My mother used to prepare them in this manner when I was a child. They were a pleasure every time. The soy sauce and bacon’s saltiness are well offset by the sauce, which is from another dish on this site.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 6 hrs 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 6 hrs 35 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ pounds lamb shanks
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups chopped onion
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
Instructions
- Put flour into a shallow wide bowl. Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper; dredge through flour until coated, shaking off any excess flour.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat; add butter and heat until foaming. Cook lamb shanks in hot butter until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer lamb shanks to a slow cooker.
- Pour wine into the skillet and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon; transfer to the slow cooker. Add tomatoes with their juice, onion, chicken broth, celery, and thyme leaves to the slow cooker.
- Cook on Low until lamb is very tender and almost falling off the bone, 6 to 8 hours. Transfer lamb shanks to a platter and cover with aluminum foil.
- Transfer sauce in the slow cooker to a large skillet; simmer over high heat until sauce is reduced to about 2 cups, 10 to 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
- This may also be made with veal.
- Canned tomato bisque soup can be substituted for diced tomatoes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 479 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 128 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 439 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Definitely 5 star. Have made it several times and served on a bed of polenta. Only change made is dried thyme instead of fresh
Great. I add a bit of garlic, 1.5 cups of RED wine (it was available), and the entire 32 oz of chicken broth. Kept it a fast simmer and had 2.25# done in just over 2 hours.
This was outstanding! I added 2 cloves of garlic. At the end I reduced the sauce after using an Emerson blender, a bit more flour, small amount of red wine, garlic salt and seasoned pepper. My husband and I loved the gravy and the meat was perfect.
excellent
Divine. The other recipes for lamb shanks that I have made from this site are delicious, but this one is the best. I made the changes suggested and used red wine and beef broth. Also added a chopped carrot, dried thyme and rosemary and a bay leaf. After 4 hours I opened the top of the slow cooker slightly to let the sauce thicken. I further reduced it on the stove before serving. I used the leftover sauce to add to a spinach soup I had made the day before. Also delicious. I will make this often as the weather cools.
I have made this twice. First as written and the second time with what we thought would make it more traditional. I substituted red wine and beef broth as others have suggested. I added 5 cloves of smashed garlic and added some dried thyme to the salt and pepper before dredging in flour. Dropped in a couple bay leaves and slow cooked for 6 hours. Served over garlic mashed potatoes.
Nancy this lamb recipe was the best! I just made it for the wrong person. A very spoilt husband who only likes burnt crispy tough meat. His work made it Friday before Easter. Burnt the out of it. I followed your recipe not knowing he had it at work and it was super tender . Only rarely can one get lamb where I live. He hated it. He will not be getting it again or anything of this quality.. I added more garlic and herbs. Thickened sauce with cornstarch after skimming fat. Used red wine and beef broth. Seated meat as instructed. Cooked 6 hours on low . Perfect. Gave entire leftovers to my daughter who raves.
I made this for the first time and it was excellent! I used red wine instead of white and it still yummy!!!
This recipe is so delicious! I followed the recipe to a T and I completely agree about the reduction process at the end…. it made the whole dish!
I didn’t change a thing. But, after reducing the tomato/wine mixture for 10 mins and ending up with less liquid sauce in the mixture, I would only reduce for 5 mins or add more wine, broth and maybe water to the dish next time. I also want to try it adding several garlic cloves, maybe some bay leaves and parsley. But the flavor in this receipt can’t be beat. It was delicious.
We loved this dish.
Thought this was a great one! Made a side of mushroom orzo and it was perfect.
Richard, if you give this recipe another chance, with a little tweaking, I think you might change your mind. Nancy, I gave this 5 stars because I don’t usually like lamb, but I really liked this recipe. I only make lamb occasionally because my husband likes it so much. I did make a couple of very minor changes as follows… 1. I diced my own fresh tomatoes – 1 plum, 1 heirloom, and 1 medium size round, instead of using canned. 2. I substituted a full-bodied red wine instead of white. 3. I used a few sprinkles of dried thyme instead of fresh. 4. I added 1 Tbls. of fresh chopped garlic and 1 small fresh peeled finely diced beet. The only change I made in the directions was that I cooked it on high in my slow cooker for 4 hours (I was short on time). I served it over parmesan cous cous, and it was absolutely delicious! I’m saving this to my recipe box. Thanks Nancy!
I wouldn’t make this again, the flavors didn’t highlight the lamb, and honestly you could have used most any other meat and get the same result. Garlic is needed and more flavor.