Instant Pot Curry Lamb Shanks
If you love lamb, then you will thoroughly enjoy these Curry Lamb Shanks. Pressure cooked (via an Instant Pot (paid link)) in a spicy coconut milk-based curry sauce, this lamb shank recipe is fall off the bone good.
Other great lamb recipes you might enjoy are my Roasted Rack of Lamb, Lamb Meatballs with Buttery Lemon Orzo & Tzatziki, Red Wine Braised Leg of Lamb. and Greek Lamb Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce.
This Yellow Curry Lamb Shank recipe is great any day of the week and any time of the year! Serve it for a weeknight meal or a special occasion.
I mean, tender lamb bathing in a spicy coconut curry sauce loaded with onions, potatoes and a lot of kick will leave you with the feeling like an accomplished chef. This lamb will be so tender when it’s done cooking that you can eat it minus any utensils — well, you may want a spoon to enjoy all of that delicious curry sauce.
Ingredients you’ll need to make your lamb shanks:
- Using the Instant Pot (paid link) to cook this meal will result in fall-off-the-bone lamb in less than an hour. Once you prepare your curry paste, you sear your lamb and drop everything in the Instant Pot (paid link). It makes dinner easy, breezy.
- For this recipe, I used 2 lb. Australian lamb shanks. I have a 6-quart Instant Pot (paid link) and two lamb shanks fit perfectly, although there is certainly room for 1 or 2 more. (Note: These shanks have to be handled with care once they are ready to be removed from the Instant Pot (paid link) as they literally fall apart due to the tenderness of the lamb.
- The seasoning combination for the lamb shanks is pretty simple but brings home the flavor and the heat. The seasonings consist of sea salt, black pepper, basil flakes, and garam masala. Garam masala is a spice heavily used in Indian cuisine, so it is a great flavor addition when making a curry dish.
- The yellow curry paste is the heartbeat of the flavors you will taste in the sauce. The curry paste consists of fresh shallots, fresh garlic, fresh lemongrass, and of course, red chile peppers. If you like a lot of spice, I suggest using 15 to 20 red chile peppers (this is very hot), but if you want it milder, use closer to 5 or 10 to be safe. The paste will be loaded with flavors from seasonings, including turmeric, curry powder, coriander, ground cumin, ground ginger, red cayenne pepper, Himalayan pink salt, and ground white pepper.
- Once your paste is ready, it will go into the Instant Pot (paid link) along with yellow onion, green onion, yellow potatoes, and chicken stock.
- In the end, you will fold in your coconut milk. This will provide a little creaminess to the texture of the curry sauce.
How to make curry lamb shanks:
You will begin preparing this recipe by turning on your Instant Pot (paid link) in Saute mode set to normal heat.
While the Instant Pot (paid link) is warming up, chop your yellow onion and green onion into small pieces, then set to the side. Cut your yellow potatoes into smaller cubes and set them to the side.
Season your lamb shanks with salt, pepper, basil flakes, and garam masala.
Add a tablespoon of cooking oil into the hot Instant Pot (paid link) and sear each side of the seasoned lamb shank for 3 to 5 minutes, remove from the heat, and set them to the side.
Now it’s time to make the yellow curry paste. First, remove the outer skin from the shallots and remove the garlic cloves from their bulbs/heads. Place your shallot and garlic in the food processor (paid link) along with lemongrass, red chile peppers, and curry seasoning.
Pour water over the ingredients and blend. The paste should have a thick, yet smooth and creamy consistency.
While the Instant Pot (paid link) is still set to Sauté, add butter into the pot, then add the yellow and green onions cooking them until they become translucent. Add in your potatoes.
Add your yellow curry paste, then pour in the chicken stock. Stir before adding the seared lamb shanks back into the Instant Pot (paid link).
Top off everything with cilantro flakes and stir and completely. Make sure your lamb shanks are submerged into the sauce.
Change the cooking setting on the Instant Pot (paid link) to Pressure Cook on High and place your top on and seal it. Cook for 35 minutes, then allow the pot to slow release for an additional 15 minutes before doing your manual release.
Remove the top and remove the lamb shank from the Instant Pot (paid link) and place them in your serving dish. Note: Be careful when removing the lamb shanks as they will be very tender, and the meat may fall off the bone. Add the coconut milk to the pot and stir until it becomes creamy. You can then pour the sauce over your lamb shanks.
This dish can be served over a bed of rice or even mashed potatoes if desired.
In the end, you will be able to indulge in a creamy but yet spicy bowl of curry lamb shanks with potatoes. It is a great option for any occasion that can make a big impression. When you’re looking for a great dinner recipe that is loaded with flavor and spice, this Curry Lamb Shank will do the job!
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Instant Pot Curry Lamb Shanks
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 3 1x
Description
If you love lamb, then you will thoroughly enjoy these Curry Lamb Shanks. Pressure cooked in a spicy coconut milk-based curry sauce, this lamb shank recipe is fall off the bone good.
Ingredients
- 2 lb lamb shanks
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp basil flakes
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 bundle of green onions, chopped
- 4 whole yellow potatoes, cubed
- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 15 oz coconut milk
For the curry paste:
- 4 shallots
- 3 garlic bulbs
- 1 whole lemongrass stalk
- 5 – 20 red chile peppers
- 3 tbsp cilantro flakes
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 3 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp red cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot (paid link) setting in Sauté mode to normal heat.
- Season your lamb shanks with the sea salt, pepper, basil flakes, and garam masala evenly.
- Add a tablespoon of cooking oil into the Instant Pot (paid link) and sear each side of the seasoned lamb shank for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set to the side.
- For the curry paste, remove the skin from the shallots and garlic bulbs. Place the shallots, garlic, lemongrass, red chile peppers, cilantro flakes, ground turmeric, curry powder, coriander, ground cumin, sea salt, ground white pepper, ground ginger, and red cayenne pepper into a food processor (paid link). Pour in water and blend until the paste becomes thick and smooth.
- Set Instant Pot (paid link) to Sauté. Add butter to the pot, then add the chopped yellow and green onions cooking them until they become translucent. Add the cubed yellow potatoes.
- Add the yellow curry paste into the pot, and pour in the chicken stock. Stir before adding the seared lamb shanks back into the sauce, completely submerging the lamb shanks in the sauce.
- Set the Instant Pot (paid link) to Pressure Cook mode on High for 35 minutes. Seal with top. Allow the Instant Pot (paid link) to slow release for an additional 15 minutes before performing a manual release.
- Remove the top and remove the lamb shanks from the pot. Add the coconut milk to the pot and stir.
- Serve lamb shanks with yellow curry sauce in a large serving dish.
Notes
If you like a lot of spice, I suggest using 15 to 20 red chile peppers (this is very hot), but if you want it milder, use closer to 5 or 10 to be safe.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Comfort Food
- Method: Insta Pot
- Cuisine: Middle East
Nutrition
- Calories: 798
- Sugar: 4.5g
- Sodium: 525mg
- Fat: 45.3g
- Carbohydrates: 8.1g
- Fiber: 2.6g
- Protein: 87.4g
- Cholesterol: 282mg
I will admit I was skeptical. It looked like a lotta steps and I don’t normally stray from tried and true (read NYT) sites.
Yea I am a conservative food snob.
But I took the plunge and it was … well the highest compliment in my house… go die for.
And while things were sautéing, I made the marinade so it was not a lengthy process.
The perfume in the house great.
But the shanks and the sauce – well is there such a thing as too good? No I didn’t think so either. Shanks fork tender. Sauce got poured over the lamb and over the rice.
And I have enough left over to serve as a base for another type of stew.
(I left out the potatoes as I knew rice was going to be on the table)
Clarissa thanks so much for sharing your experience with making this dish and I’m so glad you and your home enjoyed it!!
This recipe is amazing. This was my 1st attempt to making lamb shanks, I googled so many recipes, but this sounded amazing and doable. True to the instructions, absolutely beautiful and tasty 😋 😍
The whole family enjoyed the flavours, colour, texture and most of all the tenderness of the lamb 👍
Thanks for this amazing review, Sukhi! I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the lamb shanks. I don’t get to make them often myself, but they are a favorite!
I initially made this for my husband because I’m not too big on lamb, but I ended up trying it before I served it and I fell in love with the spices and how tender it was! Thanks for broadening my palate with this recipe!
This is a stunning dish that looks much harder than it is. The lamb is so tender and we could not get enough of the flavor. My family was impressed and has already requested I make it again for Sunday dinner. Thank you!
This was my first time making lamb shanks myself and thanks to your fantastic instructions it came out amazing! SO tender and flavorful.
This lamb shank curry was so warming and comforting. I served it with white rice and my family loved it. Thanks for sharing.
WOW! I am so happy I found this recipe! I was wondering what to do with the lamb shank I just brought and made this recipe! I am blown away by the flavors of this dish and how tender the lamb shank was! Thanks for the great recipe!!
I was getting bored of my usual Instant Pot recipes and needed something new. When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try and and I’m so glad I did! The lamb came out perfectly tender and so flavorful. It was also easy to do. Loved it.
I’ve only recently begun to embrace the Instant Pot I got last year and so always on the lookout for new recipes to try. Lamb is my favorite protein and this delicious recipe is definitely going to be added to the weekly repertoire.
Like you, I love lamb so it was wonderful to find a recipe using flavor profiles I hadn’t tried before. This is a definite winner!
Lamb is so underrated. Glad you enjoyed it!
The combination of flavours was amazing and my lamb turned out fork-tender! This is certainly going to be on rotation in our home.
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
We found some great cuts at the local grocery store and put the Insta to work. You were on point when you said “fall of the bone good.” Incredible flavor and super tender.
Oh yes, the fall-off-the-bone goodness is real! Thanks for trying out the recipe!