Gordon Ramsay’s lamb shanks recipe is four shanks rubbed in a marinade of smoked paprika, chillies, cumin, cinnamon and garlic, browned hard, deglazed with a full bottle of red wine, then braised uncovered at 160°C for 3 hours until the meat slides off the bone. He calls it “Slow-Cooked Fiery Lamb” in Ultimate Cookery Course.
Ramsay says “I love cooking with lamb shanks because the longer you leave them, the better they taste.” In the YouTube video, he explains why the casserole goes in uncovered: “When you cover it, all the condensation comes off the lid, your lamb becomes grey, and all this effort and that exciting spice gets washed away.”
The overnight marinade is what separates this from every other braised shank recipe. The cumin seeds “release a little oil as well, which helps to tenderise the lamb,” and the smoked paprika and cinnamon build layers of heat and sweetness that a 3-hour braise alone can’t match.
Gordon Ramsay’s Lamb Shanks
Course: DinnerCuisine: British, North AfricanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes3
hours15
minutes790
kcal210
minutesSlow-cooked fiery lamb shanks from Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course. Marinated in smoked paprika, chillies, cumin and cinnamon, braised uncovered with a full bottle of red wine for 3 hours. Cross-referenced with his lamb shank cassoulet from a second cookbook. Approximately 790 kcal per serving.
Ingredients
- For the Marinade:
1 to 2 green chillies, deseeded and sliced
1 to 2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cinnamon sticks, snapped in half
3 garlic cloves, peeled, roughly chopped and crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the Braise:
4 lamb shanks
Olive oil for frying
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and thickly sliced
2 bay leaves
1 x 750ml bottle of red wine
500ml (17 fl oz) chicken stock
Small handful of mint leaves, to garnish
Directions
- Make the marinade: Mix the chillies, smoked paprika, oregano, cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and seasoning together.
- Rub and rest: Rub the mixture into the lamb shanks so they are well coated. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour, or overnight if you can.
- Preheat the oven: Set it to 160°C (325°F) / Gas 3.
- Brown the shanks: Heat a large casserole dish on the hob with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Brown the lamb for about 6 minutes until coloured on all sides. Add the chillies and cinnamon from the marinade.
- Add the vegetables: Add the carrots, onion and bay leaves. Brown for a minute or two. Lift the lamb so it rests on top of the vegetables.
- Deglaze with wine: Pour in the red wine, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to the boil and cook for 7 to 8 minutes to reduce the liquid by half.
- Add the stock: Pour in the chicken stock and bring back to the boil.
- Braise uncovered: Transfer to the oven without a lid. Cook for 3 hours until the meat is really tender and the sauce has reduced. If the tops of the shanks look like they might be drying out, baste and occasionally turn them.
- Serve: Remove from the oven, garnish with torn mint leaves and spoon the cooking juices over the top.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay braise the shanks uncovered?
Most braised lamb recipes tell you to put a lid on. Ramsay does the opposite. In the video he explains: “When you cover it, all the condensation comes off the lid, your lamb becomes grey, and all this effort and that exciting spice gets washed away.”
Without a lid, the sauce reduces as the lamb cooks and concentrates into a thick, rich glaze rather than a thin watery broth. The top of each shank gets slightly caramelised where it’s exposed to the dry heat, which adds another layer of flavour. Just baste and turn them if they start to look dry.
Why use a full bottle of red wine?
The wine does two jobs. First, it deglazes the pan and lifts all the browned bits from the searing into the sauce. Second, over 3 hours of uncovered braising, most of the alcohol and water evaporate, leaving behind a concentrated, dark, glossy sauce that clings to the lamb.
Ramsay boils the wine for 7 to 8 minutes before adding the stock, which reduces it by half and burns off the raw alcohol taste. Don’t use expensive wine, but don’t use anything you wouldn’t drink either. A basic Côtes du Rhône or Merlot works well.
What should you serve with lamb shanks?
Ramsay says “serve with couscous or mashed potato” in the book. His couscous salad is the lighter option because the cumin spicing in the couscous echoes the cumin in the lamb marinade. His mashed potatoes are the richer choice for soaking up the red wine sauce.
Keep it simple. A shank with sauce this rich doesn’t need more than one starch and some torn mint on top. The mint garnish isn’t decoration: the freshness cuts through the heavy spiced sauce.
What is Ramsay’s lamb shank cassoulet?
A completely different recipe from another cookbook. Instead of the fiery spice rub, Ramsay braises the shanks in white wine with bacon, Toulouse sausages and white beans, then tops it with crispy buttered breadcrumbs. He calls it “my posh version of the classic French cassoulet.”
The cassoulet simmers covered with crumpled parchment paper on top, which “prevents any meat that pokes out of the liquid from drying out.” It’s the opposite approach to the fiery version: gentle and French instead of bold and North African. Same cut, same 3-hour braise, completely different result.
Can you make this in a slow cooker or pressure cooker?
Brown the shanks and deglaze on the hob first, then transfer everything to a slow cooker. Low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 5 to 6. The sauce will be thinner because there’s no evaporation, so pour it into a saucepan at the end and boil it down for 15 minutes.
In a pressure cooker, the same recipe takes about 45 minutes at high pressure after browning. The meat will be tender, but you lose the sauce reduction and the caramelised top that the uncovered oven method gives you. If you want a quick lamb dinner instead, his lamb chops take 8 minutes on a griddle with a spice paste that uses the same cumin and coriander profile.
