Braised Lamb With Red Wine and Prunes

Name: Braised Lamb With Red Wine and Prunes
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 pounds lamb shoulder; 1 cup pitted prunes; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; Salt and pepper; 1 chopped onion; 2 teaspoons minced ginger; 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 1/2 cup red wine; 1/2 cup stock or water

By Mark Bittman

Updated May 1, 2024

Braised Lamb With Red Wine and Prunes — Sam Kaplan for The New York Times. Food stylist: Susan Ottoviano.

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1½ to 2½ hours
Rating: 5(1,649)
Comments: Read comments

Though far less glorified than rib chops or legs, lamb shoulder is explosively delicious and juicy – also, cheap. Like the shoulders of pigs and cows, it is a hardworking muscle rippled with intramuscular fat, which makes it ideal for stewing or braising. But the shoulder’s not that hardworking, which keeps it tender enough to be subjected to the shorter blasts of heat typically reserved for more elegant cuts. Here, it's braised in a flavorful mixture of prunes, red wine and spices until tender.

Featured in: Better Than a Meat Lollipop

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

2pounds lamb shoulder
1cup pitted prunes
1tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper
1chopped onion
2teaspoons minced ginger
¼teaspoon cinnamon
1½cup red wine
½cup stock or water

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Cut lamb into 2-inch cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and brown in a large skillet over medium-high heat; remove.
Step 2
Add onion, garlic, prunes, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper; cook until fragrant. Add wine, stock or water and browned lamb. When the liquid boils, lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, 1½ to 2½ hours. Garnish: Parsley.

Ratings

5 out of 5

1,649 user ratings

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Comments

Jane7 years ago

Added carrot pieces at the last half hour for more color and to introduce veg aspect. Nice complement as it turned out. Also took advice from previous reviews and added more cinnamon and prunes. An unqualified dinner party hit.

Roni Jordan7 years ago

Made in Dutch oven with 2lbs Australian leg meat, cut up but adding the bone for flavor. As others did, doubled the ginger & cinnamon. Also added cut carrots after 2 hours. Recipe did not state using oil to brown to meat - I used about 2 tbsp. When done, removed solids to reduce the liquid - a step I usually find essential in a stew or braise. Concentrated flavors were excellent - needed nothing else but a pilaf and steamed broccoli.

aysinnyc7 years ago

Made this over the weekend NYC blizzard ... super easy, delicious, and a great snowbound hit! Doubled the cinnamon and prunes, as others indicated -- I think I would only go 1.5x on the prunes next time, as I preferred the bites that got more savory meat than sweet prune -- and their sweetness leeches into the red wine sauce anyway, which is really lovely. Ate over some couscous tossed with spinach and golden raisins. Seriously satisfying.

Made 30 Times / One Tip1 month ago

This is a really great stew. I make it and freeze portions for lunches. My tip: I like to encourage the prunes to dissolve / disappear into the sauce. You end up with slightly jammy bites instead of biting into a whole prune.

Molly2 months ago

Good flavor

Bobbi3 months ago

I added whole raw almonds because they are in a similar another African dish that I like. They are perfect in this.

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