Lamb Shanks braised in a well seasoned, lightly spiced broth until meltingly tender. This slow cooked Persian Lamb Shank recipe is a traditional Persian recipe and it’s the main dish of this weeks’ Persian Feast!
Cooking meat on the bone is always the best way to slow cook meats, like with slow cooked Beef Short Ribs and Osso Bucco. The meat is juicier and I’m 100% convinced it’s more flavourful too!
Welcome back to PERSIAN WEEK! This week it’s all about the aromatic smells and flavours of Persian food, the bright colours and the chest puffing as you airily tell your family and friends “oh, we’re just having a Persian Feast tonight.”
(Their eyes boggle, they clap their hands with glee, they think you are the most amazing cook ever and we tell no one that all the recipes are actually quite straightforward to make.
So here’s what’s on the menu for your Persian Feast:
Today’s Persian Lamb Shank recipe – the main event! Braised until fall apart tender in a beautiful aromatic broth. Incredibly easy with every day spices you’ll find at any supermarket!
Persian Saffron Rice – that golden, crispy beauty… and it tastes as amazing as it looks!!!
Persian Cucumber Tomato Salad (see notes of this Lamb Shanks recipe)- lovely and fresh, with a little sprinkle of Sumac for a touch of Persian exoticness; and
Persian L♥ve Cake – made with semolina and almond meal, it’s soaked with a lemon-rosewater syrup with a hint of citrus and spice flavours. Officially in loooove with the Persian Looooove cake!
EASY BRAISED LAMB SHANKS
I promised easy, and easy you shall get. There’s nothing tricky in the steps and nor are there any hard to find ingredients in this, you’ll find everything at everyday supermarkets.
The only step below you might be wondering about is step 5 where the liquid is covered with parchment/baking paper. This is called a cartouche and it’s a cheffy technique of using paper as a lid for slow cooked recipes.
Like a lid, it slows down the rate of liquid evaporation but in addition to this, it encourages the even distribution of heat and stops a skin forming on the surface. It’s used commonly in some cuisines – including Japanese cooking!
It’s an optional step in this recipe that I recommend only if the liquid level doesn’t cover the lamb shanks.
AND I PROMISED FALL APART
I promised easy and I promised fall apart, because that’s the only way lamb shanks should be. They are a tough cut of meat so they have to be cooked slowly to break down all those fibres!
The sauce for these lamb shanks is the braising liquid that is reduced down for quite some time once the lamb shanks are removed so the flavour is intensified. I love the golden hue of the sauce from the saffron!
And in case you are wondering (because I was), the sauce is not thickened in anyway and that’s the way it is supposed to be. 🙂
I love a good lamb shank, and I have to say, this Persian Lamb Shank recipe is definitely a shank worthy. Persians know good food!!! – Nagi x
A PERSIAN FEAST
Persian Lamb Shanks (this recipe) | Tachin – Saffron Baked Rice | Persian Chopped Salad (in this Lamb Shanks recipe) | Persian L♥ve Cake (coming Friday)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sometimes it’s helpful to have a visual, so watch me make this Persian Lamb Shank recipe!
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Persian Lamb Shanks
Ingredients
- 4 lamb shanks , about 300g/10oz each (Note 1)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 – 2 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola)
- 1 large onion , sliced (yellow, brown)
- 6 cloves garlic , chopped
- 1 litre / 4 cups water
- 500 ml / 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 medium tomatoes , chopped
Spices:
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp extra cinnamon , extra for later
- 1/4 tsp saffron threads (Note 2)
Instructions
- Sprinkle shanks with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy based pot over medium high heat. Brown shanks all over, 2 at a time. Remove from pot.
- Discard excess oil, clean pot if it’s very dirty.
- Add 1 tbsp oil. Cook onion and garlic for 2 minutes until translucent.
- Stir in the turmeric, cinnamon, tomatoes, and salt.
- Add chicken broth and stir well.
- Place shanks in pot, then add water as needed so the shanks are 3/4 or fully covered, but no more than 1L/4 cups water. (Note 2)
- If shanks not fully submerged, make a cartouche (baking paper lid, Note 3).
- Bring up to the boil. Place the cartouche snugly on surface (if using), cover pot leaving a little crack (to ensure it doesn’t boil over).
- Turn heat down so simmering very gently. Cook 1.5 hours, turning every 30 minutes.
- Add cardamom and nutmeg into liquid.
- Cook for another 1 hour until meat is very tender and falling off the bone.
- Carefully remove meat from liquid into a bowl and cover with foil.
Reduce broth:
- Simmer broth rapidly 30 – 45 min until reduced by half.
- Add saffron and remaining 1/8 tsp cinnamon.
- Simmer further 10 – 15 min until reduced to 500 ml / 2 cups. Should taste like a very well seasoned, intensely savoury but lightly spiced broth.
Finishing:
- Return meat to pot to gently reheat for a few minutes, turning and basting the meat with the liquid to keep it moist.
- Serve shanks with the braising liquid as a sauce. Pictured garnished with pomegranate seeds (leftover from salad, see Notes) or mint leaves, for visual only.
Recipe Notes:
Slow Cooker – Do up to step 6 in a pot or skillet (including broth part, to dissolve flavour on base of pot into liquid), then cook 8 hours on low in slow cooker, no cartouche, no turning. Add cardamom and nutmeg after removing shanks (so you can “set and forget” all day). Simmer to reduce in large pot or even skillet (wider surface area = faster reduction), don’t forget the extra saffron and cinnamon!
Pressure Cooker – steps per slow cooker, 40 minutes on high. No cartouche.
Instant Pot – Browning of shanks and cooking onion can be done in Instant Pot, then cook it using slow cooker or pressure cooker function using above steps. We don’t have IP’s in Australia yet but we’ve had a version of IP for decades called the Breville Fast-Slow Cooker which works the same as IP’s for the saute-slow-pressure cooker multi functions. 6. Nutrition per serving. Calories higher than reality because it assumes all the broth will be consumed which it will not be. Shanks are actually mostly bone, and while it’s an incredibly tender cut of meat once slowly cooked, it’s not that fatty. Use leftover broth as stock for extra flavour in a soup like this Lentil Soup or Lamb Shawarma Chickpea Soup.
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Photo from the golden retriever dog boarder. Apparently Dozer is crushing on a curvy lab called Crystal. He likes her so much, she makes his ears flap like Dumbo.
HI Nagi – is there any way I could do this in the slow cooker? Keen to do it for Christmas Day for something a little different, but have to be at church early….
Hi Nina, yes all the directions are in the recipe notes – number 5! I hope you love it!
This was very good and even got my daughter to take a couple bites of lamb. She likes shoulder but not usually shanks. It was all very good, now I wish I had made the cake. My friend and I fought over the last of the chopped salad. Thanks for the great recipes. I have loved all that I have tried.
That’s great Jody! So pleased this was enjoyed – N x
OK, just made this last night. It was AMAZING. Two things turned out differently for me: after the first hour cooking, the lamb shanks were pretty much falling off the bone, so I left it just another half hour with the extra spices. And after that, the broth had really thickened and reduced on its own, so separately reducing it wasn’t even necessary!
I realised later that I made this on the double burner, so that may have contributed to the quicker cook time. Also the butcher at the market also cut the shanks for me so they’d all fit in the pot, so maybe that helped too. Anyway, I don’t care what happened, it was so so good. The rice came out perfectly as well, and I served both with little ramekins of yoghurt.
That’s SO GREAT to hear!!! I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this 🙂 And yes a double would have sped up the cook time!!! 🙂 N x
I’m making your Persian saffron rice and these lamb shanks over the weekend…my mouth is watering! I’ll report back on how I go, but I’ve yet to be disappointed with one of your recipes! (Still in awe at how well my pad Thai turned out from this website)
Hi Nagi,
Thanks for such great recipe- my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I will definitely be making this again!
Oh, Nagi! I know how this dish tastes and I’m craving it so bad after scanning your images. I love Persian lamb shanks, the flavor reaches the bone and the meat just melts in your mouth. You made this dish look super yummy and made me super hungry.
It’s really amazing isn’t it! that braising liquid is just DA BOMB!
Hi Nagi
Looks like you’re enjoying Vietnam ( what’s not to like )
Cooked your Persian Lamb,
Did it in the pressure cooker 45min and chilled overnight.
The next day removed some of the fat and put it in the oven in a tagine with veggies and chickpeas
Served over couscous it was superb.
I did ramp up the spices a bit at the end and added a dollop of miso, juice of a lime and a bit of pomegranate molasses.
Served with yoghurt and harissa and lashings of parsley and coriander.
Oooh WOW you DOLLED THIS UP! 🙂 So glad you en enjoyed it Miriam!! N x
Hi Nagi, my cousins and I have a dinner every 6 weeks at alternating houses and with an alternating cuisine. This weekend is my turn and your Persian week recipes are PERFECT timing because no-one has cooked Persian yet!
Instead of lamb shanks my preference would be a slow cooked lamb (to serve 8) instead so that I can shred it up on a board and everyone can dig in and get how much they’d like. What cut of lamb would you suggest, how much of it and I would need to use an oven as I don’t have a slow cooker.
Great recipes and well explained which I always appreciate. Thanks fortime you spend on the Notes as well, they’re a great help
Nagi, I think you might be on to something and I love where it’s going. Your Persian theme week is fantastic. The cuisine always seemed unapproachable. You made it easy and welcoming. I sew and liken this to sewing a capsule wardrobe. It’s a complete meal that you have already figured out for us. We just have to put it together. Can you do more of this? I’m new and maybe you have been doing this all along. Just keep doing it!
I am eating better and there is less eating out thanks to you. Deb, Calgary, AB Canada
Yum, I CAN NOT wait to try this, Nagi!! Thanks for sharing!
You’re so welcome Tristin! Hope you get a chance to 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi
With the Persian lamb shanks it looks like there may be persimmon or cranberries in the photo- can u Lleyton me what the little red looking things are?
Hi Debbie! Sorry, forgot to mention that, I used the leftover pomegranate from the salad 🙂 Will pop in the recipe! N x
Yummo- I’d hate to not have them!!!
Looks good but I have an aversion to anything with bones.
T-bone steak, lamb shanks, chicken wings especially etc ..in fact anything with bones is not for me.
Hi John! Try this with a deboned lamb shoulder. YUM! 🙂 N x
You are amazing ..really delish lamb shank recipe 👍
Super postcards from Vietnam. .love the shot of you cooling your soup noodles ‘
Dozer is such a cute flirt🐕💕
The food is so wonderful in Vietnam lucky you. .we are very fortunate to have a large Vietnamese population in Toronto so the food is very varied and tasty..but will never match the real stuff in.Nam have a great vay-kay👍
I was eating those noodles on the side of a busy road, squatting on a teeny tiny chair! 😂 I’m not sure Dozer knows how to flirt…..
I am not seeing any of the postcards from Vietnam that people are mentioning…I am on an iPad. Disappointed I’m missing these. Will definitely be trying these Persian dishes…I love lamb shanks and the rest sounds amazing too!
OH, duh…I realized the postcards are at the bottom of the email😊. I usually click right through to the recipe on my browser and don’t scroll down. I’m onto it now!
Nagi, I’m going nuts trying to figure out the name of the song and singer for the video..please put me out of my misery lol… keep the postcards from Vietnam coming..
Hi Tanesha! It’s called “We Can’t Slow Down” by Origami Pigeon, but it’s not a song that’s commercially available, it’s one I got form a stock music site that I use for my videos! The website is called Premium Beats 🙂 N x
Well, my lamb shanks are out of the freezer already for your recipe! Easy it is, promising a taste sensation: reminds me a little of my Moroccan and Tunisian favourites with its cardamom and cinnamon. Personally, in spite of their ever-increasing price in Australia, I just cannot imagine a culinary life without a dozen shanks at home . . . cook them almost weekly 🙂 ! Am chuffed that Dozer is having a ‘holiday romance’ . . . if the young lady is still there upon your return the young Master may not want to return home with you 🙂 !
Oooh Eha! I would be so delighted to know what you think of this one! 🙂 I’m a bit worried about Dozer not wanting to come home too….😂
Hi Nagi this looks fantastic. Just wondering if I can do them in a slow cooker? If so, do I still need the cartouche?
Thanks and have a fab holiday.
Hi Jen! Directions popped in the recipe notes 🙂 N x
I have the same question about the slow cooker. Maybe cooking on low for 3-4 hours?
Hi Jen and KMunoz! I would do 8 hours on low, no need for cartouche. I haven’t tried it for this exact recipe but I have done so for my other ones and that’s the cook time for tender meat. However, please some of the spices will need to be added at the end of the cook time so the flavour comes through better, and no need for cartouche. Have popped directions in notes! N x
True hearty meal, Love it. Dozer and Crystal are so funny. The story about Vietnam is interesting. In Germany every Tuesday in Centtral part there is pop up market. They work so hard all night but WORTHED . They got everything and anything under the sun, food fresh from farm, bakery, art and craft, clothing you name it they got it. And yet then and there by lunch time more and more pop up eating mobile TROLEY front of every day shops with hot food, cakes, only meat etc it just goes on and on. By 05 pm there is no sign of anything or anyone. Place is cleaned up, washed, scrubbed you just would not know what was going on till then. Interesting to watch. All VEGES, bread is cut in quarter you can buy as much or as little as you wish. Eggs are in baskets about 5, 6, 7 sort and you may buy one of each or two of this and six of that just to your own liking and preference. And as for public transport bus is transformed in to tram in matter of two minutes or vise verses. It’s good to see and learn how rest of the world lives. Have fun with your Family.
I love hearing stories like that from around the world!!! Very cool! N x
My wife rarely gets to cook (for which she is truly grateful). When she does cook, it’s nearly always Persian lamb shanks, or a Greek chicken pilau. Both are to die for.
Oooh Greek Chicken Pilau! I’m inspired – I wanna make that! N x
I think turkey legs would be a great alternative bc not fond of lamb. I did try it once my sister thought it was pork, then looked at pkg. I love the taste of turmeric and have been wanting to taste cardamom, but it’s 10 dollars for a bottle. Yikes!
So glad you are having fun and getting along with family. They are everything! I just lost a nephew to cancer yesterday. He lost his fight after 3 yrs! So even if they’re fights, you are still together to fight.
You are brave to cross the st in Vietnam! They should have a traffic cop there!
Dozer and Crystal and then comes the pups! 😂 You might be needing a tinier outfit for a pup too! 😂
Hi J – oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that 🙁 May he rest in peace. I also recently lost someone dear to me in a tragic accident – too young, too early. Sending you HUGS – N x PS Actually, this recipe would work terrific with beef, pork, chicken or turkey! The flavour is subtle enough for poultry but complex enough for beef 🙂
I’m sending you HUGS N right back to you! I’m sorry you lost someone close to you too! May your friend R.I.P. also.
I know it’s so hard and it just sucks!
Dang, Nagi, The “hand-paw” thing just crunched my heart!
You mean it made you LAUGH to see his giant paw in my tiny hands?? 😂
Oh, me too!
You mean – it made you LAUGH to see my small hands and his giant paw!! 😂
Just a weird question: since you seem to connect on the canine level…dog paws…?do they smell like biscuits to you too?
??!!! Why does Dozer’s just smell like DIRT? 😂
Ha ha! No, I haven’t noticed that! But one of my pups has a breath that smells like Fritos, does that count? I swear it’s true. Her nickname is Corn Chips 🙂
I need you to bottle that up in pill form and send me some! 😂
One of our labradors often smells like corn chips, apparently it comes from their paws? We call him a Dorito 😀
I WISH Dozer smelt like corn chips rather than the odour usually wafting around him….