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 recently had (Guinness) braised lamb shanks for the first time and fell in love. I didn’t know there were 2 types of shanks so I bought a package of the foreleg shanks. They are in the oven now and my kitchen smells all winey and amazing. I reduced the overall liquid so they braise rather than boil and I’m happily enjoying some of the “leftover” wine whilst I anticipate the succulent bites to come. Your recipes never fail me, so I’m excited!
Hi Nagi,
How can I adjust this recipe to use 4 deboned shanks?
Please help! I need to make a shopping list! 😅🙈
Hi Navi, would only doing 2 lamb shanks in the slow cooker mean you would put it on for less time or would it still take the same amount of time?
These were amazing!! I followed the oven recipe but left out the celery and only had one can of diced tomatoes so I added a cup of passata and splash of water instead. Still worked out beautifully.
I also only had 2 shanks but made the full amount of sauce so I can use it with pasta as suggested (if anyone has any recipes for this please let me know before I wing it lol).
Nagi’s recipes have made me love cooking and she is a household name in my extended family… my husband thinks it’s a cult! Thank you for another showstopper recipe.
A great recipe, easy to follow and my lamb shanks were cooked to perfection
This was delicious. Everyone was ‘ oh, that’s such a lot, I wont be able to eat all of it’. None, zero left on the plates. I made it the night before and reheated the shanks in the oven on 150, covered with aluminium foil. I blitzed the sauce and everyone loved it. Served with mash potatoes and steamed veggies. Served the Lemon Cheese cake from the cook book for dessert and it’s 5 stars plus! Unfortunately there’s nowhere to rate the cook book recipe but it was the prefect finisher
Just made this (with some modifications) from my farmers market haul. Absolutely delicious!
Wow! Thank you nagi!! This is fabulous recipe! I made it for shabbat diner and everyone loved it! i added Pino Noir – and a few more garlics….and fresh rosemary. Top recipe!!!
Can I add dried plums (after soaking overnight to rehydrate in Cabernet?) to step 10?
I made this recipe and it was delicious! Next time, I’d like to try adding a combo of Persian or Moroccan seasonings.
I have a ton of sauce left over which I’ve now frozen. Any suggestions on how to use?
Try using the sauce on pasta.
Can you please advise how to reheat if made the day before?
Hi Nagi, regarding the wine in this recipe you suggest to not use a Pinot as it’s too light but in your book you do suggest a Pinot (but half a cup more). Is the difference due to the marinating time?
Hi Kym! Great pick up 🙂 You’re exactly right. The cookbook recipe is a more “restauranty” version that calls for overnight marinating in the wine so pinot is ideal for that. As this recipe doesn’t call for overnight marinating I do think using a bolder wine works better. But honestly, I’d still make this with pinot if that’s what I had! N x
Made this tonight for my 50th. Made a lot of mess because my dish was a bit small but it was delicious.
Hi Nagi, I am cooking this Lamb Shank recipe, which is our family favorite! Could you please tell me the size of the beautiful white pot you used for this recipe? My Staub pot seems slightly too small to take all the ingredients. Thank you.
Amazing! Thanks for your detailed instructions and tips – it was very easy to make. I used half the amount of crushed tomatoes and a slightly sweeter full bodied red wine. So happy with the outcome and will make this for friends/family for years to come!
ive viewd a few of your recipes and cant wait till i move into my own apartmment soon to try thm out myself,just looking at your photos makes me hungry,whn im not even hungry,lol
this was sooooo good! Not hard, it just takes a long time, but worth it.
Like every time I want to try a new recipe I search this website or go through the Dinner cookbook.
We had lamb shanks to use and this seemed perfect. What an easy to put together delicious meal! The house had a wonderful smell while cooking.
Having a younger daughter I decided to remove the meat from the bones and slightly mash the vegetables to create more of a thicker sauce. Served with a lovely tagliatelle and mopped up the rest with a crusty loaf (unfortunately not enough time to make Nagi’s amazing no knead bread).
This recipe will now be added to one of our favourites. Absolutely amazing as always Nagi 🥰
Hi, just wondering what changes I would need to make to cook this in a slow cooker rather than the oven and would the flavour still be there? Thank you for a wonderful site full of delicious recipes.
It’s in the recipe notes.
Point number 6.
How did you go making them in the slow cooker? Did you make any adjustments with anything?
I cooked this in the slow cooker so the shanks were really tender and tasted beautiful. I shredded the leftover meat, removing the fatty bits and used it to make an amazing shepherd’s pie.