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Easy Braised Lamb Shanks

Fall-off-the-bone tender braised lamb shanks in a rich red wine sauce with vegetables. This one-pot lamb recipe tastes fancy, but it is easy to make! All you need is a bit of time for the best slow-cooked lamb shanks! from themediterraneandish.com/

At a glance

Approx 3 Hours (Prep – 30 mins, Cook – 2 hrs)
Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 6 lamb shanks, one per person
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 2 ¼ tsp. garlic powder
  • ¾ tsp. nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 celery ribs
  • 3 carrots
  • 500g baby potatoes
  • 400g whole peeled canned tomato
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 cups beef or vegetable broth
  • 2 cups red wine

Method

  1. Season the lamb shanks

    Mix together garlic powder, paprika, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and ground nutmeg. Season both sides of the shanks

  2. Sear the lamb

    In a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven, heat some extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the shanks and brown on all sides. Do this in batches so all the shanks get a good sear on them. Remove the lamb shanks from the pot and set aside for now.

  3. Add vegetables

    To the same Dutch oven, add chopped brown onion, chopped celery ribs, carrots that have been peeled and cut into pieces, and scrubbed baby potatoes. Toss in the EVOO for a bit.

  4.  Make the red wine sauce

    Pour in dry red wine (my favorite is Merlot!) and cook to reduce by about ½. Be sure to carefully scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. These add amazing flavor to the red wine sauce! Add whole peeled tomatoes, low-sodium beef broth, cinnamon sticks, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary. Season with a little kosher salt and black pepper. Return the seared lamb shanks to the Dutch oven and press them down to submerge as much as possible. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes and then turn off the heat.

  5. Braise the lamb shanks

    Cover the Dutch oven and transfer to a 180 C heated oven. Braise for about 2 ½ hours. Check the shanks occasionally, and add more liquid if you notice the sauce reducing too much. If after 2 ½ hours the lamb is still tough, simply add more braising liquid and continue to cook, checking every 15 minutes or so until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. You should be left with about 1/3 of the red wine sauce that you started with. Remove the lamb shanks from the oven and serve.

Slow cooker lamb shanks option

  1.  Season and sear the lamb shanks on the stove-top per recipe instructions until a nice brown crust forms on all sides of the lamb.
  2. Transfer the lamb shanks to a large Crockpot or slow cooker.
  3. Add the vegetables, 1 cup of red wine instead of 2, beef broth, and the remaining ingredients.
  4.  Cover and set the Crockpot to Low for 8 hours or High for 5 to 6 hours or until the lamb shanks are cooked through to tender.