While it’s no secret we love lamb, this leg of lamb recipe however could very well be one of our most popular at home! It’s very forgiving, you can marinade the lamb for as little or as long as you want. The oven does all the work for you, and you get a delicious, melt in your mouth, juicy and succulent leg of lamb to share at the end.
I’m honored to partner with the American Lamb Board to bring you yet another tasty family recipe using American Lamb. All opinions are my own.
My Turkish grandma used to roast a leg of lamb every weekend–whether there was something to celebrate or not. Still, everytime it felt very festive. There’s something about the smell of lamb roasting in the oven for hours and how everyone gathers around it once it’s cooked.
I share so very much about how I love lamb, and not just any lamb. We absolutely LOVE American Lamb and that’s in fact all we eat. It’s tasty, fresh, and of great quality. When you buy American lamb, you also support our local ranchers–which work so hard day in and day out and deserve our support!
Before we get into the leg of lamb recipe, I don’t want you to miss out on how versatile lamb is! Use it with your favorite dishes and you’ll LOVE them. Some of my dishes with a lamb twist are: Lamb Birria , lamb Gyro, Cheese fondue with lamb dippers , easy lamb stir fry, Jalapeno Poppers, those Lamb Philly steak sliders and so much more!
Grandma’s Leg of Lamb Recipe
For some, roasting a whole leg of lamb can sound very intimidating. Well, we’re here to show you how easy, soothing and fulfilling this process can be! As you can see from the video, we roasted two of them and all the work really happens in the oven.
The process of marinating the leg of lamb is a Turkish classic, and you’ll find every grandma plays around with proportions a little bit. But the taste is very much comparable.
Why Roast Leg of Lamb?
- SUPER Tasty!
- It’s a wholesome cut with plenty of meat
- You can serve plenty of people
- It has a wonderful blend of meat and fat so the flavor is incredible!
- The price is usually affordable compared to the amount of meat you get.
- It roasts so beautifully when covered with enough stock into a juicy tender meat.
- You can serve it alongside potatoes, rice, pasta, veggies, salads, breads and more!
- Leftovers make the best sandwiches!
Ingredients for Leg of Lamb Recipe
- Leg of Lamb : The lamb is the absolute star! So make sure you buy quality American Lamb for a tasty, sweet, and fresh product.
As you can see from the images, I’ve asked my butcher to trim a lot of fat on the outside of the meat. This is completely optional, yet I highly recommend it!
Another tip is to ask your butcher to cut off the bone enough that it would fit your roasting pan. I can’t tell you the pain of not finding the correct size pan to roast your leg of lamb!
- Whole Garlic, Cardamom and Peppercorns : These are inserted to the meat (only a few) to infuse the flavor.
- Dry Spice Blend: This spice blend goes directly over the leg of lamb and is rubbed very well on all sides and angles of the meat along with salt and pepper.
- Wet Blend: Yogurt, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, Turkish sweet pepper paste (use ketchup if you can’t find that) and soy sauce (which I find better than bouillon powder).
- Whole onions and garlic
- Bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and more peppercorns
- Beef stock
How to Roast Leg of Lamb
- Buy an American Leg of Lamb that’s trimmed to your liking.
2. Use one of your sharp steak knives to make 4 slits on each side of the leg.
- Insert one garlic clove, one cardamom and a few peppercorns into each slit.
- Make sure to press them well inside. Use Your hands and secure them in so that they don’t fall off when rubbing the lamb with the remaining marinade.
5. Combine the dry spice blend in a bowl. That includes: brown sugar, cinnamon, Turkish red pepper flakes, allspice, garlic powder and onion powder. Now use your hands to rub the spice mixture all over the lamb meat. Make sure to rub it on all sides and angles.
6. The salt and pepper can be added to the spice blend, but my grandma used to salt separately to make sure it’s well distributed.
7. Now you’re going to mix in the wet ingredients which include yogurt, pomegranate molasses, sweet pepper paste (or ketchup), soy sauce (or bouillon powder dissolved in water) and olive oil.
8. Now pour that wet marinade all over the leg of lamb and here’s a good time to use your hands! Massage the leg of lamb very well and all sides with the wet marinade. Cover the lamb with a piece of parchment and then foil.
9. The meat can marinade for 2 hours and up to 2 days.
10. Before roasting the leg of lamb, you’ll need to add more flavor like whole onions cut in half. Also add in heads of garlic cut in half, whole cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.
11. My grandma always added a good sprinkle of salt right before roasting her lamb, so that’s what we do 🙂
12. The stock is essential as it’s the water that will absorb into the slow roasting process. Beef stock, chicken or veggies work well here. And if for any reason you have lamb stock on hand, then that would be AWESOME!
13. Cover the leg of lamb with a layer of parchment paper followed by a layer of foil. Roast the lamb for about 3-4 hours until the lamb is fork tender. USDA recommends lamb reach an internal temperature of 145F and rest for 3 minutes.
When done, serve with the extra juices at the bottom of the roasting pan. SO SO GOOD!
How to Serve Leg of Lamb
This recipe has been made for generations and for many many years in our family. However, to make it festive and perfect for the Holidays, I chose a few side dishes to serve it with that are not as classic.
- The lamb is classically served on a plate with all the juices from roasting.
- Alongside, we usually add chillies, tomatoes, lemon slices and an herb yogurt dill sauce (similar to the skyr sauce I made with those Lamb shanks: https://www.twopurplefigs.com/lamb-shanks-with-skyr/
- Some of our favorite sides for a Holiday Lamb meal like this would be: Spiced rice pilaf, Seasonal salad (with pears, walnuts and cranberries), and a simple cheese platter.
- Potatoes are one of my favorite ways to modernize leg of lamb. Roasted herb potatoes when combined with lamb are like comfort food heaven!
- Leftover meat from the leg of lamb recipe can be turned into a tasty sandwich for lunch or dinner on another day!
Leg of Lamb Tips
- Start with American Lamb for a fresh, quality and delicious tasting meal! I can’t stress this enough-American Lamb is superior and I don’t want you to miss out on that 🙂
- Beforehand make sure you know the size of your roasting pan and ask your butcher to cut off excess bone so that the lamb fits comfortably.
- When inserting the garlic and spices into the meat, make sure you press them down really well so that they don’t fall or slip out.
- My grandma always salted separately and salted twice. The dry spice doesn’t include salt and that way the salt is well distributed. Right before roasting, salting the lamb enforces the flavor.
- It’s a good thing to get messy here and use your hands to massage the wet mixture really well into the leg of lamb.
- Marinating the meat can vary from 2 hours to 2 days. The more the better without a doubt.
- Add more or less of the flavoring before roasting including onions, garlic, whole spices and bay leaves.
- The amount of stock is essential to ensure a juicy meat, so don’t put less.
- When covering the lamb, make sure there’s a layer of parchment paper first and then foil.
- Flip the roasting pan half way and check on the stock amount because every oven is different.
- The juices at the bottom of the roasting pan make the best sauce to serve with the lamb and keep it juicy.
Leg of Lamb Q&A
How long should a leg of lamb take to cook?
The leg of lamb should cook for about 40 mins per pound. It’s ideal to start roasting at 420 degrees for the first hour and then drop the temperature to 400 for the remaining time.
Should leg of lamb be cooked fast or slow?
Ideally, slow roasting is the best way to cook leg of lamb. Basically the lamb cooks itself, so while your meat is in the oven getting tender, juicy and tasty, you have all the time to prepare other items.
Should you sear leg of lamb before roasting?
While you can totally do that, my grandma has never done so. And frankly when you look at the gorgeous crust on the outside of the leg of lamb recipe we made here–I don’t see any value in that extra messy step! Follow this recipe and you absolutely don’t need to sear.
Do I need to cover lamb while roasting?
This depends on the recipe. My grandma always covered the leg of lamb recipe and guess what? We have the juiciest, most tender lamb with a superb crust without searing or broiling! So it’s a win win!
How much lamb do I need for 8 adults?
A nice decent size leg of lamb is enough to feed 8 people. On average, a leg of lamb is between 7-9 pounds. If you’re a lamb lover like us, we usually make two legs of lamb to feed 10 people. But that’s also because we LOVE having leftovers ha! 🙂
Let me know if you have any more questions and tag me when you make this family recipe so I can see your delicious lamb meals 🙂
Family Lamb Recipes
How to Cook Lamb With Moroccan Spice
Grilled Lamb Skewers BBQ Party
Leg of Lamb Recipe
Ingredients
Lamb
- 2 legs of American lamb
- 16 cloves of garlic
- 16 cardamom pods
- ⅓ cup whole peppercorns
Dry Spice blend
- 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of Allspice powder
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoons of onion powder
- 1 tablespoons of garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons of Pepper flakes a blend of paprika and turkish spice pepper flakes
- ¼ cup salt divided -Use mediterranean sea salt
- 3 tablespoons of cracked black pepper divided
Wet Blend
- ½ cup yogurt
- ¼ cup ketchup if you can’t find turkish sweet pepper paste
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup pomegranate molasses
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
To Roast
- 2 onions cut in half
- 2 heads of garlic cut in half
- 5 bay leaves
- 6 cinnamon sticks
- 6 cups stock beef, chicken, veggie or lamb
Instructions
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Start by preparing the lamb.Make sure it fits your roasting pan. You will be marinding the lamb in the pan itself. Your butcher can cut off the bone in order for it to fit comfortably.
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Line your roasting pan with foil and then parchment paper.
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Use a sharp knife to cut 3-4 slits into the leg of lamb deep enough to fit a garlic clove and cardamom.
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Press down one garlic clove and one cardamom pod along with a few whole peppercorns into each slit.
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Press them well.
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Next, season the lamb lightly with salt and pepper.
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Mix the dry spice blend in a bowl and sprinkle the dry spices evenly over the lamb making sure to cover the sides and every possible part of the leg.
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In a deeper bowl or cup, mix the wet blend together.
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Pour the wet mix over the leg of lamb and use your hands to massage that well into the meat.
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Cover the lamb with a sheet of parchment paper and then foil.
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Marinade the lamb for 2 hours and up to 2 days.
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Before roasting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
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Arrange the onions, garlic, whole spice and Bay leaves around the lamb.
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Pour the hot stock.
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Give the lamb a final seasoning with the remaining salt and pepper.
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Cover and roast for 1 hour before dropping the temperature to 400 degreesF.
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Roast the lamb for about 4-5 hours depending on the size/weight of the meat.
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On average each leg of lamb is about 6-9 pounds and each pound needs about 45 minutes of roasting.*
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Rotate the pan halfway and make sure to add more stock if needed.
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When ready, allow the meat to rest and cool before serving it with the pan juices.
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See serving suggestions and notes below.
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ENJOY
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
*USDA recommends lamb reach an internal temperature of 145F and rest for at least 3 minutes.
Leg of Lamb Tips
- Start with American Lamb for a fresh, quality and delicious tasting meal! I can’t stress this enough-American Lamb is superior and I don’t want you to miss out on that 🙂
- Beforehand make sure you know the size of your roasting pan and ask your butcher to cut off excess bone so that the lamb fits comfortably.
- When inserting the garlic and spices into the meat, make sure you press them down really well so that they don’t fall or slip out.
- My grandma always salted separately and salted twice. The dry spice doesn’t include salt and that way the salt is well distributed. Right before roasting, salting the lamb enforces the flavor.
- It’s a good thing to get messy here and use your hands to massage the wet mixture really well into the leg of lamb.
- Marinating the meat can vary from 2 hours to 2 days. The more the better without a doubt.
- Add more or less of the flavoring before roasting including onions, garlic, whole spices and bay leaves.
- The amount of stock is essential to ensure a juicy meat, so don’t put less.
- When covering the lamb, make sure there’s a layer of parchment paper first and then foil.
- Flip the roasting pan half way and check on the stock amount because every oven is different.
- The juices at the bottom of the roasting pan make the best sauce to serve with the lamb and keep it juicy.
Leg of Lamb Q&A
How long should a leg of lamb take to cook?
The leg of lamb should cook for about 40 mins per pound. It’s ideal to start roasting at 420 degrees for the first hour and then drop the temperature to 400 for the remaining time.
Should leg of lamb be cooked fast or slow?
Ideally, slow roasting is the best way to cook leg of lamb. Basically the lamb cooks itself, so while your meat is in the oven getting tender, juicy and tasty, you have all the time to prepare other items.
Should you sear leg of lamb before roasting?
While you can totally do that, my grandma has never done so. And frankly when you look at the gorgeous crust on the outside of the leg of lamb recipe we made here–I don’t see any value in that extra messy step! Follow this recipe and you absolutely don’t need to sear.
Do I need to cover lamb while roasting?
This depends on the recipe. My grandma always covered the leg of lamb recipe and guess what? We have the juiciest, most tender lamb with a superb crust without searing or broiling! So it’s a win win!
How much lamb do I need for 8 adults?
A nice decent size leg of lamb is enough to feed 8 people. On average, a leg of lamb is between 7-9 pounds. If you’re a lamb lover like us, we usually make two legs of lamb to feed 10 people. But that’s also because we LOVE having leftovers ha! 🙂
420 degrees for 40 min/lb? That is a very high temperature for a very long time.
Can I substitute a 7lb Boneless Leg of Lamb instead of 2 bone-in legs of lamb? If this would work how long would I need to cook each pound?
This recipe is my go-to whenever I’m making leg of lamb! Thanks for all the great info and recipe!
Nothing better than this leg of lamb for the holidays! Thank you!
This lamb looks so delicious. Great flavors here. Thanks for sharing
I’ve got the biggest smile on my face while I browse through the ingredints list. You included so many of my favourite spices. Ironically we will be serving lamb for the first time this year at our Christmas table instead of beef. I will convince my mom to use your recipe as it sounds and looks so flavoursome.
This lamb looks gorgeous. I love all of those flavours and the idea of studding the lamb with garlic and cardamom – so much flavour.
I make lamb for Christmas every year. This looks like the next recipe for me to try!
I have always been intimidated to make leg of lamb. The step-by-step instructions and photos are very helpful!
This recipe looks amazing!! Perfect for any occasions!!
This lamb looks incredible. What a great alternative for Christmas Day.
Lamb is the best this time of year! Thank you so much for this recipe!