Classic Braised Lamb Shanks in a Red Wine Sauce

This recipe is a classic way to prepare lamb shanks, they are cooked in a red wine sauce until the meat falls off the bone. As it is a tough cut of meat, you need to cook the shanks long and slow until they are tender and succulent.

The red wine cooks away so its taste doesn’t overpower the dish. It just adds an extra depth and flavour and completely transforms the sauce.

This lamb shank recipe is so versatile, you can make it in the oven or on your stove. Just note that it will take longer to cook if you are preparing it on the stove.

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Braised Lamb Shanks Recipe

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Recipe by Irene MullerCourse: DinnerCuisine: GlobalDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

3

hours 

50

minutes

Total time

4

hours 

20

minutes

A classic lamb shank recipe cooked in a red wine sauce.

Ingredients

• 4 lamb shanks (+/- 400g each), either whole or cut in chops

• 1 teaspoon salt and pepper

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 cup red onion, finely diced

• garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup carrots, finely diced

• 1 cup green pepper, finely diced

• 625 ml dry red wine (use a good quality wine)

• 410 grams chopped tomatoes

• 400 ml tomato puree

• 500 ml chicken stock

• 5 sprigs of thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme

• 2 dried bay leaves

• 2 small sprigs rosemary (optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180° Celsius / 356 °Fahrenheit  .
• Heat olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Sear lamb in hot oil until browned, approximately 2 minutes per side. Remove the meat and drain on paper towel. Repeat until all the meat has been seared.
• Sauté onion and garlic in the same pan for two minutes.
• Add carrot and green pepper. Cook for another five minutes until onion is translucent and sweet.
• Add the red wine, chicken stock, chopped canned tomato, tomato puree, thyme, bay leaves and rosemary.
• Stir to combine.
• Place the lamb shanks into the pot, squeezing them in so they all fit and are mostly submerged in the sauce. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer. If you need more liquid, add another cup of chicken stock.
• Transfer to the oven dish and place in the oven.
• After an hour, reduce the oven temperature to 170° Celsius and leave in the oven for another 30 minutes. After 30 minutes reduce the oven down to 150° Celsius.
• After two hours cooking time in total, check to see if the meat is tender and falling apart. If it is not ready, return to oven and cook until tender.
• Remove the lid and braise for 30 minutes .
• Discard bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme.
• Strain the sauce into a bowl, pressing to extract all the juice out of the vegetables.
• Pour the sauce back into a pot, bring to the simmer over medium heat. Cook until the sauce has slightly thickened. Add the sauce back into the meat dish and serve.

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