Guinness lamb shank
People absolutely love lamb shanks. You cook them until they're just falling apart and they develop the most amazing flavours. This recipe is all about investing in dark sticky sauce and tender meat. We're spoiled for choice when it comes to interesting ales, and adding a good dark ale or even Guinness to the onions creates the most brilliant depth of flavour. The sauce here makes enough for ten lamb shanks, so if you want to make this recipe serve more people, just plop a few more shanks into the pan and top up with a little more stock if need be. Whatever you do, do NOT skip the mint oil or spring onions. It's like switching on a light, and just that simple little touch makes the whole dish sing.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 12 of 14 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 12 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Lamb | 100g cooked | 294 |
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Red Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Rosemary | 1 tsp dried (1.2g) | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Peppermint | not in our table | 0 |
| Cider | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 3 red onions, peeled
- olive oil
- sea salt
- ground pepper
- 2 handfuls raisins
- 3 heaped tablespoons thick-cut marmalade
- 1 heaped tablespoon tomato ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, plus extra for serving
- 200 ml Guinness or smooth dark ale
- 6 quality lamb shanks, roughly 350g each
- 8 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 litre organic chicken stock
- 1 small bunch fresh mint leaves
- a few tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
- 2 spring onions, trimmed
- cider vinegar