This is my favourite Roast Leg of Lamb recipe and it's inspired by my Granny Jean's recipe! The lamb is slow roasted with garlic, onion, thyme, and rosemary for over 4 hours until the lamb is fall off the bone delicious. I really hope you enjoy this recipe, my friends!
This classic lamb recipe is great served as a roast with potatoes, parsnips, greens, and gravy! If you've got any leftovers, definitely check out my lamb sandwich recipe !
If you're looking for another meat centrepiece for the table, have a look at my air fryer pork belly and see if it's something you'd want to add to your repertoire!
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About Emily's Recipe
If you're new here, hi! I'm Emily - a recipe developer, food content creator, and cookbook author! Thanks for stopping by to check out my Roast Leg of Lamb recipe. I really hope you enjoy it and please do let me know in the comments if you give it a go!
If you'd like to join a community of food lovers, just subscribe to my newsletter for recipes, cooking tips, and foodie chats. Now, let me tell you a bit more about this recipe...
Texture: this leg of lamb is fall off the bone, meaty, with delicate strands of meat that melt in your mouth.
Taste: we've got classic British flavours for this recipe: garlic, onion, thyme and rosemary. Simple, but delicious. They season the meaty taste of the lamb.
Ease: honestly, you just need patience. The lamb has virtually no preparation needed (just a bit of chopping), just whack it in the oven and wait.
Top Tips: 1. make sure to check out my tips on cooking times in the "notes" section in the recipe card further down the blog. 2. Feel free to add a splash of white or red wine into the pan with the water for a deeper flavour profile. 3. feel free to use lamb shoulder, boneless leg, or breast if you can't find bone-in leg.
Would I make this again? yes, it's a brilliant dish to prepare for Easter for those who celebrate. It's also a great way to prep lamb in advance to eat in an array of dishes throughout the week.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Olive oil: we're using olive oil for this recipe, but if you don't have olive oil, feel free to slather room temperature butter on the base and on the skin of the lamb.
Garlic: you can use as many cloves as you like for this recipe, but I've used 4 peeled garlic cloves. I wouldn't recommend using granules.
Red onion: you could also use white onion or shallots, but I like the slight molasses flavour that red onion gives off.
Thyme: fresh thyme is best. If you don't have fresh thyme, then sprinkle some dried thyme on top of the lamb.
Rosemary: fresh rosemary sprigs are best. If you don't have the fresh stuff, then sprinkle some dried rosemary over the lamb.
Leg of lamb: we're using a 2.5kg leg of lamb for this recipe. You could use shoulder, boneless leg, or breast too. Check the notes in the recipe card on the weight to cooking ratios!
The full list of ingredients and quantities is at the bottom of this blog in the recipe card!
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180C fan / 390F. Grab yourself a large baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Scatter in the peeled garlic cloves, roughly chopped red onion, thyme sprigs and rosemary sprigs.
Step 2: Place the leg of lamb on top of the herbs and seasonings. Drizzle generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with flaky salt and black pepper. Pour 250ml water into the baking tray, around the lamb. Seal the tray by covering in tinned foil. Place in the oven for 4 hours (see notes on weight and cooking time for the lamb). No need to check the lamb, no need to open the oven. Just let it do its thing! 🙂
Step 3: After 4 hours, remove the tinned foil and roast for a further 20-30 minutes until the skin is slightly crispy.
Step 4: Remove from the oven, serve up with any other dishes you've prepared, and watch that tender lamb meat fall off the bone! Enjoy, my friends!
What to do with leftovers
Storage: Make sure to pull all of the meat off the bone and place in a Tupperware. Leave to cool, then add on the lid and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing: Once again, make sure to pull all of the meat off the bone and place in a Tupperware. Leave to cool, then add on the lid and store in the freezer for up to 3 months - don't forget to label with the date and contents. When you're ready to eat, leave to thaw/defrost in the fridge overnight.
Reheating: You can either reheat in the microwave, or in the oven, with a splash of water and covering the lamb (in a baking tray) with tinned foil at 180C for 20 minutes, to avoid drying out.
FAQs
Absolutely, you could use shoulder, boneless leg, or breast would work well!
Yes, this recipe is based on a 2.5kg leg of lamb. We're cooking it for 4 hours under tinned foil. Adjust your cooking time by 30 minutes for every 500g of lamb weight. For example, if you buy a 2kg leg of lamb, cook it for 3h30mins. For a 1.5kg leg of lamb, cook it for 3 hours. If heavier, at 3kg (a chunky one), then cook it for 4h30mins. I hope that makes sense! Don't forget to cook it for a further 20-30 minutes uncovered afterwards to crisp up the skin.
I love serving it with roast potatoes, carrots, greens, and gravy. But it would also go really well with couscous, chickpeas, and a delicious harissa sauce. It's a very versatile meat that goes well with lots of flavour profiles!
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The BEST Roast Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 red onion roughly chopped
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2.5 kg leg of lamb see notes below for more information on the weight + cooking time!
- 1 teaspoon flaky salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan / 390F.
- Grab yourself a large baking tray and drizzle with olive oil.
- Scatter in the peeled garlic cloves, roughly chopped red onion, thyme sprigs and rosemary sprigs.
- Place the leg of lamb on top of the herbs and seasonings. Drizzle generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with flaky salt and black pepper. Pour 250ml water into the baking tray, around the lamb.
- Seal the tray by covering in tinned foil. Place in the oven for 4 hours (see notes on weight and cooking time for the lamb). No need to check the lamb, no need to open the oven. Just let it do its thing! 🙂
- After 4 hours, remove the tinned foil and roast for a further 20-30 minutes until the skin is slightly crispy.
- Remove from the oven, serve up with any other dishes you've prepared, and watch that tender lamb meat fall off the bone! Enjoy, my friends!
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