Lamb

By Food & Wine

Updated May 16, 2019

Credit: Con Poulos

These delicious lamb recipes include garlic-crusted roast rack of lamb and juicy braised lamb with potatoes.More lamb recipes: Recipes for Leg of Lamb10 Lamb Recipes for Easter Dinner

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Red Wine-Braised Lamb Shanks

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Jeremy Silansky uses maple syrup, Vermont's most famous export, to glaze root vegetables, employing a novel (and simple) technique: He reduces the maple glaze in a small skillet, then tosses it with the roasted vegetables right before serving. He likes to serve the lamb shanks with creamy polenta made from local cornmeal and a local cheese: Thistle Hill Farm's complex, nutty Tarentaise.

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Garlic-Crusted Roast Rack of Lamb

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Kenny Rochford's favorite way to prepare a rack of lamb is to simply rub it with plenty of garlic, rosemary, olive oil and salt before roasting.

Centerpiece Roasts

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Grilled Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary

Credit: Thomas Heinser

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Instead of butterflying a boned leg of lamb and cooking it whole, Cal Peternell carefully cuts along the four natural muscle separations (they're easily visible) and pulls the four pieces apart with his fingers. Grilling the lamb this way is quicker, makes it easier to determine doneness, and simplifies carving. Plus the meat develops a mellow flavor and lots of delicious crust.

Grilled Lamb Recipes

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Rosemary-Garlic Lamb Chops with Pimentón and Mint

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Chef Nancy Silverton adores the grilled, herb-flecked lamb chops scottadito (“burnt fingers”). Here, she adds a kick to the lamb by garnishing it with smoky pimentón de la Vera and little mint leaves.

Recipes for Leg of Lamb

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Braised Lamb Neck with Turnip

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Lamb necks, an underappreciated cut, are fantastic when braised, such as in this homey stew from Boston chef Tony Maws. The meat gets succulent and tender as it cooks in the slightly sweet braising liquid flavored with white wine and fresh herbs, while the neck bones, in turn, intensify and flavor the broth.

More Braising Recipes

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Garlic-Crusted Roast Rack of Lamb

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Kenny Rochford’s favorite way to prepare a rack of lamb is to simply rub it with plenty of garlic, rosemary, olive oil and salt before roasting.

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Lamb Roast with Mustard Pan Sauce

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In this twist on traditional porchetta (Italian roast pork), a boneless saddle of lamb is wrapped around a delicious filling of ground lamb and fennel. The stuffing mixture is very versatile; use the leftovers for all kinds of dishes.

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Rack of Lamb with Pasilla Chiles

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Easter Smackdown: Ham vs. Lamb

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Lamb Burgers with Green Harissa

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Harissa, a staple in Tunisian and Moroccan cooking, ordinarily contains dried red chiles. Grace Parisi makes her green version with Anaheim and serrano chiles to add bright flavor to grilled lamb burgers.

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Braised Lamb with Herb-Scented Jus

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At Haven’s Kitchen, this tender braised leg of lamb might be served at a private dinner party. Chef David Mawhinny then sandwiches any extra meat and meat juices with pickled vegetables and focaccia for lunch.

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Mustard-Crusted Lamb

Credit: © Tina Rupp

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Suzanne Goin (an F&W Best New Chef 1999) is beloved in Los Angeles for Lucques and AOC. She'll expand her reach at the upcoming Tavern in Brentwood, which will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and sell house-made breads and prepared foods like this leg of lamb, which she serves with a Meyer lemon salsa.

Dinner Party Recipes

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Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Butter

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Chef David Kinch grills his lamb racks “low and slow” because it gives him full control of the cooking. The gentle heat keeps the meat juicy, while the rosemary-infused butter he periodically spoons over the racks adds flavor. He sprinkles the lamb with chopped herbs just before serving; the warm meat makes the herbs especially fragrant.

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Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Grapes

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You’d expect to find lamb chops grilled with rosemary, but the sauce, a fruity mixture of grapes, white wine, and just a touch of honey, is a delightful surprise. You’ll want to choose seedless grapes for this recipe.

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Slow-Cooked Leg of Lamb with Spiced Yogurt and Herbs

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“We have wood-burning ovens that retain a lot of heat after a day of cooking pizzas,” explains Travis Lett. “So we often use them overnight for things like this slow-cooked leg of lamb.” While Lett cooks his lamb for up to 10 hours, this version in a conventional oven cuts the cooking time by more than half.

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Braised Lamb with Potatoes

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Video Guide: Meat, Poultry, and Eggs

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Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Kebabs With Lemon Butter

Credit: PHOTO © KANA OKADA

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At Shahpura Bagh, a luxurious guesthouse in the Rajasthani countryside, chefs marinate lamb in yogurt to make it exceptionally tender, then give it an extra burst of tangy flavor with a basting of lemon butter just before serving.

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Lemon-and-Fennel-Roasted Lamb with Polenta

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Chris Cosentino serves roasted lamb necks with polenta cooked in a combination of sheep-milk whey and whole milk. For the home chef, marinated boneless leg of lamb is tender and incredibly delicious alongside creamy polenta with mascarpone.

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Lamb Chops with Frizzled Herbs

Credit: © Con Poulos

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Frying herbs like rosemary, parsley and sage for less than 45 seconds in a half inch of oil makes them ultracrispy; they are delicious with tender lamb chops.

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Grilled Lamb Chops with Garlic, Chiles and Anchovies

Credit: JOHN KERNICK

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This is one of Ethan Stowell’s go-to dishes when he entertains, because he can do almost all of the work in advance. The marinade is super-flavorful, but if you don’t like very spicy food, cut back on the red jalapeños.

Complete Guide to Grilling

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Lamb Tagine with Green Olives and Lemon

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When making most stews, cooks typically brown the meat before braising it; here, Ethan Stowell skips that step, which simplifies the Moroccan recipe and gives the lamb a buttery, melt-in-the-mouth texture. The dish is vibrantly flavored with ginger, cumin, coriander, olives and lemon; the broth is delicious over couscous.

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Zinfandel-Braised Lamb Chops with Dried Fruit

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer

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A jammy Zinfandel and dried fruit lend a ton of flavor to lamb-shoulder chops.

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Oven-Roasted Lamb Chops with Mint Chimichurri

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For this playful twist on British roast lamb with mint jelly, Luke Mangan serves lamb chops with a piquant condiment of fresh mint and jalapeño.

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Turkish Ground-Lamb Pizzas

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At her takeout shop in Istanbul, Kantin Dükkan, Semsa Denizsel tops her pizzas with ground lamb (flavored with sweet sun-dried tomatoes and a little spicy red pepper), but you can substitute ground beef instead. To make the pizza even more substantial, bake it with an egg on top; the runny yolk is terrific with the whole-wheat crust.

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Pappardelle with Lamb Ragù

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Use store-bought pappardelle, ground lamb and chicken stock, then top the dish with fresh ricotta and mint.

Wonderful Italian Recipes

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Merguez-Spiced Lamb Shanks with Chickpeas

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Butcher Tanya Cauthen likes flavoring supremely tender braised lamb with a North African spice blend that includes cumin and fennel seeds. Lamb shanks are great for serving at dinner parties, since they look so dramatic, but lamb stew meat—cut from the shoulder or the leg—is equally delicious. Or, for a less gamey flavor, substitute beef short ribs.

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Lamb Rogan Josh

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Vikram Sunderam relies on plenty of spices, like cardamom, cloves and cumin, to flavor this succulent lamb stew (the name translates roughly into “red lamb”).

Guide to Global Food & Wine Pairings

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Lamb Meatballs with Cumin, Mint, and Tomato Sauce

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Mint, cumin, and chopped almonds give these delicious meatballs their Middle Eastern flavor. There’s plenty of mint and cumin in the tomato sauce, too. Serve the meatballs and sauce over steamed couscous to be authentic. We think they’re great over rice too.

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Leg of Lamb Shawarma

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Shwarma, thin slices of roasted meat and condiments that are often wrapped in a pita, is a popular street food throughout the Middle East. Chris Hanna loves making shwarma for casual parties. In fact, she once prepared it for 30 people to inaugurate her outdoor kitchen. Rather than roasting meat on a spit in the traditional style, Hanna simply grills a butterflied leg of lamb. The lamb should sit overnight in a spicy, garlicky marinade before grilling, though three days would be ideal.

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Fiery Moroccan Lamb Merguez

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Hank Shaw likens sausage-making to jazz: “You have all these standards, but there’s room for improvisation.” With this spicy merguez from North Africa, adjust the seasonings to vary the flavor intensity and heat.

How to Make Sausage

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Spicy Sichuan-Style Lamb with Cumin

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Cooking pieces of lamb shoulder in a superhot cast-iron skillet makes them wonderfully browned and tender.

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Iraqi Lamb and Eggplant Stew with Pitas

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This sweet and tangy Middle Eastern stew, with falling-apart-tender lamb, is one of wordsmith and perfect host Jesse Sheidlower’s favorites. He found it in Nawal Nasrallah’s Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine.

Tasty Soups & Stews

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Rack of Lamb with Artichokes, Purple Potatoes and Licorice

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Roast lamb with potatoes feels like a New American dish, but chef Marco Mattana adds Roman flavor by including garlicky braised artichokes.

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Roast Leg of Lamb

Credit: Con Poulos

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Chef April Bloomfield believes that a great leg of lamb doesn’t need much fuss. Here she rubs it with a simple garlic-and-rosemary paste before roasting until it’s juicy and delicious.

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Lamb

1 of 33

Red Wine-Braised Lamb Shanks

1 of 33

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Garlic-Crusted Roast Rack of Lamb

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Grilled Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary

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Rosemary-Garlic Lamb Chops with Pimentón and Mint

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Braised Lamb Neck with Turnip

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Garlic-Crusted Roast Rack of Lamb

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Lamb Roast with Mustard Pan Sauce

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Rack of Lamb with Pasilla Chiles

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Lamb Burgers with Green Harissa

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Braised Lamb with Herb-Scented Jus

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Mustard-Crusted Lamb

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Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Butter

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Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Grapes

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Slow-Cooked Leg of Lamb with Spiced Yogurt and Herbs

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Braised Lamb with Potatoes

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Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Kebabs With Lemon Butter

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Lemon-and-Fennel-Roasted Lamb with Polenta

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Lamb Chops with Frizzled Herbs

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Grilled Lamb Chops with Garlic, Chiles and Anchovies

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Lamb Tagine with Green Olives and Lemon

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Zinfandel-Braised Lamb Chops with Dried Fruit

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Oven-Roasted Lamb Chops with Mint Chimichurri

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Turkish Ground-Lamb Pizzas

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Pappardelle with Lamb Ragù

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Merguez-Spiced Lamb Shanks with Chickpeas

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Lamb Rogan Josh

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