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….
Can’t wait to make!! Thanks for posting Nagi. As usual, ingredients readily available or in my kitchen. I will let you know after I make it. BTW, I have been making good use of your salad dressing recipe s and we loved the feta, lemon one a lot! Have a terrific weekend?. Lisa, from gorgeous Portland, Oregon! x
Oooh, I love the feta one too! Great minds think alike 🙂 We would cause trouble in the kitchen together Lisa!! N x
Yet again you’ve totally nailed a recipe. That has poker night written all over for the resident carnivore and his friends 🙂
Yup, this is certainly a carnivore heaven food!! He he! 🙂
Hi Nagi! This is almost identical to how I cook shanks! I can’t always get them, but when I do find them I buy them all! I noticed a package the other day when I was getting ice. Sunday dinner nailed! I serve them over polenta. 🙂
Now why doesn’t that surprise me? Dorothy, I think way back many generations ago, we must be related! 😉 PS Polenta….so GOOD with this sauce! 🙂
Hi Nagi! Having been on the receiving end of blonde jokes my whole life I decided you don’t have to be a blonde to “be a blonde”. You also don’t have to be related to find kindred souls. 🙂
This is amazing Nagi! I love eating Lamb Shanks especially with some mashed potatoes! I love it more that it’s made in the oven! With that delicious caramelized crust… 🙂
Aw, thanks so much Dini, you’re too sweet! N x
OMG Nagi, this lamb looks mouth watering, and this comes from a person who won’t even come near a lamb dish. I hear that I am missing put, but my husband is such a HUGE lamb fan, that next time when I cook it, I will definitely come back to this recipe.
Now Katalina, you must be a good wife and NOT DEPRIVE your hubby!! He he! N x
Nagi, you’ve done it again! How do you “hit it out of the park” (an American expressions relating to a baseball home run) every time? I’m going to make these soon and will report back. And please share your other recipes. We’re heading into fall and winter state-side soon so will want all of these! (I’m about to make your shortbread with dulce de leche filling…yum!) Still working on launching my blog–you both inspire and intimidate me–but mostly inspire!
That shortbread! It’s amazing!! I do hope you love it 🙂 Thank you for your kind words, you totally humble me. 🙂 I’m honed you think I hit it out of the park!!! N x
I made the shortbread….oh, my! They were a hit! I’ve commented more fully at that post.
The only time I have eaten lamb is in a Vindaloo Curry – at this little Indian Restaurant I used to frequent with my dad – I never really was crazy about it – or so I thought – then I saw your pictures! Good grief, Nagi – lamb never looked so tempting! These shanks are GORGEOUS – that sauce – PHENOMENALLY GORGEOUSLY glossy! I am sitting here pondering how I can drool after something I’m not crazy about and then I get it – YOUR photos! AH-MAZING!
OMG. My heart melts at the thought of vindaloo lamb…..
I don’t like lamb typically…and clearly lately I do not eat it at all… HOWEVER!!! This is like ridiculously gorgeously amazingly stunning!!! That sauce! That crust! My god Nagi! I love this! And I took am interested…what lens did you use! And what exactly is that UNDERNEATH the shanks?! Is that a potato puree?
It’s cauliflower puree!!! 😉
Oh yummy!!!! We love lamb shanks and your sauce looks so rich and thick 🙂
I often do a Moroccan lamb shanks in the pressure cooker, they are delicious but I don’t get quite the same thick unctuous sauce that yours have. I have to add red lentils to get a thick sauce. I will be giving your recipe a go. Especially at the moment, anything warm and slow cooked is a winner at the moment. PIN TIME!
AND…….. who would use $40 wine for cooking???? Please tell me these people don’t exist??? I will happily do a wine exchange with them 😉
Love the $5 bargain bin! I am currently sat with a glass of $5 fizz….perfectly yummy for a Friday night 🙂
Have a great weekend x
Seriously Claire, some chef recipes I read say to that the recipe is DEPENDENT on using expensive wine. No way! Not ever in my kitchen! Good wine is reserved for sipping with cheese!! 😉
Oh my!! These lamb shanks looks so good! Did you use your 85mm lens? They looks very sharp and mouthwateringly amazing! 🙂 I’m going to try this. It’s just perfect for our winter weather!
Thanks Sue! Nope, this was with my 50mm, I don’t own an 85mm! 🙂 YES perfect for our freezing cold weather!! N x