Instant Pot Lamb Shanks

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, Italian seasoning, coriander or cumin seeds, salt, and pepper.

For the lamb shanks, you will need:

• Lamb shanks – trimmed of excess fat, frenched or not.
• Onion, garlic, celery, and carrot – what will make your sauce taste fantastic!
• Mild chiles – 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.

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.

• Add the shanks to the bowl, and coat them in the marinade. Make sure that the shanks are well coated.

• 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).

• 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 open the lid, and transfer the shanks onto a plate; tent to keep warm.

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.

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.