do hope you try this Kerry! It is a delightfully simple recipe! 🙂 N xx