Lamb Shanks in Guinness

Lamb shanks in Guinness in a bowl with root vegetables.

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5 from 1 vote

Lamb shanks fall off the bone tender, full of rich flavour.

Prep Time20

Cook Time2 30

Total Time2 50

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Irish

Servings: servings

Calories: 508kcal

Author: Carolyn Hetke

Equipment

Large Dutch oven or roasting pan°

Ingredients

6 lamb shanks
salt and pepper for seasoning
3 Tbsps vegetable oil
½ cup flour
5 cups yellow onions chopped
4 cups beef stock
2 12 oz Guinness beer
4 carrots
2 parsnips
2 small rutabaga
½ cup pitted prunes

Instructions

Peel and chop the vegetables into 1 inch chunks.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat.
Pat the shanks dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss the shanks with the flour in a bag to coat. Shake off any excess flour and reserve remaining flour.
Brown the lamb shanks well on all sides (3-4 minutes per side). Work in batches so shanks are in a single layer while browning. Transfer browned shanks to a platter and set aside.
Add the onions to the pan and cook about 7 minutes. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Sprinkle remaining flour over the onions and stir to mix. Cook about 2 minutes.
Return the shanks and any juices to the Dutch oven. Add the beef stock and the Guinness.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered about 1 hour.
Add the carrots, parsnips and rutabaga and simmer uncovered another 40 minutes until vegetables are tender.
Add the prunes and simmer another 20 minutes. If you want a thicker sauce dissolve 2 Tbsps flour in 2 Tbsps water and add to the stew at this point, stirring well.
You can easily make this a day ahead and refrigerate. Reheat gently over medium low heat and serve.

Notes

Note 1 : You need a large Dutch oven to hold the shanks and all the vegetables and liquid. If you don't have one big enough then consider using a roasting pan. Cook shanks, covered, 1 hour at 350 degrees, add vegetables and cook another 40 minutes uncovered. Add prunes and cook another 20 minutes.

Note 2 : Depending on your stove top, I am able to straddle my roasting pan over a front and back burner and cook on the stove top. In this case you would need to stir occasionally to ensure even distribution of the ingredients and heat.

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