Roast Leg of Lamb

Roast Leg of Lamb

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins
  • Servings: 6-8

    • About This Recipe

    “A simple recipe with sensational flavor! I’ve adopted this recipe as it didn’t have a loving owner. I have made it myself though and must say it makes an impressive sunday roast! Instead of using dried rosemary, you can also use fresh sprigsand insert them into the cuts with the garlic slivers.”

    Ingredients

  • 1leg of lamb( about 5 lbs)
  • 3garlic cloves, slivered
  • 1/2 cupfresh lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoonssome fresh sprigs rosemary
  • 1 1/2 teaspoonsblack pepper, coarsely ground
  • coarse salt

    • Directions

  • Remove lamb from refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.
  • Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6.
  • Make small slits just large enough for garlic slivers evenly in theleg of lamb, and insert the garlicslivers.
  • Rub all over with lemon juice, then pat the rosemary and black pepper evenly over thesurface. Sprinkle with salt to taste. If you’re using fresh rosemary, just insert the sprigs with the garlic slivers into the cuts you made.
  • Place lamb, fat side up on a rack in an uncovered pan.
  • Roast30 minutes to a pound oruntil the internal temperature reaches 175-180°F, for meat well done. If you preferslightly rare lamb, roast until 160-165°F.
  • When done, remove from oven, cover the roast in foil and allow it to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
  • If you also want delicious rich gravy, place a 1 1/2 cups of lamb or beef stock in the bottom of the pan before you put the lamb in the oven, making sure that the rack sits above the liquid and the meat doesn’t touch it. You can also add a sprig or two of rosemary to it and if you want baste the lamb a couple of times while it’s roasting. Just before serving bring the liquid to a simmer on the stove top, making sure you whisk it well and scrape all the bits from the sides and the bottom of the pan. If you want more gravy you can add some extra stock or some of the water you have cooked your vegetables inches Mix 1tbsp of cornflour with 2tbsp of water and whisk it into the stock. Simmer until thickened and you have a wonderful gravy.

    • Reviews

  • “A very good and easy dish to make!I used all of the ingredients as listed below.I baked my 4 pound lamb at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 hours to about 158 degrees.The temperature rose upon resting.I did not have a rack so I put the lamb in the pan, but still poured 1 cup of water in.I thickened the gravy as directed below and it tasted great.”

  • “What a fantastic leg of lamb this was! I squeezed the lemon over it, then, instead of putting the lamb on a rack, I lay it on the lemon shells, and sprigs of rosemary. Oh, I used fresh rosemary rather than dried.”

  • “Super easy to make and totally yummy. Have saved this as a roasting favourite.”

  • “This was good and I was pleased overall with my first attempt at lamb.Next time I will lower the temp to 375 as others suggested.I used a boneless roast but would recommend a bone-in for the added flavor factor.I didn’t quite use the entire 1/2c lemon juice.Seemed like a lot to me.I will add this to my holiday menu.Thank you for posting.”

  • “Last night I used this recipe for a leg of lamb.I used garlic from a jar with fresh rosemary etc.In the pan I put Rose wine, stock and rosemary and used that for basting and gravy.Added a little water now and then.I put the temperature down after 20min’s.I will definately be doing this again, thanks for this lovely recipe (even my hubby who isn’t a lamb fan loved it).”

  • “Wowza! This has delicious flavor, it takes a little time, but is so easy! Next time I happen to have a leg of lamb laying around, I’ll be making this again! Thank you so much for the recipe!”

  • “I just made this and it came out PERFECT. This is also my first time making a roast of any kind, I am away at college and missed grandma’s easter dinne 🙁 I followed others advice below and cooked at 375. My boneless roast was a little over 4 lbs. I added a touch of dill weed and thyme to the spice mix too. I did not have stock so I did not make gravy, but this meat hardly needs it! I cooked for 80 min and the meat was still quite pink just below surface and draining much blood. I did not really have a thermometer, so I had to go by the juices and peeking in a little cut (I let it cool a little first so this did not drain much juice away) The top was starting to get dark, so I covered with Al foil and recooked another ~20 min. This took it to medium/medium rare after cooling and it is amazzzziiinngly tender and juicy. I also threw in some red potatoes sprinkle in the rub spices about 40 min into the cooking.”

  • “This turned out really well for us.I used a 3.72-lb boneless leg so I cut the garlic back to two cloves, but other than that followed the recipe.Simple but really good!”

  • “I did not do the gravy part and it was still great, very easy recipe”

  • “I made this in our new oven using the rotisserie feature and it came out perfect. Had a pan below w/cut onions, potatoes and beef broth to make the gravy.I like my lamb medium rare, so I only cooked for about 1 hr 20 minutes for a nearly five lb. leg of lamb (not even 20 minutes a pound).I let it rest for about 10 minutes while I made the gravy.Tasted a lot like prime rib which is one of my favorites!”

  • “I love lamb and was looking for a new one to try.I loved this combination of flavors.I used lots of crushed black pepper on the meat and then made gravy adding more pepper.It was so very tasty, that I overindulged and had more than I usually do, but I couldn’t help myself it was so good.I made slits in the roast, but then put the minced garlic and juice all over the top instead of inserting it in the meat.I had lots of juice, so it made its way into the roast as it sat in the juice while baking.I didn’t add the water or put it on a rack.The result was a very tender roast with loads of flavor and one that was truly enjoyed. The gravy was delicious too!Thanks so much for sharing it with me Sylvie!Linda”

  • “Wonderful. Used to make it like this and then got fancy with all sorts of herbs and spices. Really this is the best way to make it. Gravy was delicious too,”

  • “I made this for dinner when we had friends over. It was a huge hit.Also made the gravey like you suggested. A huge hit all round.Thank you Sylivie.”

  • “WOW who would think what a little bit of lemon juice could do for a leg of lamb.I had a 1.6 K leg (about 3 1/4 pound) but used all the garlic, fresh rosemary and about 1/4 cup of lemon juice and mixed peppers (white, pink, red and black).I roasted it on a rack at 200C for 2 1/4 hours and it was cooked to perfection for well done (174C on our meat thermometer) and rested for 15 minutes before carving – did on one of those rare occasions beat the DH to the shank and it was devine,crunchy and flavoursome.Thank you ~Sylvie~ for a great lamb recipe, similar but still so different to what I normally do.”

  • “I wish I could afford to have one of these a week.They are THAT wonderful!Thanks for posting this for us!”

  • “This was gorgeous, and I’ll echo the other reviews: it left us wondering why we don’t eat more lamb!!Also, I was repeatedly asked whether the lamb had been marinated — it was a delicious combination of flavors.As w/some other reviewers, 400F was a bit too hot. Next time I’d reduce to 375 and _definitely_ add water to the pan so that drippings don’t burn, and so that (hopefully?) the lamb doesn’t burn on top. (Maybe our meat was particularly lean??)”

  • “Made this leg of lamb yesterday for Easter dinner!Was great!!Everyone raved about it.Even those who have had there fair share of lamb.Thanks for making my first leg of lamb a success!Oh,I followed the recipe, and added my potatos and carrots under the rack in the pan with some chicken stock.They roasted great, and got great flavor from the lamb.So great and EASY!”

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