Braised garlic lamb shanks with vegetables

Braised garlic lamb shanks with vegetables are cooked to perfection in a savoury gravy including Asian-style ingredients such as soy, oyster sauce and a touch of 5-spice powder. But don't be fooled into thinking it tastes like a Chinese takeaway - far from it! The end result is a rich, garlicky dish with a complex flavour, not overly sweet or spicy, and pairs perfectly with the lamb shanks and vegetables.

These braised garlic lamb shanks with vegetables make a delicious and easy dish that you can prepare using three different methods - on the stove (as I've done in this recipe), in a slow cooker or in a casserole dish in the oven. I've included full directions for each cooking method below so you can choose the one that suits you best for this versatile lamb shank recipe.

Lamb shanks are one of the easiest cuts of meat to cook. You don't have to get too hung up about overcooking them; if anything, the longer they simmer, the more meltingly tender and succulent they become! It's the kind of fall-apart lamb that feels like comfort food with hardly any effort.

And these lamb shanks are Succulent with a capital 'S'!

The best sauce!

They are gently braised in my amazing garlic sauce, the same sauce I use for this Asian-style garlic chicken with cashews and this duck in garlic sauce. Even this leftover roast pork with garlic sauce recipe is based on the same ingredients. Slow-cooking the lamb allows it to absorb all those flavours, resulting in incredibly tender lamb shanks that are packed with taste.

But it's not just the lamb that shines - the garlic sauce (or gravy) is truly the star of this garlic lamb shank recipe. It's thick and luscious, and naturally thickened by blending in a few of the cooked vegetables. This not only adds body and richness, but also intensifies the flavour without the need for cornflour or any extra thickeners. It's the perfect sauce to pour generously over both lamb and vegetables.

And although the sauce includes Chinese-style ingredients like soy and oyster sauce and 5-spice powder, it doesn't taste like a Chinese takeaway at all. The flavours meld together, into a rich, savoury sauce that complements the richness of the lamb perfectly, making this a true one-pot-lamb-dish that you'll want to make again and again.

You can see how the lamb shanks simply fall off the bone!

Jump to:

• The best sauce!
• Why you'll love this recipe
• Recipe information
• Ingredients for braised garlic lamb shanks
• Instructions
• Tips for a successful outcome
• Cooking the lamb in a slow cooker
• Cooking the lamb in the oven
• How to scale the recipe
• Money saving tip!
• Equipment
• Storage
• FAQ
• Save for later
• Related recipes
• 📋The recipe

Why you'll love this recipe

What I love about this recipe is that the vegetables are all cooked in the same pan as the lamb shanks, making it a true one-pan meal! Here are some more reasons to try it:

• Plenty of flavour - cooked in a garlic-flavoured sauce with lots of other ingredients to create a rich and satisfying gravy.
• Succulent fall-apart lamb - slow-cooked until soft and tender.
• Naturally thickened sauce - blending some of the cooked vegetables into the gravy thickens the sauce naturally without the need for flour or cornstarch.
• Once-pot convenience - my favourite - easy prep - minimum cleanup!
• Tried and tested sauce - works well with chicken, duck and pork - now modified for lamb lovers!

Recipe information

Prep time: Around 25 minutes. Just enough time to prep the vegetables and brown the lamb shanks.

Cooking time: 2.5 to 3 hours, depending on the size of your lamb shanks. However, this is all hands-off time while the lamb simmers.

Yield: 2 people (and you'll probably have leftovers). However, this recipe is very easy to scale. Simply use larger lamb shanks and add more vegetables. There's plenty of gravy to go round!

Ingredients for braised garlic lamb shanks

**You can find the exact ingredient quantities on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.**

Lamb and vegetables

Use whatever mix of vegetables you prefer. My selection is below. Allow around one cup of chopped vegetables per person, or more for larger appetites.

• Lamb shanks. Depending on the size of the shanks, you can either serve one whole shank per person, or pull the meat off the bone and share it. Because there is a large bone running through the lamb shank, one 350-gram (or 12-ounce) lamb shank should be sufficient for one person.
• Potatoes. The potatoes should be peeled and cut into chunks. With the potatoes (and all the vegetables), don't cut them too small; they go into the pan at the same time as the lamb, and if they are cut too small, they will disintegrate.
• Beans and carrots. Peel and slice the carrots into chunks. Top and tail the beans and cut them in half. I added the beans with the lamb; if you prefer crispier beans, you may want to add them halfway through the cooking time.
• Cabbage and sweet potato. The cabbage is optional, but if you use it, it should be finely sliced. I like to add the cabbage at the beginning of the cooking time as it disintegrates, leaving only its flavour to enhance the gravy. The sweet potatoes should be cut into large pieces. I would advise adding these halfway through the cooking time, as they don't take very long to soften.
• Onions. Peeled and sliced., These will be added to the pan to soften once the lamb has been browned.
• Garlic. Peeled and sliced. There's no need to mince the garlic; it will soften as it cooks.
• Salt (not pictured) - this is to your own taste.
• Sunflower oil (not pictured) - used for searing the lamb and softening the onions and garlic.
• Cornflour. I've included this as an ingredient in case you need to thicken the gravy. I find the gravy is thick enough once it's been blended with the vegetables. If you don't want to thicken it by blending in a few of the cooked vegetables, you can thicken the gravy by stirring in a thin mixture of cornflour and water over low heat until the gravy thickens to your liking.

Sauce (or gravy) ingredients

The sauce ingredients should be combined in a small bowl, ready to be added to the dish. They are:

• Oyster sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Chinese 5-spice powder - I tend to use Schwartz brand, but you could use your own particular favourite brand.
• Rice wine vinegar - substitute this with apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar.
• Brown sugar - to balance the tartness of the vinegar.
• Tomato paste (or tomato puree) - which is highly concentrated tomatoes.

Instructions

Tips for a successful outcome

Here are my top tips to ensure your braised garlic lamb shanks always turn out perfectly:

• Seasoning. I like to sprinkle the lamb lightly with salt before browning it. There may be sufficient saltiness from the gravy ingredients, so taste once the lamb shanks have been cooking for about an hour, and add extra salt only if needed.
• Brown the lamb for extra flavour. Browning the lamb before braising it not only adds a richness to the gravy, but searing the outside of the lamb helps keep the juices in the lamb where they belong, resulting in a more succulent result.
• Add softer vegetables later in the cooking process. Consider the amount of time that different vegetables take to cook, and add softer vegetables such as sweet potato and green beans halfway through the cooking time so they don't overcook and turn mushy.
• Top up with extra stock if necessary. Keep your eye on the pan, and if it seems to be drying out, add an extra splash of stock or water.
• Don't cook over too high a heat. The lamb should simmer gently, so don't allow the cooking liquid to boil.
• I like to thicken the gravy by blending it with a few of the cooked vegetables. You could thicken the gravy by stirring in a slurry of cornflour and water if you prefer.

Cooking the lamb in a slow cooker

• Brown the lamb and onions as described in the stove-top method.
• Place the chopped vegetables into the slow cooker and pour in the gravy.
• Add the lamb.
• Cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.
• Thicken the gravy as described in the stove-top method.

Cooking the lamb in the oven

• Brown the lamb and onions as described in the stove-top method.
• Place the chopped vegetables in an oven-safe casserole dish, pour in the stock and add the browned lamb.
• Cover tightly with a lid or heavy-duty foil and bake at 160C / 320F for 2.5 to 3 hours.
• Check the level of the liquid halfway through the cooking time and top up with extra stock or water if necessary.
• Thicken the gravy as described in the stove-top method.

How to scale the recipe

This is an easy recipe to scale:

Lamb

• As a rule of thumb, allow one small lamb shank per person. One shank normally weighs between 350g to 400g or 12oz to 16oz.
• This weight includes the large bone. After cooking, a 400g shank will typically yield around 150-200g of meat, which is a generous single serving.
• If your lamb shanks are on the larger side, you may like to share one shank between 2 people.

Vegetables

• You can use whatever vegetables you prefer.
• Allow around 1 to 1.5 cups of a mixture of vegetables per person.
• Take into account the cooking time required for the different vegetables, and add softer vegetables halfway through the cooking time.
• Add an extra clove of garlic (or more if you prefer!)

Sauce (or gravy)

• The sauce ingredients are sufficient to flavour 2 cups of stock.
• If you want to increase the amount of stock to 3 cups, you can increase the sauce ingredients by 1.5 times.
• However, I would take care when increasing the brown sugar and the vinegar as this may make the sauce either too sweet or too tart. Start with the original amount of these 2 ingredients, and taste before adding extra.

Money saving tip!

Unfortunately, lamb shanks can be quite expensive. They are currently on sale in my local supermarket at £18 per kg - the same price per kg as an entire leg. When you consider the meat-to-bone ratio of lamb shanks, that's an awful lot of money; especially when you take into account that you normally tend to serve one shank per person!

Which is why, at Easter and Christmas time, when the UK supermarkets sell lamb legs at less than half price, I stock up my freezer with cheap lamb and get hubby and his hacksaw involved in cutting the shanks from the end of the legs.

You don't lose an awful lot of meat from each leg, and if you've bought 2 half-price lamb legs, you can make this braised garlic lamb shank for next to nothing!

The 2 lamb shanks you see in the photos came from my Easter lamb bounty!

Equipment

These are the main items of equipment you will need to make these braised garlic lamb shanks:

• Dutch oven. I love using a heavy cast iron Dutch oven for this type of meal. The thick base helps prevent food burning on the bottom, while the tightly-fitting heavy lid helps prevent too much evaporation.
• If you don't have a Dutch oven, use a large frying pan, saute pan or even a saucepan.
• A 1-litre jug for combining the sauce ingredients.
• Spatula for stirring.
• Pair of tongs to help you brown the lamb shanks.
• Stick-blender - to blend the gravy to a smooth sauce.

Storage

Any meat leftover from the lamb shanks (is there actually such a thing?) can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. It makes amazing sandwiches with a slice of tomato.

Any leftover gravy can either be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days or frozen in a suitable container for up to 3 months. It can be added to soups and casseroles for extra flavour, or simply thawed and warmed up in the microwave and poured over roasts. You may need to thin it down with a splash of stock or water first.

FAQ

Save for later

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Related recipes

Visit my lamb recipes page for other delicious ideas with lamb. Here are a few you might enjoy:

📋The recipe

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