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….
Christina Richards says
Made this for dinner and it was so delish! “Best lamb shanks I’ve ever had” they said 🙂
Will Barks says
I have made this recipe three times now. Every time it is a huge hit and comes out amazing! Presentation of this dish is stunning as well. Thank you!
Esther says
Hi, i would need to make this for 10. So would have to.cook them in 2 batches the day before. what is the best way to store them (i only have one cast iron pot) and reheat the next day?
Nagi says
Hi Esther, I would cook in two batches then store in them in the pot. Reheat gently over the stove or in a warm oven 🙂 N x
Diane Van Jaarsveld says
I am definitely going to try this recipe. It is easy to understand and the additional information and substitution suggestions are really helpful. This is a recipe I can follow. Looking forward to trying this out.
Sharon says
Hi there I just started cooking this and I’m excited! I started later than I had hoped! Can I cook it part of the time on high in the slow cooker?
Nagi says
Hi Sharon – yes you can cook on high or even pressure cook to save time – they should be done in about 5 hours on high in the slow cooker. N x
Linda says
This recipe is so perfect and delicious!! Thank you 🙂
Served with sweet potato mash, which worked well.
Alan Winetrobe says
I think this is our favourite slow cooker recipe for lamb shank, maybe even our favourite lamb recipe, yet so simple to make. The lamb is succulent and tastes delicious and the sauce is wonderful and as you say, Nagi, wonderful with pasta. We just blitzed it and reheated, didn’t need anything else! Sheer heaven on a plate!
Bryan Kujawski says
Just awesome. Great lamb shop food.
Merci,
Bryan and Carok
Nicky says
All I can say is YES !!!
So good, so so very very good.
Do yourselves a favor and cook this.
Nagi – thank you for bringing this dish into my life
Blackfeather says
Ok…
The lamb shanks w/red wine turned out wonderful. I have a lot of leftover stock. Can I use this for flavoring spaghetti sauce? Any suggestions?
Nagi says
Yes you definitely can Blackfeather – it’s great over pasta!! N x
Alice Brown says
If I am to make this recipe for two people should I just reduce everything including the liquid to half?
Bill says
Use the full quantities, or at least 2/3rds. The extra liquid ensures that the shanks are covered during cooking.
And the sauce is superb!
Charliebuoy says
Hello Alice,
Personally, I would still use the full quantities.. You could save the extra 2 shanks for the following day, (if they were not eaten for ‘seconds’!), but whilst cooking 2, you may as well cook 4, and the leftover sauce can be used for pasta etc. Bon appetite! x
Clifford Finch says
Fantastic recipe. I tweaked it in one or two areas but hey, still your recipe.
Linda Kelleher says
Hi Nagi and Dozer,
I’ve made this several times and again today for a very decadent lunch… once again… turned out brilliantly. Thanks for sharing 🥰
Brian says
I cant wait to try this out. 2 shanks for….ME! I’ll let you know.
BB
Angela Sharp says
WOW!!! Shankaliscious!
When I used your recipe it was the first time I’d ever cooked shanks myself. It was amazing!!!
We are in love with our pressure cooker so it was great that you had the three methods of cooking in your notes.
This red wine sauce in this is to die for! I couldn’t get it to the thickness in your video but delicious all the same.
We also did as recommended and saved the strained veggies with a little of the leftover sauce too and tossed it in with some ravioli the following night. Didn’t need to add anything extra as suggested because we had also saved some sauce too and it was so rich and full of flavour.
Another RecipeTineats recipe saved to my AnyList favourites! Thanks again!
Nagi says
Perfect Angela, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! N x
Allison says
Delicious! 😋
I used a whole wether shank and cooked it in an electric skillet. I didn’t have another pot large enough. I cooked it longer because it was a wether, not a lamb, and it was wonderful.
Heather says
Delicious, I had a lot of left over sauce which I used as a base for bolognaise with home made pasta.
Alyse says
Best lamb shanks I’ve ever cooked. Will definitely use this recipe again.
Michael Joseph Le Serve says
This is the perfect wine shank recipe. Rich in flavour and gloss. I added a little extra garlic and Rosemary and Parsley to the sauce. And as garnish.
“A recipe without wine is breakfast.” 5 Star Cuisine NAGI…!
Caroline Littleboy says
Hi Nagi,
Making this today for a dinner party tomorrow night, my microwave isn’t big enough to reheat the shanks…. Any other suggestions for reheating on the stove please.
Caroline
Caroline Littleboy says
Well made it at it turned out AMAZING….my guests loved it and it was super easy! Served it with your restaurant mash another winner ❤️