Greek Lamb shanks
If you are a lamb shank fan this will really get your mouth watering. It falls off the bone and the flavour is spectacular. Definately not a fat burner! Greek style lamb shanks are the tastiest way to serve and expensive cut of lamb, the lamb is soft and falls off the bone. I have tried a number of lamb shank recipes but this is my favorite. (4 people)
What you need
4 lamb shanks – approx 1kg bone in
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tin chopped peeled tomatoes
3 celery sticks chopped
4 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup chicken stock/ red wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
a generous pinch of fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dry rosemary
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
chopped parsley a generous pinch
The process
Salt and pepper the shanks, in a large pot brown the shanks in oil on all sides, then remove and set aside.
Soften the garlic and onions on a medium heat, add the meat and then add all the other ingredients, stir and simmer for 10-15 minutes until liquid has reduced by 1/2.
Pour everything into a roasting pan or large casserole dish and cook in a 140 celsius oven for three to four hours , turning the shanks every hour. I like to cover the shanks for the first hour with foil and then the last 30 minutes again.
Serve individual shanks with a generous scoop of the vegetables from the pan.
This is good stuff folks, serve with mashed potato or polenta. Try the Lamb Souvlaki recipe if you are a Greek food fan.
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Hi there. First off, your recipe sounds great, and I can’t wait to make it. I just have one question. How many cups of tomato does one tin equal? Basically, what size tin should I use?
Hi elena, it uses 1 x 425g tin which amounts to more or less 1 cup including liquid. Cheers for now G
The shanks and ingredients are ready and waiting and this will hopefully top the charts this Fathers day…. thanks for your help!
Great Lilanie, hope everyone enjoyed. G
I thought lamb had to be cooked for a long period of time at a low temperature in order for it to be soft and tender. Is this not true?
Please reply urgently as I would like to make this dish tomorrow.
Many thanks
Hi Barbara, depending on the cut of meat, shanks are a great cut of meat and soften up beautifully, but there is nothing preventing you from leaving them for longer. 1 and 1/2 hors is a fairly long time when you consider there is a lot of bone on each piece. Give it a try, you won’t regret it. Cheers for now G
Well Graham, I did the lamb shanks as per your recipe and they were absolutely divine. Tender, succulent and “fall off the bone”. The only thing that I did do, was I marinated them overnight in Verjuice, olive oil and garlic. So thanks for a lovely website with stunning recipes. I was unsure what to do for Fathers Day lunch and voila, when I received your mail, I took your idea of lamb shanks and sticky toffee pudding. Lunch was superb. Thank you.
Yay, Yay, Yay.. just love to hear that. Have a fabulous day G
Hi Graham
As mentioned previously, I did do your lamb shanks and they were superb. Please can you give me a recipe for a whole leg of lamb.
Many thanks
Barbara
Hi Barbara, thats fantastic, I see you found it before I got a chance to reply, but here it is for anyone else.
http://cookbook.co.za/meat-recipes/lamb-recipes/roast-lamb-leg/
Hi there,
This sounds delicious. Will cut-out the curry for once & will definitely give this a try.
Is that 1/3 chicken stock PLUS 1/3 red wine, or 1/3 of either? I am planning on making this at the weekend. Can’t wait
Hi Christine 1/3 cup of either 1, not both. Cheers and enjoy G
Hi Christine. I used both chicken stock and wine. It is the most delicious recipe and you receive MANY compliments.
It is brilliant and G explains it so nicely you will not go wrong. I did the preparation (before placing in the oven) the day before
Thanks Barbara – I also used both as I was cooking 6 shanks. I managed to get them for R65.00pkg from my local friendly butcher – which I thought was quite reasonable. Turned out FANTASTIC!
I am going to try this recipe today. Got in the mood when i saw lamb shanks at R49 per kilo at Food Lovers Market!!
Hell thats a great price, where is the food Lovers Market? Cheers G
I have looked through all my cookbooks for this – intend to use it this weekend (Easter). Thanks for the recipe
Great Ginny, it’s a winner, I am sure the family will love it. Cheers for now G
Lamb shanks are not expensive if you see how much meat you are getting off the bones. I bought two HUGE ones and my boyfriends eyes nearly popped out at the size. For the two they were R84.00