Braised Lamb Shanks

At a glance

What stands out: Meltingly tender braised lamb shanks are slow cooked in a red wine-based sauce. Served with couscous or rice, Middle Eastern lamb shanks are the ultimate comfort food. Once you get the shanks in the oven, you can pretty much forget about them for two hours or more.

How long it takes: about 30 minutes to prep, 2 hours in the oven
Equipment you’ll need: large Dutch oven
Servings: 2

Braised Lamb Shanks

A special meal. Braised lamb shanks are fall-off-the-bone tender. It is the most rich tender lamb you can imagine. With a hearty sauce chockfull of tomatoes, diced veggies, and subtly spicy seasoning, this Middle Eastern specialty is rather stunning. It definitely falls into the comfort food category.

Restaurant-style, but from-scratch! We often enjoy lamb shanks at one of our favorite eateries, so of course, we had to try our hand at making our own braised lamb shanks. While our version isn’t identical to the lamb shanks we order, they are a good from-scratch alternative. Our husband likes them better than the restaurant version!

Two hours hands-off cooking. The process is pretty simple. You’ll need a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with a lid. The lamb shanks are browned on the stove first and then slow cooked in the oven for a couple of hours. Just the wonderful aroma while they bake is enough reason to make this recipe.

If you love lamb, be sure to also check out our grilled lamb chops and shepherd’s pie.

What goes in

• Lamb Shanks: Buy two lamb shanks that are about one to one and a half pounds each. Typically, one shank is one serving. We know, it looks like a dinner for the Flintstones, but remember, there’s a large bone in there. (The recipe card has more information about how many shanks you’ll need.)
• Carrots, Celery, Onion, Red Bell Pepper: A medley of finely diced vegetables makes a flavorful and colorful sauce.
• Garlic, Paprika, Red Pepper Flakes, Thyme, Rosemary: We like to use fresh thyme if it’s available but dried thyme is fine in a pinch. If you like things spicy, add more red pepper flakes. A couple of bay leaves are a good addition, too.
• Canned Tomatoes, Tomato Paste: We use canned diced tomatoes, and two tablespoons of tomato paste to add depth to the sauce.
• Dry Red Wine: Add a whole cup of wine to the pan (and pour a glass for yourself while you’re at it).
• Molasses: Deeply flavored molasses adds just a touch of sweetness to the sauce, balancing out the acidity of the tomatoes.
• Beef Stock: Look for low-sodium or no-salt added beef stock to cut down on sodium.
• Parsley: Provides a bright green garnish.

How it comes together

Prep veggies and sauce ingredients. Finely chop the onion, celery, carrot, and bell pepper into about a quarter-inch dice so they blend into the sauce as it cooks. This is not meant to be a stew or roast dinner. Set the veggies aside for now. Measure out the herbs, spices, and sauce ingredients as well. Turn the oven to preheat.

Brown lamb shanks. Pat the shanks dry with paper towels and season them with salt and pepper while the oil heats up in your Dutch oven. Add both shanks to the pan (they should fit in a single layer) and sear them until they are browned on all sides. Work in batches if you need to.

Sauté veggies. Remove the lamb shanks from the pan and sauté the veggies. Add the garlic, then the tomato paste and spices, cooking and stirring them a minute or so.

Add sauce ingredients. Add the tomatoes, molasses and wine to the pan.

Return shanks to pan. Nestle the shanks back in the pan all comfy-like. Add just enough beef broth to come three-quarters of the way up the sides of the lamb shanks.

Bake. Cover the pan, and bake the lamb shanks for an hour. Remove the pan from the oven, flip the shanks over, and check the level of the liquid. If necessary, add more broth. Return the pan to the oven, covered, for another hour. The braised lamb shanks should be tender when you poke them with a fork.

Can you overcook lamb shanks?

If braised lamb shanks are kept at a low temperature in a covered pan with plenty of liquid, an extra hour or two shouldn’t make a difference. They may become so tender that the meat literally falls off the bone but that’s not a bad thing.

If your braised lamb shanks turn out tough, it’s probably due to not having enough liquid in the pan or too short of a cooking time.

Ways to serve it

Serve lamb shanks with couscous, either whole wheat or regular. Couscous is straightforward, and it only takes about five minutes to make. There’s plenty of sauce for both the meat and the couscous.
Lamb shanks are wonderful with rice or quinoa, too, or try them with mashed potatoes (make them in your Instant Pot!) or straightforward baked potatoes. They go great with creamy from-scratch polenta, too.

Ways to change it

• Increase the recipe. Feeding a crowd? Add up to two more lamb shanks if you have a big enough pan to cook them in a single layer.
• Make them in a slow cooker. Brown the shanks and make the sauce on the stovetop, as directed. Once you’ve completed that, transfer everything to your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours. The sauce may be a little juicier.
• Make them on the stove. Don’t want to turn your oven on? As long as you have a good heavy pan with a tight fitting lid, you can easily braise lamb shanks on the stove. Make them as directed but leave the pan on the burner, covered, and reduce heat to low for a couple of hours. Check every half hour to turn the shanks over and to make sure there’s plenty of liquid.
• Not a fan of lamb? This recipe also works well with turkey legs. Be sure to try our red wine braised beef short ribs, too. You can also braise chicken! Try our braised chicken thighs (they have a shorter cooking time!).

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate/Freeze: Before storing leftover lamb shanks, remove the meat from the bones so it cools more rapidly. Store the meat in the sauce or separately in covered containers. It will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator or up to a month in the freezer.

Reheat: Slowly heat the leftover meat and sauce in a sauce pan on the stove until warmed through or heat in the microwave in 30-second increments.

Instant Pot Recipes

• Instant Pot Short Ribs & Mashed Potatoes (at the same time!)
• Instant Pot Ribs
• Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe
• Instant Pot Carnitas – reliable every time!

Slow Cooker Recipes

• Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast – tender perfection!
• Crockpot Beef Stew
• Slow Cooker Ribs – fall off the bone!
• Slow Cooker Pork Loin with Balsamic Glaze

• Yield: 2
• Prep: 30 minutes
• Cook: 2 hours 30 minutes
• Total: 3 hours

Ingredients

• 2 lamb shanks, 1 to 1½ pounds each (see note)
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• ⅛ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, more to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ¼ cups finely diced carrots ( 2 medium carrots)
• 1 ½ cups finely diced celery ( 2 stalks)
• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion ( 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup finely diced red bell pepper (1 red bell pepper)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme
• ¾ teaspoon dried rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, more to taste
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 ½ cups reduced-sodium beef stock, more if needed
• fresh Italian parsley to garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Pat lamb shanks dry with paper towel and season shanks on all sides with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
3. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven (lamb shanks should be able to fit in one layer). Carefully place the lamb shanks in the oil and sear until brown on all sides, 7 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
4. Add carrots, celery, onion, bell pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt to Dutch oven and cook until onion becomes translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Add tomato paste, garlic, and seasonings to the pan. Continue to cook for one minute, breaking up tomato paste.
6. Add diced tomatoes, wine, and molasses to the pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then return the lamb shanks to the pan.
7. Add beef stock to the pan until the lamb shanks are covered about half to three quarters of the way, not entirely covered. (You may need more or less than 1 ½ cups, depending on the size of the shanks and your pan.) Cover the pan and move it to the preheated oven.
8. Bake for one hour, remove from oven and check the level of the liquid. If necessary add more beef stock. Flip the lamb shanks over so that the portion that was out of the liquid is now submerged. Return the pan to the oven, covered, and continue to bake for another hour.
9. If desired, skim off any fat/oil that has come to the surface of the pan. Taste the sauce, and season with salt and pepper as needed.
10. Serve lamb shanks with sauce (including diced vegetables) with couscous, rice, or quinoa, garnished with fresh parsley.

Notes

How many lamb shanks you’ll need: One lamb shank typically serves one person but it’s a pretty generously sized portion. If you want, remove the meat from each shank and divide it into 2 servings per shank.

Cooking 3 to 4 shanks: If you have a large enough Dutch oven, you could braise one or two additional shanks, using a bit more broth. They need to fit in a single layer in the pan.

Slow cooker method: Brown the shanks and make the sauce on the stovetop,as directed. Once you’ve completed that, transfer everything to your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours. The sauce will be a little juicier.

Stovetop method: As long as you have a good heavy pan with a tight fitting lid, you can braise lamb shanks on the stove. Make them as directed but leave them on the burner on low heat for a couple of hours. Check every half hour to turn the shanks over and to make sure there’s plenty of liquid.