It always amazes me how dishes like these slow cooked Port Braised Lamb Shanks served up by fancy restaurants are actually made with a handful of everyday ingredients!
Along with the classic Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce, there’s nothing tricky about this recipe. Just patience to let them cook slowly. Budget ingredients to make posh restaurant food!
Port Braised Lamb Shanks
I think I’m a pretty relaxed cook but regular readers know I have a few gripes. One is pretty photos for recipes that taste blah. And the other is recipes that demand that expensive wine be used for cooking, otherwise, don’t bother.
I love my wine. And if I buy expensive wine, I want to drink it straight. Not simmered for 3 hours.
And I guarantee, if the poshest of restaurant critics did a taste test of these Port Braised Lamb Shanks with an expensive vs discount bottle of port, they would struggle to tell the difference! (And the New York Times agrees….)
I won’t deny that using a $50 vs $10 bottle of port makes a difference. But the difference is not worth $40, I promise you that. These Port Braised Lamb Shanks taste so expensive, you can tell your guests you used a vintage 1980’s port and they would believe you! 😉
Even with the simplest of ingredients, slow cooking does wonders and I truly believe this to be an epic example of such. It is the same with my Italian Beef Ragu and Irish Beef Stew.
And this Port Braised Lamb Shanks is right up there with them. Look at that sauce. Glistening, rich, full of flavour.
Cooking Lamb Shanks
Lamb Shanks is one of my favourite slow cooking cuts. Cooking meat on the bone is always the best way to slow cook meats, like with slow cooked Beef Short Ribs and Osso Bucco. The meat is juicier and I’m 100% convinced it’s more flavourful too!
Lamb shanks are a tough cut of meat that require slow cooking to turn them into molten goodness. The cheaper and tougher the cut, the more flavourful. And lamb shanks are no exception.
There is no need to provide a knife when you serve this. The meat is so soft, you just need a fork. Or spoon. 🙂
I made this in my dutch oven, but you can make it in a slow cooker or even in the oven and I’ve provided instructions for all in the recipe.
When I’m entertaining, slow cooked foods like this are my “go to” because they’re impressive and can be made ahead. They taste fantastic on the day, but even better the day after – and the day after!
I really love serving my Port Braised Lamb Shanks with creamy mashed potato. I’ve tried mashed cauliflower and polenta, but I just don’t think they are as good as the classic ole’ mash.
Who else is up for some slow cooked comfort this weekend??? – Nagi x
More slow cooked fall-apart meat
I’m a big fan of slow cooked meats!!
- Beef Stew and Irish Guinness Stew
- Fall-apart Beef Ribs in Red Wine Sauce
- Beef Pot Roast with Gravy
- Shredded Beef Ragu
- Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce or Port Braised
- Slow Roasted Lamb Leg or Lamb Shoulder
- Osso Buco – traditional Italian slow cooked veal
- Browse the Winter Comfort Food collection!
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Port Braised Lamb Shanks
Ingredients
- 4 lamb shanks , approx 400g/13oz each (Note 1)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil , separated
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped (white, brown, yellow)
- 1 celery stalk , finely chopped (optional, but recommended)
- 1 carrot , finely chopped (optional, but recommended)
- 3 tbsp / 1/4 cup flour (35g)
- 2 cups / 500 ml beef broth (liquid beef stock) (or sub with chicken broth)
- 3 cups / 750 ml port (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups / 375ml red wine , or more beef broth (Note 3)
- 3 tbsp / 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 5 sprigs thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 dried bay leaves (or 5 fresh)
- 4 stalks fresh parsley (optional)
To Serve
- Fresh parsley , finely chopped
Instructions
- Season lamb with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a dutch oven or large heavy based pot over high heat. Add 2 lamb shanks and cook, turning, until browned (see photo). Remove then repeat with remaining lamb.
- Turn heat down to medium. Add remaining 1 tbsp oil, garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes until onion is softened.
- Add flour. Mix into onion mixture.
- Add remaining ingredients. Mix – lumps are ok, they will dissolve while cooking.
- Add lamb back in – the meat should be mostly submerged. Bring to simmer, then turn heat down to medium low and cover with lid.
- Simmer for 2 hours (Note 4) then remove lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove lamb into a bowl.
- Optional: Strain sauce in dutch oven into a bowl. Use spoon to press into onion etc to squeeze out all the flavourful liquid. Pour sauce into dutch oven. (Note 5)
- Skim excess fat off sauce.
- Increase heat to medium high and reduce liquid by half or until it thickens to a syrup consistency.
- Return lamb shanks and juices pooled in the bowl into sauce to reheat, then serve with creamy mashed potato, garnished with parsley.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
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LIFE OF DOZER
Beach-wet-Dozer eyeing off the lamb shanks, thinking Christmas came early….
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It was good straight out of the oven when first cooked. Putting the leftover shanks in the fridge for a couple of days and then gently reheating it turned this dish into a sensational one. It was divine served on a bed of jasmine rice with the sauce drizzled over together with a side of broccoli.
ps Nagi.
I have a load of the delicious sauce left. Can that be used as a base for something else? (pasta maybe). Or alternatively can it be frozen?
So glad you enjoyed this Martin!! The sauce is beautifully tossed through pasta, or use it over pan fried lamb chops, or even as a sauce for roast lamb! It freezes fantastic 🙂 N xx
I made this as is and it was delicious! Thanks you for such a great recipe.
Whoot! Love hearing that, so glad you enjoyed this Rowena! N xx
Hi I am going to do it this Sunday for Easter and we are going to be 12 people do I do it in 3 different pot or 2 is good to ?
Hi Doris! I would split it across 2 large pots but make sure all the shanks fit! Otherwise use 3 🙂 N x
Hi I did them and they come great thanks
Going to make this tomorrow…only difference I’m marinating the shanks overnight in red wine and thyme.
Hope you love it Tracey! N x
Hi Nagi,
I want to make this dish for two people using two lamb shanks.
Should I only be using half of the measurments? or can I still use the same amount listed in the recipe?
Thank you, I love your food 🙂
Ashlee
Hi Ashlee! I’d scale the recipe down to 3/4 of the recipe for 2 shanks because otherwise you don’t have enough liquid to submerge the shanks enough to braise as required. So use about 3/4 of the sauce recipe and use a large saucepan instead of a pot 🙂
It looks delicious but I’m concerned about the sweetness from the port for some of my guests. Is it sweet?
Hi Jude! Yes this is a bit sweet because of the port but the sweetness is balanced out with the savoury so I definitely do not consider this too sweet. I do not like sweet dishes without the right balance of savoury 🙂 What I would do is use the driest port you can – ask your liquor store to recommend one. Port generally is sweet but some are sweeter than others. Hope that helps!
Really Enjoyed this dish! Lamb was so tender and the gravy was to die for. So flavourful!
That’s terrific to hear Cindy! Thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x
Fabulous recipe! I cooked in oven for 2 hours at 275. Thanks very much. Allen
That’s terrific to hear Allen!! So pleased you enjoyed this – N x
This turned out amazing! I made it all in my instapot. Afer using saute setting for lamb then sauce, I used manual pressure cook setting of 10 mins. I manually released pressure because I was hungry! 😀 I removed the lamb and cooked the sauce a little longer to thicken. Thank you for sharing!
I love hearing that Anne!! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
Made this tonight, omg! It was fabulous, the family loved it.❤️
Would definitely make this again. Thank you xx
HIGH FIVE! So glad you enjoyed this Diane, thanks for letting me know! N x
Made these for a dinner party with friends last night. Followed the recipe as written except increased by 1.5x (had 9 shanks but smaller than ones suggested in recipe). Strained the sauce. Absolutely incredible. The sauce is rich and succulent. I just froze the leftover gravy because it was too good to throw out. Can’t wait to try your other recipes.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this LL!! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Made this for Sunday dinner. Definitely a keeper!
That’s terrific to hear Janice! Thank you for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️
I made the shanks with your recipe for dinner and it was lovely!
I’m so happy to hear that Gazelle! N xx
Hi Nagi,
I just made your Port braised Lamb Shanks and they were absolutely gorgeous!
Thank you so much, I’ve been searching for an easy but rich lamb shank recipe.
I’ll stay tuned for more, Monica
WHOOT! So great to hear that Monica, thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
That was delish 🙂 I’ve never cooked shanks before. I’ve had shanks cooked by others and they’ve been quite tough so I wasn’t sure about this dish. I stuck to your recipe without any deviation…wow…beautiful, tasty sauce and shanks, as well as meat falling off the bone. Thank you for sharing, I’ll certainly be making this again 🙂
That’s so fantastic to hear Deb!! Thanks for trying my recipe and taking the time to come back and let me know you enjoyed it! N xx
The best lamb shanks I have ever had! I stretched the recipe for six shanks easily (side note – when did shanks become so freaking expensive?!?) and the sauce was just perfect. Served on mashed potatoes with peas for a simple but incredibly tasty Easter lunch. I followed the recipe exactly with the cheapest port and red wine I could find and it tasted a million bucks!
I KNOW, right??? They got trendy! ? And halve the weight is BONE!!! My little tip is Harris Farms (they’re only in NSW and QLD), they have good sales on sometimes. And the other tip is Asian butchers! They are crazy cheap, especially lamb because lamb isn’t huge in the Asian community. 🙂 I was in Cabramatta yesterday, a Vietnamese community, and stocked up massively on meats!
This went down a treat tonight with my family! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I’m so pleased to hear that Mutsa! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
I made this yesterday for my family! They absolutely loved it. Did it in the slow cooker. Thanks for an awesome recipe. Will definitely be making this again.
Fantastic to hear Tracy! I’m so thrilled everyone enjoyed it, thank you for letting me know! N xx
Do you have a link to the mashed potatoes?
Hi Erin! I don’t but all I do is cut potatoes, boil until soft, drain then mash with as much butter as I feel like using, milk to loosen it (or cream if being extra indulgent!). And salt and pepper – very important!
Hi i am on your mailing list since long time..I liked the recipe very much ..my problem is that we do not use at all alcohol beverages..how i can modify the recipe and get the awesome taste?? many thanks
I’d consider trying some balsamic vinegar diluted with chicken or beef broth. Balsamic has a sweet quality and depth of flavor but I would not use as much maybe a half cup with the rest of liquid being broth to make up the difference you could add a splash of soy sauce if it’s too sweet to your tastes.
Hi there! Unfortunately to get the same flavour some form of alcoholic beverage is required. I’m sorry to say!
I Made this, it was absolutely DELICIOUS !!!
Thank you for sharing
Woo hoo! So glad you like this Werner, thanks for coming back to let me know! N xx
This recipe is excellent when served immediately after cooking, but is SUPERB when reheated the next day! Thanks, Nagi! Keep the pics of Dozer coming, please!
HIGH FIVE Barb! So glad you loved it!! PS You know full well that my iPhone is chock full of Dozer pics, enough to fill this blog for the next 5 years!!! 😉 N xx