Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with Vegetables & Gravy

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Published on December 14, 2017 by Elizabeth Atia 108 Comments
Last Updated on May 14, 2021

A simple yet delicious slow-cooked lamb shanks recipe with vegetables and gravy. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes. This recipe, suitable for a gluten-free diet, has been made in collaboration with Try Lamb, Love Lamb. Includes both slow-cooked oven version and crockpot slow cooker recipe instructions.

Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with Vegetables and Gravy

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Slow-cooked lamb shanks – an easy Sunday dinner

A hearty plateful of succulent, tender slow-cooked lamb on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes swimming in the most delicious homemade gravy – what else could you ask for on a cold, winter’s evening when the gales are raging outside?

This recipe is based on a lamb or beef stew I make with the same ingredients. The only difference is that I dredge the cubed meat in seasoned flour and brown on all sides before letting it simmer on low heat for an hour or so on the stovetop. I use a little more gravy than mentioned below too, and top the whole thing with some homemade dumplings.

In fact, why I haven’t I shared that particular recipe with you yet? This needs to be remedied!

I was inspired to make this lamb shank version when I spied some rather gorgeous large lamb shanks in my local supermarket recently. Regular readers will know that we’re quite fond of lamb in our household – it’s our main meat of choice given its low food miles, the fact it’s so tasty and it’s remarkably versatile and easy to cook with.

Do check out the lamb section in your local butchers or supermarket – you can get legs of lamb (and half legs, I’ve spotted recently!), chops, mince, cubed shoulder, racks of lamb, steaks, neck fillet, strips, cutlets, mini roasts and much more. It’s also very reasonably priced.

My recipe is really easy to make too. Simply sear the meat, deglaze the pan, throw in the rest of the ingredients and then ignore it in your oven (or slow cooker) for a few hours. Simply thicken the gravy when the meat is cooked and serve with a generous helping of creamy mashed potatoes. Sometimes, if it’s appeared in my veg box that week, I’ll make creamy celeriac and potato mash, or if you really wanted something a little different this sort of recipe goes really well with creamy polenta.

The ultimate winter comfort food!

Ingredients you need to make these slow-cooked lamb shanks

2 tbsp sunflower oil, for searing
4 good-sized lamb shanks – have your butcher French trim them if you want them a bit fancier looking
350 ml lamb stock – homemade or from a stockpot
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried rosemary
0.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce
sea salt – to taste
freshly ground black pepper – to taste
onions – one per person
carrots – one per person
garlic – I like to use a whole bulb, but feel free to reduce this to your liking
cornflour – to thicken the gravy

How to make slow-cooked lamb shanks – step-by-step instructions (oven version)

Preheat your oven to 150 C/ 300 F/ gas mark 2. Heat the sunflower oil in a large casserole dish and sear the lamb shanks on all sides. You might need to do this in batches. Set aside.
Deglaze the pan with the hot lamb stock, scraping up any bits that might be stuck to the bottom. Add the tomato puree, rosemary and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil and season to taste.
Return the lamb shanks to the casserole dish and add the vegetables.
Slow cook in the centre of your oven for 2 hours, removing the lid for the last 20 minutes to brown up the vegetables.
Remove the lamb shanks from the casserole dish and keep warm. Dissolve the cornflour in a little water and thicken the gravy. Use more cornflour if you want a thicker gravy.
Return the lamb shanks to the casserole, coat with the gravy and serve with mashed potatoes or creamy polenta.

How to make slow-cooked lamb shanks in the crockpot/slow cooker

Heat your sunflower oil in a saute pan and sear the lamb shanks on all sides. Place into the bowl of your slow cooker.
Deglaze the pan with the lamb stock, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom. Add the tomato puree, rosemary and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil and season to taste.
Add the vegetables to the slow cooker bowl and pour over the contents of the saute pan.
Cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 5.
Remove the lamb shanks from the slow cooker bowl and pour the gravy into a saucepan.
Thicken with the cornflour dissolved in a little water. Serve with mashed potatoes or creamy polenta.

What’s your favourite winter lamb recipe? Are you a slow roast sort of person, or do you prefer stews? Let me know in the comments!

For more lamb recipe inspiration visit the Tasty Easy Lamb website, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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This is a commissioned recipe for Tasty, Easy Lamb. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories! This post also contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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