Name: Red Wine and Garlic Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 110 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 tsp olive oil; 2 tbs plain flour; 4 lamb shanks trimmed; 1 brown onion chopped; 2 garlic cloves crushed; 2/3 cup red wine; 700ml Italian cooking sauce

by Natasha Shaw Last updated on 05/14/2025

If you’ve tried a lot of slow-cooked lamb shank recipes over the years, or even if you haven’t, these shanks are hard to pass up. Meltingly tender lamb bathed in a rich red wine and garlic gravy should be all the encouragement you need to get stuck right in.

How to make red wine and garlic slow-cooked lamb shanks: key tips

Choose a heavy-based, flameproof (if needed) casserole dish for this boozy slow cook, so that your ingredients cook evenly on the stovetop and the base of your lamb mixture doesn’t burn.

Season and coat your lamb shanks in a little plain flour, then shake off the excess. Brown the shanks in your chosen dish until they are lovely and golden and starting to caramelise. Remove the shanks from the pan and then cook the onion and garlic until softened. By now you should have a gorgeous ‘crust’ on the base of your dish. That’s okay, because when you add the wine it will sizzle and deglaze the dish – in other words, it will lift all that yumminess from the base so that it can be incorporated into the gravy.

Add all the rest of the ingredients to the dish and let it cook low and slow until the lamb is almost falling off the bones.

Key ingredients in this red wine and garlic slow-cooked lamb shanks recipe

Lamb shanks lend themselves very well to slow cooking. Their connective tissue breaks down during the longer cooking time, resulting in super tender meat. The marbling of fat throughout adds flavour but you can always trim off some excess fat, if you want to, before coating the shanks in flour.

Go for a full-bodied red wine for this recipe. Consider wines such as shiraz, cabernet sauvignon or merlot.

Onion really is the only vegetable that has been added to this slow cook, and it provides a wonderful savoury flavour, however feel free to add some chopped carrot and celery to bulk up the veg.

Italian cooking sauce (or passata) adds a gorgeous sweetness and richness to the gravy. If you like, you can use a sauce with added herbs for extra flavour.

If you like the sound of this recipe, you might also like this all day lamb. These lamb shanks with tomatoes also look mighty tasty.

This recipe was originally submitted by alikae, a member of the Australia’s Best Recipe community. Introduction and additional recipe notes by Natasha Shaw.

- Natasha Shaw

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil
2 tbs plain flour
4 lamb shanks trimmed
1 brown onion chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
2/3 cup red wine
700ml Italian cooking sauce

Method

Step 1

Season flour with salt and pepper, then coat lamb in flour, shaking off excess. Add to pan and cook until browned. Remove from pan.
Step 2

Add onion and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Step 3

Increase heat to high and add wine to pan. Cook for 2 minutes.
Step 4

Stir in sauce and bring to a simmer. Add lamb shanks to pan. Cover and reduce heat to low.
Step 5

Cook for 1-1 1/2 hours or until lamb is very tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes

from Australia’s Best Recipes team

How can I serve my red wine and garlic slow-cooked lamb shanks?

The cook says these shanks are great with mashed potato and some green beans (or similar) to cut through the richness, plus some crusty bread to soak up the gravy. If you have any leftovers, the shredded meat and sauce are fantastic stirred into cooked pasta.

Can I cook this red wine and garlic slow-cooked lamb shanks in a slow cooker?

This recipe can just as easily be done in the slow cooker. You don't have to brown the shanks if you don't want to, but I like to give them a quick brown in a frying pan first to ensure their juices are sealed in and to add some flavour from their caramelisation to the dish. Cook your shanks for 8 hours on Low (or 4 hours on High).