Lamb has a unique flavor that sets it apart from other meats like chicken, pork, or beef, and it has a gamey, fatty texture, making it a versatile and delicious protein.
Lamb is also a good source of several important vitamins and minerals, including iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.
However, it’s still red meat and can be high in saturated fat and calories, so plan your meals accordingly: pair it with root veggies, leafy greens, spinach, asparagus, green beans, eggplant, zucchinis and such, for well rounded, nutritious, and delicious meals.
In terms of herbs and spices, lamb works very well with rosemary, thyme, oregano, garlic, mint, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, or fennel. Of course, you should experiment with these and other spices and herbs until you find your favorite flavor profile for lamb.
As for wine pairings, try full bodied wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah or Malbec, although Pinot Noir or Melot are not bad options either.
One of the best ways to cook lamb is to roast it because it allows the meat to develop a delicious crust on the outside while keeping the inside tender and juicy. Roasted lamb is relatively easy to prepare and requires minimal attention once it is in the oven, and it accommodates large cuts, ideal for big family meals.
In case you want to try lamb this Easter, check out these great roasted lamb recipes that we’ve selected for you.
1. Braised Lamb with Mediterranean Flavors
Lamb is very popular in the Mediterranean region, and some of the best lamb recipes originate there. This recipes uses deboned lamb shoulder cut into small cubes, and a bouquet of Mediterranean flavors: cumin, coriander, fennel, and cloves.
The balsamic vinegar and tomatoes add sweetness and acidity to the dish and help render the meat incredibly tender. The meat is cooked slowly, for up to three hours, and you can do it both on the stove top or in the oven.
2. Greek Style Roasted Lamb Gyros with Harissa Spiced Tzatziki
If you want to replicate the experience of a delicious lamb gyros at home, look no further than this recipe.
A leg of lamb, bone in, gets roasted in the oven with garlic and other delicious spices and, once it’s done (which can take up to 2.5 hours with the resting time included), you slice is thinly for the gyros-style sandwiches.
While the lamb is cooking, you have plenty of time to prepare all the sides for it, starting with the tzatziki sauce with a twist, fried potatoes, crumbled feta cheese, and your favorite pickles and salads. Don’t forget the pita bread – warm it in the oven for a couple of minutes before serving the gyros.
3. Easy Provençal Lamb
This recipe is perfect for dinner parties – you’ll impress your guests with a spectacular leg of lamb that took you maybe 15 minutes of preparation before putting it in the oven.
The meat is cooked in a delicious sauce that contains Dijon mustard, ripe tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar, plus garlic and fresh rosemary. Adding a bit of honey makes the sauce even more delicious and creates a beautiful crust.
You can serve it as is, with just the sauce and maybe some sourdough bread, but it pairs beautifully with a side of potatoes or rice as well.
4. Roast Indian Leg of Lamb
Use a bone-in leg of lamb for this recipe, and make sure you marinade it for at least eight hours prior to roasting. The complex marinade, based on yogurt and a variety of spices, including ginger, saffron, curry paste, coriander, pepper, and garlic, will infuse the meat, making it melt in your mouth tender and full of flavor.
Roast the meat for up to three hours, depending on the size of the lamb, and serve it with your favorite side dish.
5. Lamb Shanks Massaman Curry
This dish takes only minutes of prep work before popping in the oven and you’ll end up with a dish worthy of an upscale restaurant. The recipe uses lamb shanks, massaman curry paste, coconut milk, chicken broth, potatoes and onions, while cinnamon and star anise round up the flavors.
Simply put everything in a baking disk and cook it uncovered until the meat falls apart and the liquid reduces to a sauce consistency. Serve it with a side of rice that will soak up the amazing sauce.
6. Mallorca Slow-Roasted Lamb Shoulder
A nice and juicy lamb shoulder, bone-in, slow roasted for six hours, can’t be anything but amazing. Start by browning the seasoned lamb in the oven at a high temperature. Then, set your oven on low and add veggies (onions, carrots, celery, leek, tomatoes), herbs (rosemary, bay leaves, thyme), red wine, and stock.
Make sure you cover the baking dish properly with a lid or foil, to avoid the lamb drying out. Once the meat is done, serve it with boiled potatoes and the delicious sauce that forms in the baking dish drizzled on top.
7. Persian Roast Lamb with Pomegranate Molasses
This lamb roast recipe uses pomegranate molasses and saffron for a spectacular marinade that takes the dish to the next level. Pomegranate molasses is both sweet and tangy, with a vibrant color, and the other ingredients (saffron, garlic, honey, olive oil, cumin, turmeric, and more) will create a veritable symphony of flavors.
Make sure you slash the piece of meat to allow the marinate to do its job (leaving it to marinate overnight renders the best results). Then, roast the lamb on top of a layer of onions, covered in stock or water, until the meat is done. Serve it on rice, next to a salad of your choice.
8. Pomegranate Fig Lamb Shanks
Browned and cooked in a mixture of stock and tomato paste, flavored with onions, pomegranate molasses, and fresh figs, this lamb shanks recipe is in equal parts delicious and surprising.
Once the meat is cooked, put it on a serving platter with the figs, and skim the fat from the remaining sauce before drizzling it on top of the meat and your choice of side dish.
9. Pulled Lamb with Plum-sriracha
Marinating the lamb for at least 24 hours is an essential step in this recipe, so plan accordingly. Don’t rush things by marinating for only a couple of hours – you’ll be missing on a lot of amazing flavor as the marinade contains an interesting mix of onion, garlic, ginger, sriracha, honey, Chinese 5-spice, and plums.
Take the marinated lamb out of the refrigerator and bring back to room temperature, then roast it for four hours – covered in ginger beer. The end result is tender meat that you can easily shred, mixed with a delicious sauce that’s sweet, tangy, and packed with flavors.
10. Roast Lamb with Molasses Onion Marmalade
Spicy and sweet, with a hint of acidity from balsamic vinegar, this lamb roast makes an amazing weekend dinner for the entire family. You need to start by putting the marinade together (coriander, rosemary, garlic, chilies, and dark demerara sugar mixed with olive oil). The lamb should be left overnight basted in the marinade.
The next day, put plenty of onion and garlic in a deep roasting dish, then place the leg of lamb on top, pour over the stock and roast for 3.5 hours, adding balsamic vinegar and some more demerara sugar during the last hour of cooking.
The final step (removing the meat and reducing the liquid on the stove top until the onions are thoroughly caramelized) creates a delicious marmalade that accompanies the rich lamb meat perfectly.
11. Roast Lamb with Rosemary, Garlic, Lemon & Anchovy
This recipe merges classic lamb flavors with a bit of the unexpected: umami-rich hints from the anchovies, brightness from the lemon zest, plus the tried and tested garlic and rosemary. Make sure you rub the anchovies-garlic-lemon paste all over the meat.
Make small incisions with a sharp knife in the thicker parts of the cut, to create pockets for the mixture. Roast the meat without over cooking it – you should aim for medium-rare to medium.
12. Roast Racks of Lamb with Apricot Mustard Glaze
The tanginess and unique flavor of apricots pair well with most meats, particularly red meats, and the combination truly shines in this recipe that uses racks of lambs.
The cooking process is pretty simple: to make the glaze, combine the apricot preserve and ground mustard with the rest of the spices, spoon it on top of the patted dry and seasoned rack, and let it sit for an hour at room temperature.
Roast the racks of lamb on a high heat until it is done to your liking. Avoid overcooking it, though, so don’t leave it in the oven for more than 30 minutes.
13. Rosemary & Parmesan Crusted Lamb Racks
Coated in a delicious mix of bread crumbs, Parmesan and herbs, and roasted to perfection, these lamb racks are a truly sophisticated dish that’s meant to impress. It works perfectly with buttery mashed potatoes and red wine jus.
14. Slow Roast Shoulder of Welsh Lamb with Vegetables and Cider Gravy
This one-pot dish reaps maximum benefits with minimal effort: the meat and the sides are cooked in the oven, in the same baking dish. Try to find Welsh lamb, as it’s one of the best quality meats out there. However, it will work with any lamb shoulder you can find at your local butcher or store.
First, roast the seasoned lamb for three hours, then add the potatoes, carrots, shallots, butternut squash, sprouts, and broccoli, in stages, so that you don’t overcook the veggies. At the end, you’ll end up with a very hearty and delicious meal that took very little effort.
For more local recipes, check out our round-up of the most popular Welsh foods.
15. Slow Roasted Lamb Shawarma with Caramelized Red Onions
The marinade for this dish contains a nice selection or spices spices such as cloves, fennel, smoked paprika, cumin, and red chili flakes – and it’s important that you let it do its job on the meat, preferably overnight. Then proceed with roasting the meat in a hot oven (around four hours in total).
Adding wedges of onion after the first two hours of roasting maximizes the flavor and ensures that the onions retain some texture once the meat is done. Finish things off with a squeeze of lemon juice and serve with warm pita bread and a classic Mediterranean salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.
16. Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder
Slow roasting results in a lamb shoulder that is melt-in-your-mouth tender, very juicy, and has a nice crunchy crust.
The spices (fennel, cumin, oregano, and garlic) are brightened by the addition of some malt vinegar. Once the lamb is done, leave to rest for 20 minutes while you roast some Brussels sprouts with almonds and kale, as a side dish.
17. Slow Roasted Lamb Shanks with Olives
The recipe uses lamb shanks, and the addition of green olives and lemon zest brings out the flavor of the meat and cuts some of the fattiness. It’s a very easy to make one-pot recipe: you simply layer onions and garlic in an oven dish, add the meat and spices, some water, and allow it to cook slowly.
The olives and lemon zest are added once the meat is out of the oven, to maintain their full flavor and texture. You can serve it with some sourdough bread or pita bread (to soak up the delicious sauce that also contains tomatoes). Rice or mashed potatoes go well too.
18. Slowed-cooked Lamb, Rosemary and Roasted Garlic Pie
What’s even better than a roast? A pie filled with roast lamb and veggies, and this recipe really lives up to the task. You need boneless leg of lamb that you roast with spices and herbs, and some roasted garlic for the pie filling.
Once the meat is done, arrange it in a pie dish with the veggies and the roasted garlic, cover it with puff pastry, and bake it again. It’s best freshly out of the oven.
19. Slow-roast Easter Lamb with Caramelized Onions
This deceptively simple recipe results in a perfect Easter (or any other occasion) roast. All you need is a nice leg of lamb, bone in, red onions, rosemary springs, garlic, and water. Arrange the seasoned lamb in a large oven dish, fat side up, cut pockets with a sharp knife and fill them with garlic cloves, while the thickly sliced onion comes on top, so that it gets caramelized during cooking.
Pour some water into the dish, making sure it doesn’t cover the lamb, seal with foil, and roast it for up to five hours (uncovered for the last 45 minutes or so).
20. Succulent Roast Shoulder of Lamb
A classic roast with the veggies added in the same baking tin during the last hour of roasting – basically, your main concern is having an oven dish large enough for the meat and all the veggies. The recipe asks for mint, which is an herb that pairs perfectly with the lamb, just as rosemary does.
If you want some gravy to go with your roast, remove the meat and the veggies once they are done and turn the remaining juices and some extra stock into delicious gravy.
21. Slow Roasted Shoulder of Lamb with Merguez Spices
The spices in this recipe are the same used in North African countries for their popular Muerguez sausages (which are also made mostly of lamb, so it’s a true and tested combination). Once you gather all the spices and prepare the mixture, all that’s left to do is to roast the shoulder until the meat falls off the bone.
Serve with cabbage, broccoli, potatoes, or with some pita bread and a simple salad.
22. Slow-roasted Cumin Lamb Shoulder with Marinated Labne
This Middle Eastern-inspired lamb recipe has plenty of flavor from the pomegranate molasses, cumin, za’atar, and the mint and coriander seeds.
Roast the lamb shoulder in the oven, then serve it with delicious marinated labne (a type of Lebanese creamy cheese marinated in olive oil and herbs), fresh pomegranate seeds, and flatbread.
For more local dishes, check out our story on the most popular Lebanese foods.
23. One-pot Greek Roast Lamb with Potatoes and Fennel
Ready in under an hour, this recipe works very well for busy weekday dinners or for special occasions. You need a deboned, butterflied piece of lamb leg, which reduces the cooking time drastically, potatoes, onions and fennel.
The meat is flavored with an anchovy and garlic paste, plus various herbs, and it’s cooked on a rack on top of the veggies in the pan, making it less likely to overcook.
24. Roast Lamb with Chorizo, Orange and Parsley
Adding oranges and chorizo to the dish gives it an Iberian touch – the oranges bring both sweetness and acidity to the fatty meat, while the chorizo gives it a kick in terms of spiciness. It’s fairly easy to do, as it’s done in one pan, by adding the ingredients in stages.
If you want, you can also prepare a tray of potatoes to pop in the oven an hour and a half before the meat is done for a full meal.
25. Spiced Leg of Lamb
Having a meat thermometer on hand helps a lot with this recipe, as it’s crucial to avoid overcooking the meat. Dry roast the spices before adding them to the meat to boost the flavor, and marinate the meat for 48 hours for a truly unforgettable roast.
26. Wine Braised Lamb Shanks
Mushrooms, dry red wine, and fresh rosemary meet with lamb shanks in this slow cooked recipe that results into a hearty, satisfying meal.
Adding onions, carrots, and celery to the roast makes for a pretty tasty sauce in the pan, and you should serve the dish with some velvety mashed potatoes.
27. Braised Lamb Shanks with Mushrooms
This recipe uses bone-in lamb shanks, which gives extra flavor to the dish. It’s slowed cooked in the oven, turning the meat incredibly tender, and the accompanying sauce, containing mushrooms, red wine, tomatoes, and veal stock, among others, has just the right brightness and acidity to elevate the lamb.
Putting the dish together might take around half an hour or so, but once you stick it in the oven there’s not much else to do – except maybe some mashed potatoes, rice, or even polenta. All those side dishes are perfect for the saucy meat.
Also, it’s basically impossible to overcook the meat in this recipe, so you don’t need to fret about checking it all the time. Give it at least 1.5 hours in the oven, or even more. It’s done when the meat falls off the bones.
The post Looking for Easter Recipes? Check Out These Amazing Roasted Lamb Options! appeared first on Chef's Pencil.
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