Vietnamese lamb shanks with sweet potatoes

Name: Vietnamese lamb shanks with sweet potatoes
Prep time: 16 min
Cook time: 31 min
Total time: 47 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Ground Nut Oil; 4 Lamb Shanks; 2 Onion; 2 tbs chopped Ginger; 3 sliced thinly Garlic Clove; 1 chopped Red Chilli; 1 sliced Red Chilli; 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar; 1 tsp Brown Sugar; 3 Star Anise; 2 Lemongrass Stalks; 1L Lamb Stock; 1 ½ tbsp Tomato Puree; 4 Sweet Potatoes; 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce; Juice of 2 Lime; Handful Mint; Handful Basil Leaves

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Lamb recipe with Vietnamese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 51 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 47 min total

2 tablespoons Ground Nut Oil
4 Lamb Shanks
2 Onion
2 tbs chopped Ginger
3 sliced thinly Garlic Clove
1 chopped Red Chilli
1 sliced Red Chilli
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 tsp Brown Sugar
3 Star Anise
2 Lemongrass Stalks
1L Lamb Stock
1 ½ tbsp Tomato Puree
4 Sweet Potatoes
2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
Juice of 2 Lime
Handful Mint
Handful Basil Leaves

Step-by-step instructions

step 1.
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole, season the shanks, then brown them 2 at a time on all sides, adding the remaining oil for the second batch. Remove the lamb and add the onions. Fry them quite briskly, about 30 secs, add the ginger, garlic and chopped chilli, then turn the heat down and cook for 1 min. Add 1 tbsp sugar, stir, then add the star anise, lemongrass, stock, purée and seasoning. Bring to the boil.
step 2.
Cover and cook in the oven for 1½ hrs, then add the sweet potatoes and cook for 1 hr more. The lamb should be completely tender and almost falling off the bones. Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice and 1 tsp sugar to just lift the flavour, then scatter with the mint, basil and the sliced chilli to serve.

Why this works on a weeknight

Vietnamese lamb shanks with sweet potatoes lands at about 47 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sheet-Pan Dinners collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Vietnamese lamb shanks with sweet potatoes actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍳 Sheet-Pan Dinners Lamb Vietnamese