Slow-Braised Lamb Shoulder

Slow-Braised
Lamb Shoulder

⏱ 4 hours 👥 6 serves 🔥 Intermediate

This is the recipe that separates the committed from the casual. Four hours of your Sunday. Worth every single minute. This isn't throw-it-together food — this is an investment in flavour that pays dividends in falling-apart tenderness and deep, wine-soaked richness.

Lamb shoulder is criminally underused. People fear the time, the fat, the bone. But that's where the magic lives. Low and slow transforms tough connective tissue into silky gelatin. The bone adds depth. The fat? That's flavour, friend.

This is the centrepiece dish that makes people go quiet when they taste it. The one that gets requested for birthdays and celebrations. The one that fills your house with the smell of rosemary and red wine and makes you feel like a culinary genius. Because you are.

Ingredients

  • 2kg lamb shoulder, bone-in
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2 large onions, roughly chopped
  • 3 carrots, roughly chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
  • 400ml red wine (drink-worthy quality)
  • 400g tinned tomatoes
  • 500ml lamb or beef stock
  • 3 bay leaves
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Pat lamb dry, score the fat, season aggressively with salt and pepper. Make small slits and insert garlic slivers.
  2. Heat a large heavy-based pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add oil. Sear the lamb on all sides until deeply golden. This is non-negotiable — don't skip the colour.
  3. Remove lamb. Add onions, carrots, celery. Cook 5 minutes until softened and starting to caramelise.
  4. Pour in red wine. Scrape up all those beautiful brown bits from the bottom. Let it bubble and reduce by half.
  5. Add tomatoes, stock, rosemary, bay leaves. Return lamb to the pot. The liquid should come halfway up the meat.
  6. Bring to a simmer, cover tightly, transfer to oven. Braise for 3.5-4 hours until the meat is fall-apart tender.
  7. Remove lamb carefully (it'll be fragile). Tent with foil. Strain the sauce, discard solids, skim fat. Reduce sauce on the stovetop if needed.
  8. Shred lamb roughly, discarding bone and excess fat. Pour sauce over. Serve with creamy mash or soft polenta.
  9. Accept praise graciously. You've earned it.

Nutrition Per Serve

485
Calories
42g
Protein
12g
Carbs
28g
Fat