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Home Method Instant Pot

Instant Pot Lamb Shanks

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By: Diana Posted: 2/29/20 Updated: 7/24/20

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

These Instant Pot lamb shanks are braised in a rich and deeply flavored red wine until they’re fall off the bone tender! They take a fraction of the cooking time compared to oven braised lamb shanks, and are much easier to make in the Instant Pot.

Looking to recreate your favorite braised lamb shanks that you find on the menu at fancy fine dining restaurants? I will walk you through the steps, with all the details that you need to know to make killer lamb shanks in the Instant Pot!

Whether you’re making these lamb shanks for a special occasion, or you’re making this on a Sunday. This will be a meal that your whole family will love!

This recipe is very similar to my Instant Pot short ribs recipe, tender meat, braised in red wine, a ton of flavor, and served over creamy mashed potatoes with an incredible sauce. I mean, you get the point! 😁

Ingredients and Equipment You Will Need

For the marinade, you will need olive oil, tomato paste, paprika, coriander seeds, salt, and pepper.

For the lamb shanks, you will need:

  • Lamb shanks – trimmed of excess fat.
  • Onion, garlic, celery, and carrot – what will make your sauce taste fantastic!
  • Mild chilis – optional.
  • Dry red wine – choose an inexpensive good quality wine (more about this below)
  • Cinnamon stick, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and chicken broth.
  • To thicken the gravy, you will need cornstarch mixed with water.

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Equipment:

  • An Instant Pot. I have this Instant Pot, it’s my favorite!
  • I love these stainless steel measuring cups and use them every time I cook, as well as those measuring spoons.
  • Kitchen tongs, and a wooden spoon.
  • Mesh strainer, and a large mixing bowl.
Ingredients needed to make red wine braised lamb shanks

How to Make Instant Pot Lamb Shanks

First, you need to make the marinade.

  • In a large bowl, whisk all of the marinade ingredients together to get a paste-like-marinade.
2 images of a bowl of marinade for the lamb shanks, before whisking and after
  • Add the shanks to the bowl, and coat them in the marinade. Make sure that the shanks are well coated.
A white bowl with marinated lamb shanks
  • On the Instant Pot press on SAUTE twice to choose the MEDIUM setting, and heat olive oil. The screen will show the HOT message. Add the marinated lamb shanks holding from the bone and meat side down to sear. Then start moving them around until browned from all sides. If you feel like your pot is overcrowded, work in batches with more oil. Don’t skip searing the meat when cooking things like stews, as the best flavor develops as you brown the meat.
  • Transfer the shanks to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm and set aside.
  • Saute the onion, carrot, and celery, chili if using, and garlic until softened for 5-7 minutes while stirring regularly. Add red wine and let it cook down for a bit (on SAUTE mode).
4 steps of how to make lamb shanks in the instant pot
  • Put the shanks back in the pot. Add a cinnamon stick, the fresh herbs, and the bay leaves.
  • Add the leftover marinade if anything is left in the bowl, followed by the chicken broth. Make sure that you add the stock to the side so that it doesn’t wash away the seasonings from the meat.
browned lamb shanks in the instant pot with fresh herbs and bay leaves
  • Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting and set the cooking time for 60 minutes at high pressure. The Instant Pot will take around 10-15 minutes to come to pressure and start cooking. When the cooking program ends, allow the steam to release naturally.
  • Carefully open the lid, and transfer the shanks onto a plate; tent to keep warm.
3 cooked lamb shanks in a plate

How to Thicken the Gravy

  • Using a mesh strainer, strain the sauce into a bowl pressing to extract all sauces and flavors out of the veggies, then put it back in the pot. Press on SAUTE, when it starts simmering add the cornstarch slurry. Whisk until the gravy is rich, silky and glossy. Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve lamb shanks over mashed potatoes with plenty of sauce. Garnish with chopped fresh herbs.
Showing the tenderness of the fall of the bone lamb shanks

What Kind of Wine to Use?

  • Choose an inexpensive but good quality dry red wine like chianti, cabaret sauvignon, merlot, or shiraz. Pinot wine isn’t suitable for this kind of cooking.
  • Non-alcoholic sub: You can substitute the wine with more broth, but I recommend using beef broth instead to give you a richer taste and substitute for the wine.
  • 99% of the alcohol will evaporate while cooking, so you won’t taste the alcohol.

How to Serve Instant Pot Lamb Shanks

My favorite way is to serve them over super creamy Instant Pot mashed potatoes, and plenty of gravy. You can also serve them over cauliflower mash, or with the veggies that they were cooked with.

lamb shank served over mashed potatoes and plenty of gravy

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe
4.97 from 29 votes
(Click stars to rate!)

Instant Pot Lamb Shanks

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr
IP to come to pressure: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Author: Diana
Print Rate Recipe Email Recipe
Tender, fall off the bone lamb shanks braised in a rich deeply flavored red wine gravy.
3 lamb shanks
Tender, fall off the bone lamb shanks braised in a rich deeply flavored red wine gravy.

Ingredients

For the marinade

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon salt and pepper

For the lamb shanks

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 lamb shanks trimmed of excess fat
  • 1 large onions diced
  • 2 carrots diced
  • 2 ribs celery diced
  • 2 mild chilis optional – diced
  • 2 large cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 1 cup dry red wine inexpensive
  • 1 stalk cinnamon
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 cups chicken broth

To thicken the gravy

  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water

Equipment

  • Instant Pot

Instructions

Make the marinade

  • In a large bowl, whisk all of the marinade ingredients together to get a paste-like-marinade. Add the shanks to the bowl, and coat them in the marinade. Make sure that the shanks are well coated.

To cook the shanks

  • On the Instant Pot press on SAUTE twice to choose the MEDIUM setting, and heat olive oil. The screen will show the HOT message. Add the marinated lamb shanks holding from the bone and meat side down to sear. Then start moving them around until browned from all sides. If you feel like your pot is overcrowded, work in batches with more oil.
  • Transfer the shanks to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm and set aside.
  • Saute the onion, carrot, and celery, chili if using, and garlic until softened for 5-7 minutes while stirring regularly. Add red wine and let it cook down for a bit (on SAUTE mode).
  • Put the shanks back in the pot. Add a cinnamon stick, the fresh herbs, and the bay leaves.
  • Add the leftover marinade if anything is left in the bowl, followed by the chicken broth. Make sure that you add the stock to the side so that it doesn't wash away the seasonings from the meat.
  • Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting and set the cooking time for 60 minutes at high pressure. The Instant Pot will take around 10-15 minutes to come to pressure and start cooking. When the cooking program ends, allow the steam to release naturally.
  • Carefully remove the lid, and transfer the shanks onto a plate; tent to keep warm.

To thicken the gravy

  • Using a mesh strainer, strain the sauce into a bowl pressing to extract all sauces and flavors out of the veggies, then put it back in the pot. Press on SAUTE, when it starts simmering add the cornstarch slurry. Whisk until the gravy is rich, silky and glossy. Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve lamb shanks over mashed potatoes with plenty of sauce. Garnish with chopped fresh herbs.

Notes:

  • Choose an inexpensive dry red wine like chianti, cabaret sauvignon, merlot, or shiraz. Pinot wine isn’t suitable for this kind of cooking.
  • Non alcoholic sub: You can substitute the wine with more broth, but I recommend using beef broth instead to give you a richer taste and substitute for the wine.
  • If you would like to use the vegetables, you can blend them with the sauce until smooth. The gravy won’t be super smooth or glossy, but it will still taste great.
  • When prepping the veggies, don’t worry too much about finely chopping them into a fine dice. A rough chop works fine.
  • Use cornstarch to thicken the sauce and get a translucent gravy, or flour for opaque one.
  • Don’t skip searing the meat, as the best flavor develops when searing the meat first.

Video

Nutrition Information

Calories: 531kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 42g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 127mg, Sodium: 1633mg, Potassium: 970mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 7436IU, Vitamin C: 22mg, Calcium: 86mg, Iron: 5mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Little Sunny Kitchen

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  1. Donna says

    Posted on 1/22/21 at 06:01

    5 stars
    This recipe was so much better than I could imagine. It took longer than the time stated but it was worth it. The flavors were restaurant quality. I’ll definitely make this again.

    Reply
  2. Wendy says

    Posted on 12/31/20 at 10:26

    Can you double the recipe? Planning to make this fie new year!

    Reply
    • Diana says

      Posted on 1/1/21 at 01:19

      Hi Wendy, I could only fit 3 in my 6-qt Instant Pot but if you can fit more then sure! Enjoy!

      Reply
  3. Rachel says

    Posted on 11/22/20 at 20:44

    Can you cut this recipe in half? I have 1 lamb shank and am cooking just for me (in a smaller 3qt instant pot), would that still work?

    Reply
    • Diana says

      Posted on 11/23/20 at 03:53

      Yes! Keep the cooking time the same. Enjoy!

      Reply
      • Rachel says

        Posted on 11/24/20 at 20:27

        Thanks! Will let you know how it turns out 🙂

        Reply
  4. JoAnna says

    Posted on 8/19/20 at 03:49

    5 stars
    Very good!

    Reply
    • Diana says

      Posted on 8/20/20 at 03:30

      Glad to hear you liked my recipe!

      Reply
  5. Monica says

    Posted on 4/13/20 at 02:53

    5 stars
    Loved this recipe! The only alteration I made was doubling the ingredients for a thicker marinade and letting it marinate for about 20 minutes. Will cook again!!!!

    Reply
    • Diana says

      Posted on 4/13/20 at 04:02

      Thank you so much, Monica, for sharing that with me and for giving great feedback! I hope you love every recipe you try! 

      Reply
1 2 3 … 6 Newer Comments

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