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….
I followed the recipe exactly and was so pleased with the result. I cooked 3 good-sized shanks for 3 adults, we could have eaten more, they were so tender and flavoursome. It is absolutely worth the effort of straining the vegies off the sauce and having a smooth pouring sauce – oh my goodness, that sauce is a taste sensation!
this was FANTASTIC! i will note that i accidentally used twice the garlic and onions–i cut the recipe in half because i had only one shank but forgot to halve the garlic and onions, so that may have made a good recipe even better!
Omg this is unbelievably good thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I will be making it again and again.
I love all your recipes. Just wondering if I can I make this the night before for a dinner party? It’s because I won’t have enough time to do this on the actual day.
Hi Katrina, did you get a reply to this question as I am making this today for dinner tomorrow night and am concerned it won’t keep well in the fridge.
It taste’s even better the next day! I make sure it’s properly heated up the next day.
After slow cooking in the oven. I remove the shanks and place into a large freezer bag & allow to cool before putting into fridge. Zip freezer bag. Strained the sauce & put back into dutch oven then pop back into the fridge for next day reheating & reducing. Take shanks out of the fridge at the same time when planning to heat the sauce. When sauce is ready, placed shanks in the heated sauce, cover & let shanks warm up. Ready in 10 minutes. Put shanks on plate and drizzle with the reduced red wine sauce. Enjoy
I made these tonight for a dinner party and they were amazing! I did add 1 sprig of fresh roesmary and I also left tge dutch oven uncovered for the duration per Gordon Ramsay’s technique.
I’ve cooked this about three or four times now and it’s been a wonderful each time. A favourite with everyone. I confess I blitzed the veg each time and we love the flavour.
Amazing!!!! I am not a great cook. I usually just grill. This time I decided to try to cook lamb shanks since I always get them at restaurants. OMG!! This recipe is fantastic and so easy! Thank you!!!!
Although I am one of your biggest fans, both my wife and I thought that this recipe was lacking something. It was good but not quite as tasty as you usually do things. I have compared the recipe with one we have used previously which uses paprika, crushed coriander seeds and less chopped tomatoes, followed by a tablespoon of honey.
My god. The most delicious lamb shank I have ever tasted in my life cooked in the comfort of my home with such affordable ingredients. Thank you thank you so much!
Hi Nagi
Love your recipes 😋🥰
I’m not sure about increasing slow lamb shank qty?
I did 7 instead of 4 but sort of did 50% more of the other ingredients. Not sure if that’s right? Not sure on cooking times?
Hard when you always have more than 4 people😉
Anyway, I made your chicken burgers, chorizo stew, Italian salad. All a big hit 👍🏼😋
The shanks are still cooking…. Time will tell? 👍🏼😃
Cooked this tonight for my family and they loved it! I didn’t have any thyme, however added in some chilli, parsley, a splash of vinegar… delish!! Thank you 🙏🏾
I cooked this a while ago when it included the need to marinade for 24 hours. Loved it, where can I find that recipe as it is now missing and I forgot to print it out. Thanks
This was a favourite recipe in our household. I just reached for it again and it appears to have changed? I don’t recall there ever being a need to marinate the lamb or to reduce the wine early on. Is there any chance of getting a copy of the original (simplified) recipe please?
YES! I just put it back. The cookbook version will go to a different page 🙂
I can’t find the newer version that was here a few weeks ago! Where can I find it now I used it only 3 weeks ago
Absolutely delicious. Sauce has great flavour and the shanks just fell apart. I only cooked 2 shanks so have a lot of sauce left over which I will portion and freeze for later uses. This recipe will be in high rotation over winter
Hi Nagi! I make your lamb shank (absolutely heavenly) at least 4 times a year and unfortunately did not print out the older version of this recipe which did not call for a 24 hour marinade. If you have the older version of the lamb shank recipe I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have it. My family is asking me to make them again.
It’s back!!! Original recipe is there – I removed the cookbook version! N xx
Please can you show me where to find the recipe I followed at the beginning of April? It says to marinade the shanks and veg for 24 hrs.
Hi Nagi, love your recipes. I actually started the 24 hour marinade yesterday, are you able to publish the old recipe too? My shanks are just chilling in red wine and veg atm. Thanks and appreciate your website! 🙂
Cookbook version. Why not show both?
Why did you remove the original version. Why not show both?
I put the original back 🙂 I removed the cookbook version which is in the cookbook! N x
Can lamb shanks be slow cooked overnight in the oven like your lamb shoulder recipe?
I would love the old recipe please
I put the original back and removed the cookbook version! 🙂 N x
This is a amazing recipe one of the best I’ve ever had! If your in Australia and wanting a good wine to use for the best flavour jacob’s creek pinot noir is the best I’ve tried other brands with this recipe and the end result of the gravey isn’t nice with any other wine! Thanks for the recipe will be a keeper!
Just tried new version of lamb shanks. They were very good and certainly Nagi worthy however, I still prefer the original version. So glad I found original recipe on line!
Maybe Nagi should include both options on her blog site?
Dawn! I need that old recipe! Is there anyway to post it to the comments?!??!!??!??!
YES! I put it back and removed the cookbook version 🙂 N x
Hi Dawn, where did you find the original recipe? Would love to make tonight
I put the original back and removed the cookbook version! 🙂 N x
Can you please share original recipe, Dawn?
I put the original back and removed the cookbook version! 🙂 N x
I just logged on to make this again having loved it the first time before the recipe was updated. Could it be updated to include the steps without the marinade and reduction? Was the quantity of red wine less without the reduction?