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….
KATE says
If this is half as good as your meat loaf recipe which we have done twice now and is quick to make and so yummy, I can’t wait to try the Lamb Shanks. Cooking it today. Will let you know what hubby rates it.
Kate
Kate says
Hold on wait …. There is a meat loaf recipe as well!? 😲🤤
Wayne R Newman says
I’ve never cooked lamb shanks before. Served it for dinner with a friend from London. Major hit. Strained the sauce and reduced. Thank you
Nagi says
That’s awesome Wayne – thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Katie M says
This was super delish. Only had two (fairly hefty) shanks so reduced the stock, tomatoes, and wine. My shanks weren’t fully covered so I turned them every half hour, and the liquid had quite reduced after an hour and half. So I added in some more wine and water, turned the oven down (forgot I had it on fan forced which wouldn’t have helped). ANYWAY, nearly ready to drop off the bone at 2.5 hours, turned the oven off and left them in there to sit and relax for 30 mins. Amazing! Thickened the sauce a tiny bit. Finished with a gremolata (smooshed garlic with parsley, lemon rind, s & p). Served w mash. First time cooking shanks, won’t be the last ❤️. Thanks Nagi!
Nicole says
Yum! That sauce *drool*
Jeff says
Made this over the weekend with mashed potatoes the Robuchon weigh. Awesome. Definitely doing this again. Lot of sauce maybe a little tomato forward, but I took the strained veg, the leftover glaze, and some marinara that was not quite enough for a portion to make a quart of sauce for pasta.
Rachael says
Another winner, I cooked it in the pressure cooker, only had 2 lamb shanks but cooked a full sauce. I blitzed most of the veg into the sauce and used the sauce on pasta the next night. I added some bacon to the sauce for the pasta and it was delish.
Jeff says
wine substitution: I have a beef stew recipe that’s more of a braise and I often use apple cider. Now, that’s a pretty far departure from red wine. It does work. I think perhaps the most important thing the wine brings to the party is acidity. (caveat, I’m not a chef nor have I played one on TV)
Fiona says
Such a easy to follow recipe and they smelled so good while in the oven I had to leave the apartment as it was making me so hungry! Got nothing but high compliments all night! Thank you
Minako says
Never cooked shanks before -let alone in the slow cooker
Prepped early in the morning so it was ready when I got home from work… smelled amazing- tastes just as amazing
Nagi says
What a great meal to come home to!!! N x
Julie says
Love this recipe! Though I found it a bit to acidic. I used a very good quality wine (don’t tell my husband) tomatoes. How can I reduce the acidity?
Nagi says
Hi Julie, it would definitely be the wine and tomatoes – a pinch of sugar will reduce the acidity and promote sweetness here. N x
Amanda says
Best lamb shanks I have cooked. I have only cooked them once before and they were a bit ho hum. This recipe worked a treat! The family all loved them and came back for more.
I’ll be trying some more of your recipes.
Thanks for sharing.
Sheryl says
From my kids: Thank you so much it was delicious. We strained the veges to keep for spag bol and added 4 tbsp of maggi gravy mix to the sauce. Next level gravy!! We will freeze the leftovers for later. Thanks Nagi for another awesome recipe!
Janet Weinbrecht says
Absolutely delicious! I had no problem fitting 4 shanks into my 24cm dutch oven but when I added all the other ingredients realised I could only fit in 1 cup of wine (disposing of the rest was no problem) but it was still delicious. Next time I’ll try reducing the stock and wine proportionately. Definitely a keeper recipe.
Linda says
YUMMO!! Nagi this was the first time I have cooked lamb shanks and this recipe is to DIE FOR!! Will definitely make this again. Your recipe was so easy to follow and I love how you explain everything. PLEASE give me the pasta sauce recipe for the leftover veges …
Carrie says
I’ve made shanks using quite a few recipes and this is by far the yummiest… and the one with the fewest ingredients. I pushed the sauce through a sieve which resulted in very little waste and a nice thick sauce. Such a well balanced dish!
Christina says
Making this tonight! How do you think the sauce would do if instead of straining out the veggies at the end, you used an immersion blender and then reduced it?
Roy says
I made this recipe and added a teaspoon of dried Rosemary. After slow cooking leaving it overnight and reheating the next day really develops the flavours. 10/10 thank you so much.
Barb says
So good, so easy, so full of flavour.
Mick Wood says
Made the lamb shanks in red wine and I have to say it was “restaurant ” standard! Superb and it looked just like the photo. Used a Barbera d’asti which blends perfectly with the tomatoes as it is Italian of course. You only get out what you put in, so worth a good £10 bottle of red. The lamb just melted and for once sticking to the recipe proved to be a masterstroke. Cant wait to try more! Signed up already!!
Rita Green says
I cooked this recipe with 2 shanks on Sunday and it was superb! My son couldn’t believe I’d made it and said it tasted restaurant quality. Cooked in the slow cooker for 7 hours. It stayed on the bone until the first mouthful then fell apart. Perfect! My local shop didn’t have celery so I had to leave it out. I’ll be making it again next week with 5 shanks, can’t wait. Thank you so much.