Camp Oven Lamb Shank and Root Vegetable Stew

There are few things more satisfying than lifting the lid off a camp oven after a couple of hours and finding lamb shanks that fall apart at the touch of a fork, sitting in a rich, thick gravy with root vegetables that have soaked up every bit of flavour. This is the kind of meal that makes a cold evening at camp feel like a proper event — the sort of cook that has everyone hovering around the fire pit well before dinner is ready.

Lamb shanks are one of the most forgiving cuts you can work with in a camp oven. They thrive on low, slow heat and actually benefit from the uneven temperatures you get cooking over coals. Combined with sturdy root vegetables that hold their shape over a long braise, this stew is built for camp cooking conditions. Whether you are set up at a free camp in the Victorian high country or parked up at a powered site on the Murray, this recipe delivers every time.

Why Lamb Shanks Work So Well in a Camp Oven

Camp oven cooking is all about patience, and lamb shanks reward that patience better than almost any other cut. The connective tissue in the shank breaks down slowly over a couple of hours, turning what starts as a tough, sinewy piece of meat into something meltingly tender. The marrow from the bone adds body and richness to the braising liquid, creating a gravy that thickens naturally without needing flour or cornstarch.

The beauty of cooking shanks in a camp oven is that the heavy cast iron distributes heat evenly and holds temperature well, even as the coals beneath shift and settle. You do not need to maintain a precise temperature — anywhere between 150 and 180 degrees Celsius will get the job done. That forgiveness is what makes this recipe ideal for campfire cooking, where conditions are never quite the same twice.

Choosing Your Shanks

Look for lamb shanks that are roughly the same size so they cook at the same rate. Fore shanks are smaller and cook a little faster, while hind shanks are meatier and take a touch longer. Either works well here. For four people, grab four shanks — one per person is a solid serve, especially with the vegetables and some bread on the side.

If you are buying from a butcher before you head out, ask them to trim any excess fat from the outside of the shank but leave the silverskin intact. That membrane helps hold the meat together during the long cook and breaks down completely by the time you are ready to serve. Most supermarket shanks come pre-trimmed and are perfectly fine for camp cooking.

For travellers who are stocking up before a longer trip, lamb shanks freeze exceptionally well. Vacuum-seal them at home if you can, and they will keep in a quality camping fridge for four to five days, or in a well-managed esky with ice for two to three days. Pull them out the morning of and let them come to fridge temperature before cooking.

The Right Root Vegetables

Root vegetables are the natural partner for a long braise because they hold their shape and absorb the cooking liquid without turning to mush. For this stew, you want a mix of textures and flavours. Carrots bring sweetness, parsnips add an earthy depth, and potatoes give the stew some body. Turnip or swede works well too if you want something a bit more robust.

Cut your vegetables into large chunks — roughly 4 to 5 centimetres. Anything smaller will break down too much over a two-hour cook. You want pieces that are tender all the way through but still have enough structure to hold on a fork. Keeping them chunky also means less prep time at camp, which matters when you are working on a folding table with a headlamp.

One tip for travellers: prep your vegetables at home before you leave. Peel and chop everything, store it in a ziplock bag with a damp paper towel, and keep it in the fridge. It saves a good twenty minutes of fiddling around at camp and means less waste to deal with at a bush site where you are packing everything out.

Full Ingredient List

This recipe serves four hungry campers. Scale up if you are feeding a bigger crew — the camp oven can handle it as long as you do not overcrowd it.

• 4 lamb shanks (approximately 350–400g each)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large brown onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine (or substitute with beef stock)
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Step-by-Step Instructions

This cook takes about two and a half hours from go to whoa, but the hands-on time is only about twenty minutes at the start. Once everything is in the camp oven, you can sit back, tend the fire, and let the coals do the work. Get your fire going a good hour before you plan to start cooking so you have a solid bed of coals ready.

The method follows a simple pattern: brown the meat, build the base, add the liquid, then walk away. It is the same approach professional kitchens use for braised dishes, just adapted for a campfire setup.

Step 1 — Build Your Coal Bed and Brown the Shanks

Set your camp oven directly on a bed of hot coals. You want medium-high heat for this stage — enough to get a good sear on the meat. Add the olive oil and let it heat for a minute or two until it shimmers. Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper, then place them in the camp oven. Brown them on all sides, turning every couple of minutes. This should take about eight to ten minutes total.

Do not rush the browning. That dark crust on the outside of the shank is where a huge amount of flavour comes from — it is the foundation of the whole dish. If your camp oven is not big enough to fit all four shanks without crowding, do them in two batches. Overcrowding drops the temperature and steams the meat instead of searing it.

Once browned, lift the shanks out and set them aside on a plate or in a clean billy. They do not need to be cooked through at this stage — you are just building colour and flavour on the surface.

Step 2 — Cook the Aromatics and Build the Base

With the shanks out, add the diced onion to the camp oven. There should be enough residual fat and oil to cook them without adding more. Stir the onions around for three to four minutes until they soften and start to colour. Add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute — just until it becomes fragrant.

Stir in the tomato paste and cook it for about a minute, stirring constantly. Cooking the paste before adding liquid removes the raw tinny flavour and deepens the colour of your eventual gravy. Pour in the red wine and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the camp oven. Those bits — called fond — are pure concentrated flavour, and you do not want to leave them behind.

Let the wine bubble and reduce by about half, which takes two to three minutes. Then pour in the beef stock and add the Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. Give everything a good stir and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer.

Step 3 — Add the Shanks and Vegetables, Then Braise

Nestle the lamb shanks back into the camp oven. The liquid should come about halfway up the shanks — if it does not, add a splash more stock or water. Tuck the carrot, parsnip, and potato chunks in around and between the shanks. The vegetables do not need to be submerged — they will cook in the steam and absorb liquid as the stew reduces.

Put the lid on the camp oven. Now move the oven to a spot where you can manage the heat more easily. You want coals underneath and on top of the lid. A good rule for a slow braise is roughly two-thirds of the coals on top and one-third underneath. This gives you a steady, oven-like heat of around 160 to 170 degrees Celsius without scorching the bottom.

Let the stew braise for two hours. Check it once at the one-hour mark — lift the lid, give it a gentle stir, and check the liquid level. If it looks like it is reducing too fast, add a splash of water or stock. Rotate the camp oven a quarter turn and rearrange the coals if any hot spots have developed. Replace the lid and leave it for another hour.

Managing Heat Over the Full Cook

Two hours is a long time to maintain coals, and heat management is the difference between a great result and a burnt mess. The key is to keep a small fire burning nearby so you always have fresh coals to rotate in as the ones under the camp oven die down.

Every thirty to forty minutes, use a pair of tongs or a coal shovel to remove spent coals and replace them with fresh ones from the fire. Pay particular attention to the coals on the lid — they tend to burn down faster because of the airflow above them. If the lid coals go out and you do not replace them, the top of the stew will not get enough heat and the cooking time will blow out.

Reading the Temperature Without a Thermometer

If you do not carry a thermometer, there are a few ways to gauge your temperature. Hold your hand about 10 centimetres above the lid. If you can hold it there for about four seconds before the heat becomes uncomfortable, you are in the 160 to 180 degree range — exactly where you want to be for this braise. If you can only hold it for two seconds, it is too hot and you need to pull a few coals away.

Another indicator is the sound coming from inside the camp oven. You want a gentle, lazy bubble — the kind of quiet simmering sound that tells you the liquid is just ticking over. If you can hear a rolling boil, reduce the coals underneath. Boiling toughens the meat and breaks down the vegetables too quickly.

For those who prefer precision, a small probe thermometer poked through the lid vent hole works well. Aim for a liquid temperature of 85 to 95 degrees Celsius — hot enough to braise but not so hot that the stew boils aggressively.

Serving and Storage

After two hours, the lamb shanks should be completely tender — the meat should pull away from the bone with no resistance. The gravy will have thickened naturally from the gelatin in the bones and the starch from the potatoes. If you want it thicker, remove the lid for the last fifteen minutes to let some moisture evaporate.

Serve the stew straight from the camp oven with a good chunk of bread or damper to mop up the gravy. A simple green salad on the side cuts through the richness nicely, but it is not essential — this is camp food, not a restaurant.

Leftovers and Prep-Ahead Options

This stew is arguably better the next day, once the flavours have had time to meld overnight. Let it cool in the camp oven with the lid on, then refrigerate if you have a camping fridge. Reheat gently over coals the next day — it makes an excellent lunch with minimal effort.

For travellers who want to prep ahead, you can brown the shanks and prepare the braising liquid at home, then combine everything in a large ziplock bag or sealed container. At camp, simply pour the contents into your camp oven, add the vegetables, and braise as directed. This cuts your active cooking time at camp down to about five minutes.

If you are on a longer touring trip and want to batch-cook, this recipe doubles easily in a 12-quart camp oven. Make a big batch on your first night and you have meals sorted for two or three days — just portion it out and reheat as needed.

Variations and Substitutions

The beauty of a camp oven stew is that it is endlessly adaptable. Swap the lamb shanks for beef osso buco or oxtail and follow the same method — the cooking time stays roughly the same. For a lighter version, bone-in chicken thighs work well but only need about an hour of braising time, so add the vegetables at the start and the chicken thirty minutes in.

If you cannot get parsnips, sweet potato makes a solid substitute — just cut it a little larger as it breaks down faster than regular potato. A handful of pearl barley added to the braising liquid gives the stew extra body and turns it into more of a complete meal without needing bread on the side.

Making It Without Red Wine

If you prefer not to cook with wine or simply did not pack any, replace it with an equal amount of beef stock and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. The vinegar provides the acidity that wine brings to the braise and helps tenderise the meat. The flavour profile will be slightly different but no less satisfying.

Some campers swear by adding a stubby of dark ale instead of wine, which gives the gravy a deeper, maltier flavour. If you go down that path, reduce the stock by half a cup to compensate for the extra liquid.

Whatever liquid you use, the important thing is that the shanks are partially submerged and the camp oven stays sealed for the duration of the cook. The steam trapped inside does as much work as the direct heat from the coals.

Get Kitted Out for Your Next Camp Cook

A good camp oven meal starts with having the right gear packed and ready to go. Whether you are heading out for a weekend or a month-long lap, being properly set up makes the difference between a relaxing cook and a frustrating one. Browse our full range of camping accessories at outcamp.com.au to make sure you have everything sorted before your next trip.