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,
I LOVE lamb shanks in the cooler time of year. Usually, I stick with the Lamb Shanks in Red Wine, which I adore. This time around, I didn’t feel up to traipsing out to buy an economical bottle of red wine, and the only couple of bottles I had at home were on the more expensive side i.e. > $45 AUD. So I decided to give the Persian Lamb Shanks recipe a go. OH MY GOODNESS!!! So good! I served it up with a side of creamy mashed potato and steamed green beans.
Thank you!
Hi Nagi! Made this lamb yesterday & had half tonight. It’s a total winner! So delicious & the meat just falls off the bone. Served it with steamed, organic green beans. Thank you! Will serve this to future dinner guests with confidence!
I just love in the Persian Salad recipe – “Cut, place cut side down in hand and spank with wooden spoon. Seeds will fly out between fingers! You don’t say what item of food. I know its the pomegranate, it just makes me giggle!!! xx
First and foremost, love all of your recipes, always my go to for reliability.
My question is, what could you marinate this in over night for greater depth of flavor?
I cooked the Persian Lamb shank, the Persian rice (https://www.recipetineats.com/persian-saffron-rice-tachin/comment-page-3/?unapproved=1323294&moderation-hash=ca9ff8338e496653240b26ee9b7406c0#comment-1323294 ) and finished off with the Persian love cake (https://www.recipetineats.com/persian-love-cake/comment-page-6/?unapproved=1323295&moderation-hash=26b8efd20b169f8a9b8849a4c22f9859#comment-1323295 )(made by my 12 year old daughter). No time to make a Persian salad/veg so we just had plain salad.
Lovely Persian dinner.
The meat fell off the bones. The only problem I had was that the lamb shanks were too long and I had to use 2 pots to cook.
Love this recipe as I could prepare so much beforehand. I made the lamb shanks the day before and reheated slowly on the cooktop. The Persian saffron rice I prepared earlier in the day ready to pop in oven. Also prepared salad before guests arrived and dressed it just before serving. It was such a hit and I didn’t have to spend too much time in the kitchen once guests arrived. Perfect combination of dishes.
It’s a great one for dinner parties – they’re so much more fun if the prep is all done! N x
Hi Nagi,
Could I do this recipe with a 2kg rolled shoulder of lamb instead of shanks? Thanks x
Cooked this for Christmas lunch. Everyone loved it!! And I also made Sticky Glazed Christmas chicken. They were perfect!! Thank you Nagi! You are my favourite!!! Bless ya!!
This recipe is absolutely devine!! Even my persian husband is impressed.
Beautiful, tender, fall off the bone lamb. I think I let my sauce simmer down a bit too much and didn’t account for a slightly over salty stock I added, but regardless – this dish is absolutely amazing. I made it alongside the Tachin (persian baked rice) which was absolutely delicious. Will be making again and again.
Thanks Nagi for another fabulous recipe. You’ve been getting me through lockdown! xx
We cooked some couscous in the leftover broth for lunch the next day; it tasted so good! We don’t normally like lamb shanks but got gifted some, and this recipe has won us over.
Forgot to rate – 5 stars of course!!!
Oh my goodness, this is amazing!!! I’ve tried many of your recipes but I think this may be my favourite. I felt like I was dining at Maha. Thank you so much Nagi. Your recipes are high end restaurant quality x
I love hearing this, what a compliment Dominique!!! N x
Hi Nagi I was wondering what I can use instead of a cartouche? I don’t have one
Hi Zuhayda, it’s super simple to just make it with baking paper!! N x
This is a great recipe, although perhaps a tad unique to many tastes. It’s a winner for sure- you’ll feel like you’ve dined at Nebuchadnezzar’s palace without too much effort. 🙂
This dish is perfect. It does take a while to cook but the flavour is definitely worth it!! I made this tonight for the first guests I’ve had in my new house and they raved about it. I made the whole suggested Persian Feast and what a feast it is – thanks Nagi – !!
Perfect Recipe! Just an idea for the rice, we usually in Iran served it with Baghali Polou which is rice and edamame and dill.
Hi lovely! I’m making this for my persian brother in laws bday tomorrow. I’m making 8 smaller shanks total – should i double everything including water and chicken stock or make in 2 separate pots. thank you!!!
Such a delicious recipe and my new favourite way to cook lamb!😍 Next time, to cut down costs, I might not use saffron – won’t be as authentic, but the broth was so delish even before adding it that I think the saffron version will be saved for special occasions. Thank you for another divine recipe, Nagi!
These Persian lamb shanks are sublime! A great change from the usual slow cooked with wine. They were perfectly cooked and so flavourful. I recommended having all spice ingredients measured out before you begin prep to make it easier to go through the steps. I made the entire feast to accompany these. I goofed on the rice forgetting to add the oil (again, best to have all ingredients measured and waiting before starting the cooking process) so the result was not as I hoped. But the salad and cake were superb. This meal would be a great one for guests with the addition of a green vegetable. Any ideas?