This maple and orange-glazed lamb shank braise is greater than the sum of its parts. Sweet maple syrup, rosemary and bright orange flavours complement tender lamb perfectly.
Through the slow cooking process of braising, the meat gets fork-tender - soft and juicy. It literally falls off the bone.
The braise liquid becomes rich and syrupy as it cooks. We use it to baste the shanks to form a delicious crust. The rest is drizzled over to serve.
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Maple and orange-glazed lamb shank braise sounds a bit fancy, but I promise it’s not! You can be organised and do the braise the day before. This can be a great make-ahead dinner party dish or even a weeknight meal. Simply reheat to serve.
🖼️Overview of recipe
- brown meat on the stovetop and set aside.
- combine the braise ingredients straight in the same pan.
- nestle the lamb in the braise liquid. Cover and transfer to a low oven for around 2 ½ hours.
- strain the sauce. Baste the shanks and brown in a hot oven for 15 minutes.
- serve drizzled with extra sauce.
💗What’s so good about this recipe?
- gluten free and low FODMAP for those of you with dietary restrictions.
- great make-ahead dinner party recipe. Easy to scale up if you need more portions.
- perfectly portioned – no carving required. Each eater gets their own shank.
- easy - zero chopping of ingredients. You can make it in one pan. Just make sure the pan you brown the meat in (on the stove-top) is oven-safe.
- made in around 3 hours (and 2 ½ hours of this is hands-off oven braise time).
What could you serve with Maple & Orange-Glazed Lamb Shank Braise?
Soft slow-cooked meats like these shanks go well with mashed veg. The mash provides a base to sit the shanks in and mops up the sauce - try either classic mashed potato or an orange mash made with carrot, pumpkin, swede and sweet potato.
Eggplant Parmigiana is a tomatoey, slightly cheesy side that complements this dish perfectly. Like this lamb shank braise, it’s also a great make-ahead dish.
Fresh and light accompaniments like ratatouille tian, green salad, and sautéed greens work well.
🥘 Ingredients
Lamb Shank - a cut of meat that comes from the well-exercised lower section of the lamb leg. It's a tougher, more budget-friendly cut of lamb, but it is also one of the most flavourful. Buy it bone-in (this is how it is usually sold anyway). The bone imparts flavour, keeps the meat tender as it cooks, and looks good to serve.
Stock – use chicken or vegetable. I like to use my vegetable stock paste to make up the stock – it’s easily made with real ingredients and it’s low FODMAP. One tablespoon of the paste dissolved in 500ml of water is so easy. If you’re buying ready-made, make sure you use a stock labelled ‘low FODMAP’ if this is important to you. Ditto ‘gluten-free’.
Maple Syrup – adds nuanced sweetness.
Soft Brown Sugar – provides caramelly-sweet flavour and rich colour.
Malt Vinegar – the acidity balances the sweetness of the syrup and sugar, also aiding in tenderizing the meat.
Orange – the peel and juice from a whole orange adds a wonderful fragrance and freshness to the dish. Try to buy an organic/unwaxed one or wash well before use. Wax is often applied to make oranges shiny.
Rosemary – often paired with lamb, a few sprigs of this robust herb add fragrance and can stand up to other bold flavours.
🔪 Instructions
Prepare the braise for the oven
You can brown the meat in the same pan you use for braising. Transfer them to a plate (or the upside-down lid of the pan) once seared. Using the same pan means that you keep all those wonderful browned-meat flavours in the dish (and saves on washing up!).
You can combine the braise ingredients straight in the pan. You don’t need to chop any of them; so easy. Simply return the meat to the pan, bony side down. The marrow inside breaks down and gives wonderful flavour. You can even scoop this out with a skewer (it will be a jellified strand) and smoosh it into the sauce at the end of the braise.
Bring the braise liquid to a simmer around the lamb. Pop a baking paper lid on, then a lid (or foil) and transfer to a low oven for around 2 ½ to 3 hours. Make sure the lid is tight – you want to keep all the steam and heat inside the pan.
Prepare for roasting
You will know that the lamb shanks are cooked when they are soft. You can gently press, and the meat looks like it could easily break apart. Carefully transfer the lamb shanks to a baking dish and strain the sauce. You can discard the rosemary and orange peels. If the sauce is thick and syrupy after reducing, add a bit of water and whisk to loosen before straining. You want the sauce to be a good consistency to smear on the shanks for basting and pouring on to serve. Add as much water as you need to achieve this.
Disclaimer: I got distracted and cooked the lamb shanks in these photos for a whole hour longer than suggested. I didn’t even check on them! It was all still delicious, which shows how forgiving slow-cooked meat recipes are. I ended up adding ¼ cup of water to loosen the sauce.
Apply glaze
Brush the glaze over the shanks. Pop the shanks (uncovered) back in a hot oven to get hot, browned and a little crispy on the outside, about 15 minutes.
Serve with your accompaniments of choice, with the rest of the sauce drizzled over.
❓FAQ
· brown the meat first for extra colour and flavour
· cook the meat in a pan that has sides at least as tall as the shanks when they’re lying on their sides. We want to protect the meat from direct and uneven heat.
· the pan needs to be only big enough to hold the meat quite snug. We want to keep the liquid (and the steam it generates) close to the meat to cook it gently and completely.
· make sure there's enough liquid to come about a third of the way up the meat (and no more). You can top up with plain water if you need more. We don't want to totally immerse the meat. We do need enough liquid to create gentle steam to cook it, for the whole of the cooking time. This liquid becomes the sauce later.
· tightly cover the meat with a layer of baking paper and then a tight-fitting lid or foil to keep the steam inside. This has the bonus of containing the sugary braising liquid. Splashes on the inside of the lid or up the sides of the dish can burn easily.
· cook at low heat for a long time.
· colour and crisp the outside by blasting uncovered meat briefly in a very hot oven at the end of the braise.
Yes. It’s a good idea to apply salt before you brown meat. You can sprinkle the meat generously with salt at least 40 minutes before searing. Or, if you're in a hurry, you can also add salt right before you start cooking, within 3 minutes.
But why not salt the meat between 3 and 40 minutes before cooking? If you add salt at this point, it might cause the meat to release liquid, and this liquid will stay on the surface. If you start cooking when this happens, you'll end up cooking off the liquid, and the pan won't be as hot. This means your meat won't get a nice, crispy sear, and the delicious flavours won't develop as well.
If you wait until after 40 minutes, most of the liquid that came out will be soaked back up by the meat. You can try 'dry-brining' by sprinkling salt on the meat up to three days before cooking. Let the meat sit in the fridge on a rack, and it will dry out a bit on the surface. This helps the meat brown better, taste yummier, and cook faster. So, using salt at the right time can make your meat extra delicious.
This recipe is adapted from Donna Hay's.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Shallow casserole pot with a lid, approximately 30cm in diameter. It needs to be big enough for the shanks to fit comfortably in one layer.
Ingredients
- Tablespoon olive oil
- 4 lamb shanks
- 500 ml stock – meat or vegetable (note)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoon soft dark brown sugar 25g
- 2 Tablespoons malt vinegar 30g
- peel of an orange (note)
- juice from an orange
- 2 rosemary sprigs
Instructions
- Baking Paper – using the casserole pot lid as a guide, cut out a round of baking paper and set aside.
- Preheat Oven – to 150°C.
- Brown Meat – preheat the pot over medium heat. If you haven’t done this in advance, generously salt the meat all over. Add the oil. Increase the heat to maximum and brown the meat well on all sides. This will take a few minutes each side. Transfer to a plate (or the upturned lid of the pot) once done.Tablespoon olive oil4 lamb shanks
- Braising Liquid - add all other ingredients to the pan, whisk together and bring to a simmer. Use a flat-ended wooden spatula to scrape off any stuck-on bits from the meat and mix them into the sauce. Return the shanks to the sauce – bony side down. Top up with a touch more water if needed to bring the liquid level about a third of the way up the shanks. Bring to a simmer.500 ml stock – meat or vegetable¼ cup maple syrup2 Tablespoon soft dark brown sugar2 Tablespoons malt vinegarpeel of an orangejuice from an orange2 rosemary sprigs
- Cover - tuck the sheet of baking paper over the top of the shanks and then put on the lid. Transfer to the oven.
- Cook - for 2 ½- 3 hours until very tender. How do you know when the shanks are done? If, when you gently poke the meat with fork tines or the tip of a butter knife, it easily yields and appears like it could separate into shreds.
- Increase Oven Temperature – to 200°C.
- Transfer and Strain - gently lift the shanks out of the sauce with tongs and place them in a smaller baking dish (they will have shrunk a little). Keep them bony side down. Pick out and discard the orange peel and rosemary stalks. If the braising liquid is very thick and syrupy, add a touch of water and whisk to loosen. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a bowl or container, making sure to incorporate the sauce that collects on the underside of the sieve too.
- Baste – brush some of the sauce over the shanks.
- Brown - transfer the shanks (uncovered) to the oven. Cook for another 15 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling hot and the meat is crispy in parts.
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