Fifteen minutes at breakfast, dinner sorted by six

The slow cooker was invented for cuts like this. Forequarter chops have the fat and the connective tissue that eight low hours turn into pure silk, and three big onions melting down beside them become the gravy without you doing a thing. The whole job is fifteen minutes at the bench before work — flour the chops, brown them, tip everything in — and you come home to a kitchen that smells like someone far more organised lives there. Spoon it over mash and watch the meat fall off the bone on the way to the plate.

8 hrs 30 mins 4 servings Prep 15 minsCook 8 hrs 15 minsMain CourseAustralian

Ingredients

  • 4 Your Farmer grass-fed lamb forequarter chops
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 large brown onions, thickly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 375ml beef stock
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and pepper to season

Instructions

Season the flour with salt and pepper and toss the chops through it, keeping any leftover flour.

4 forequarter chops2 tbsp plain flour

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and brown the chops for about 3 minutes each side, then transfer them to the slow cooker.

2 tbsp olive oil

In the same pan, cook the onions for 5 minutes until they take on some colour, add the garlic and any leftover flour for the last minute, then scatter the lot over the chops.

3 onions2 cloves garlic

Pour the stock and Worcestershire sauce into the hot pan, scrape up the browned bits, and pour it all over the chops. Tuck in the thyme and bay leaves.

375ml beef stock1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce1 tsp dried thyme2 bay leaves

Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4), until the meat gives way at the touch of a fork.

Fish out the bay leaves, skim any fat from the top, season the gravy to taste, and serve the chops over mashed potato with the onions and gravy spooned generously over.

Appears in

In every lamb share — Forequarter Chops (4 pack)

Your Farmer CSA grass-fed lamb share — Pack B selection of pasture-raised lamb cuts, vacuum-sealed, NSW & ACT delivery
CSA Pastured Lamb Share
From $183.33

Eight Hours Is This Chop's Best Friend

Forequarter chops come from the lamb's shoulder, and shoulder muscles are held together by collagen — the stuff that makes a quickly cooked chop chewy and a slowly cooked one magnificent. Somewhere around hour three in the slow cooker, that collagen starts melting into gelatine, and by hour eight the meat is sliding off the bone and the gravy has a silkiness you can't buy in a packet. The flour on the chops thickens it; the onions, cooked down to almost nothing, sweeten it. It's also why this recipe wants the forequarter and not a leaner chop — loin chops turn dry and stringy over eight hours, while the shoulder chop just keeps getting better the longer you leave it. When you're picking a pack from the freezer, look for chops with an even seam of creamy white fat; that's pasture doing the seasoning for you. Your Farmer® forequarter chops are grass-fed and cut four to the pack — this is the recipe that asks the least of you and gives back the most. If your household empties the pot faster than expected, grass-fed forequarter chops are there by the four-pack.

Swaps and Variations

A couple of handfuls of sliced mushrooms thrown in with the onions deepen the gravy nicely. Swap 125ml of the stock for red wine and it drifts toward something Frenchier. Buttered egg noodles or a baked potato stand in for mash without complaint. And if the set-and-forget style suits your week, our slow-cooker pot roast with root vegetables runs the same play with the beef share.

Storage and Leftovers

The gravy thickens and improves overnight, so leftovers are a prize. Keep them airtight in the fridge for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months, and reheat gently on the stove with a splash of water. The leftover idea worth writing down: pull the meat from the bones, warm it through the gravy and pile it onto thick buttered toast — a very good Saturday lunch for whoever's home to claim it.

Forequarter chops are in every box of our pasture-raised lamb subscription, which means this dinner is never more than a freezer drawer away.

Frequently asked questions

Can I skip browning the chops?

You can, and it will still work — but the gravy pays for it in colour and depth. Ten minutes with a frying pan at the start is the difference between good and great here.

Should I use LOW or HIGH?

LOW for 8 hours gives the most tender result because collagen breaks down best at a gentle heat. HIGH for 4 hours works when the morning got away from you.

My gravy is too thin. How do I fix it?

Stir a slurry of 1 tablespoon cornflour and 2 tablespoons cold water into the pot, then cook on HIGH with the lid off for 10 to 15 minutes until it thickens.

Can I make this in the oven instead?

Yes — use a covered casserole dish at 160C for about 2 hours, checking that the meat pulls easily from the bone before serving.

Why does the recipe use less stock than I expected?

Slow cookers barely evaporate, and the chops and onions release plenty of their own juices. Start with 375ml and you'll end with exactly the right amount of gravy, not soup.

0 commentson Slow Cooker Lamb Chops in Onion Gravy

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