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This braised lamb a great keto dinner recipe for Easter, Valentine's Day or just when you crave cozy comfort food.
Deliciously juicy lamb shanks are first seared until well-browned, and then cooked until fall-apart tender with fragrant aromatics, vegetables, red wine and stock. Don't skip the browning, it will add a lot of flavor!
This meal takes a few hours to cook but you'll need just a few minutes to prepare it and then let the magic happen in the oven.
Slow Cooker Instructions
If you're planning to make these in a slow cooker, you will need to reduce the amount of liquids used in this recipe. You can either use only red wine (skipping the stock), or you can reduce both the wine and the stock by half.
Start by preheating your slow cooker. Follow the recipe by searing the lamb shanks, and then browning the aromatics and vegetables. Add the liquid ingredients and cook until the mixture starts simmering, and then transfer everything to the preheated slow cooker. Add the spices and herbs and cook on low for about 8 hours, or on high for about 4 hours.
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What to Serve With Braised Lamb Shanks
Braised lamb is perfect with potato mash but if you're keto, you will be avoiding potatoes and other high-carb sides. Don't worry, cauliflower mash tastes just as good as traditional mash but with none of the carbs! These low-carb side dished go well with braised lamb:
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Note About Nutrition Facts
If you follow a keto diet or are restricting your calories, this section is relevant to you. This recipe is one of those where you won't be able to get the exact macronutrients, especially when it comes to carbs and calories from fat and alcohol. Here's why:
- Not all aromatics used to add flavor are consumed. This includes cinnamon, herbs, onion, and some of the carrot and celery which may remain in the cooking juices. With fewer aromatics and vegetables you'll eat fewer carbs.
- You will unlikely use all of the cooking juices which will have plenty of rendered fat from the lamb. Although you'll use some of the juices to pour over the cooked lamb and cauliflower mash, you won't need all of it. Remember that just one tablespoon of pure fat contains over 130 Calories so this will impact the overall macros of this keto meal.
- Most of the alcohol will cook away. If you slow cook any meal that contains alcohol (here it's the red wine), you will end up with less than 5% of the original alcohol content. This also means that about 300 Calories from alcohol will cook away.
There isn't a simple way to estimate the macros in this recipe so I used all of the ingredients fully and will leave it up to you to decide whether you want to exclude or partially exclude any of the ingredients.
Hands-on Overall
Serving size about 200 g/ 7 oz cooked meat + juices and veggies to pour over
Nutritional values (per serving, about 200 g/ 7 oz cooked meat + juices and veggies to pour over)
Net carbs7 grams
Protein47.1 grams
Fat46.1 grams
Calories732 kcal
Calories from carbs 4%, protein 30%, fat 66%
Total carbs8.7 gramsFiber1.7 gramsSugars3 gramsSaturated fat19.6 gramsSodium809 mg(35% RDA)Magnesium75 mg(19% RDA)Potassium1,163 mg(58% EMR)
Ingredients (makes 4 servings)
- 4 lamb shanks (1.6 kg/ 3.5 kg) - will yield about 60% meat
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp virgin avocado oil (30 ml)
- 1 medium red onion, diced (85 g/ 3 oz)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium carrot, sliced (60 g/ 2.1 oz)
- 3 celery stalks, sliced (120 g/ 4.2 oz)
- 2 cups dry red wine (480 ml/ 16 fl oz)
- 2 cups chicken stock (480 ml/ 16 fl oz)
- 2 cinnamon sticks or 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 sprigs rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 °C/ 320 °F (fan assisted), or 180 °C/ 355 °F (conventional). Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper.
Note: Each lamb shank I used was about 400 grams (14.1 oz) and will yield about 60% meat. If you're viewing this recipe from the KetoDiet app, you will see net weight per edible parts (meat) only. For notes about how to calculate macros in this recipe, check the recipe post above.
- Peel and dice the onion and mince the garlic. Peel and slice the carrot and chop the celery.
- Grease a large casserole dish with avocado oil (or ghee). Add the lamb shanks and cook on high from all sides for a few minutes until browned.
- Once browned, transfer the lamb to a plate. Browning the lamb will add fantastic flavor! (Note: If you're planning to make these in a slow cooker, check the recipe tips in the post above.)
- Add the onion and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. Mix frequently scraping the bottom of the pan to combine with the browned juices from the lamb. Add the garlic, carrot and celery, stir again, and cook for a minute.
- Pour in the wine and stock. Add the cinnamon (you can use 2 cinnamon sticks or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon), bay leaves and rosemary.
- Place in the oven and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Once baked, remove from the oven, remove the lid and let it cool down for a few minutes.
- This braised lamb is best served with cauliflower mash. Try with Keto Creamy Cauliflower Mash, Cauliflower Mash with Roasted Garlic & Thyme, or Keto Celeriac Cauli-Mash.
- To store, let it cool down and refrigerate for up to 4 days. The cooked meat can also be frozen in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, about 200 g/ 7 oz cooked meat + juices and veggies to pour over)
| Net carbs | Protein | Fat | Calories |
|---|
| Lamb, Australian, imported, fresh, leg, whole (shank and sirloin), separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/8" fat, raw |
| 0 g | 43.8 g | 36.5 g | 516 kcal |
| Salt, sea salt |
| 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 kcal |
| Pepper, black, spices |
| 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Avocado oil, extra virgin |
| 0 g | 0 g | 7 g | 62 kcal |
| Onion, red, fresh |
| 1.4 g | 0.3 g | 0.1 g | 8 kcal |
| Garlic, fresh |
| 0.9 g | 0.2 g | 0 g | 4 kcal |
| Carrot, fresh |
| 1 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 6 kcal |
| Celery stalk, fresh |
| 0.4 g | 0.2 g | 0.1 g | 5 kcal |
| Wine, red, dry |
| 2.9 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 96 kcal |
| Chicken stock (broth), chicken only, homemade |
| 0 g | 2.4 g | 2.4 g | 31 kcal |
| Cinnamon, spices |
| 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Bay leaf, dried |
| 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Rosemary, fresh |
| 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 kcal |
| Total per serving, about 200 g/ 7 oz cooked meat + juices and veggies to pour over |
| 7 g | 47.1 g | 46.1 g | 732 kcal |
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