Herb Crusted Roast Leg of Lamb – Simple and Easy
A Roast leg of lamb is perfect when you have guests to entertain or celebrate festive dinners such as Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. This leg of lamb is marinated with fresh herbs of rosemary, thyme, and oregano before being slow-cooked in the oven until fork tender and melt in the mouth. Served alongside delicious roast potatoes this is a simple, easy and effortless recipe.
Best Roast Leg of Lamb, Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb, Slow-cooked Leg of lamb,
Lamb is by far the most loved meat in our family!! We love lamb and I mean we really LOVE lamb. Of course, it’s an expensive piece of meat so obviously, we save it for special occasions and festive times.
I’m born Indian so my mom made a roast leg of lamb mostly with Indian spices. One of my favorite of her recipes is the one with a combination of cilantro, ginger, garlic, and spice paste. She’d rub it all over, place it in the fridge overnight, then into the oven slow cooked over a couple of hours and dinner is ready. Someday I’ll make that and share it with you. It’s still my most favorite way to eat a leg of lamb.
I made this roast leg of lamb on Passover recently. It’s a very simple and easy recipe. A leg of lamb is very tender and can absorb lots of flavors instantly so if you don’t have time to marinate this is still very flavorful. Often I will marinate it for a few hours or even overnight, one less thing to do on the day.
Best Roast Leg of Lamb, Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb, Slow-cooked Leg of lamb,
Buying lamb
Leg of lamb is the upper part of the leg without the shank bone. The butcher will usually ask if you want it bone-in or no bone. I usually prefer bone-in but the boneless can give you beautiful slices that look pretty on the dinner table. Something to consider if you want boneless slices for sandwiches.
If you do choose a boneless leg of lamb, you can still use this recipe, but the cooking time will be much different. Which is why having a meat thermometer is very helpful.
Another great cut of meat to use for this recipe would be lamb shoulder. We made a delicious Roast Lamb Shoulder with red wine sauce if you remember. In fact, both these recipes could be used interchangeably.
Cooking with a thermometer
I personally prefer to use a meat thermometric so I don’t have to calculate and watch the clock ever so often. But you can certainly do without it. In fact, if you are new to cooking or roasting meat a thermometer can take a lot of guesswork out. The most important point to note is to make sure you insert the thermometer needle in the middle deepest part of the thick meat.
Here is how you would check with or without a thermometer
- Medium rare between 130 F to 135 F approximately 20 minutes per pound
- or Medium – between 135 F to 140 F approximately 22 to 23 minutes per pound
- and Medium well between 145 F to 150 F approximately 25 minutes per pound
- not really my favorite – Well Done between 155 to 165 F approximately 30 minutes per pound
I would strongly suggest if you going to save some leftovers to go as far as medium well. The meat still cooks even after you take it out of the oven.
Best Roast Leg of Lamb, Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb, Slow-cooked Leg of lamb,
Let’s talk ingredients and Substitutes (Save/Pin)
- Veggies – If you plan to cook veggies with your meat, it’s always wise to use vegetables that will benefit from the long cooking process. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnip these are excellent for such roasting but never use veggies like zucchini because they cook fast and render so much liquid during cooking that they tend to seam rather than roast the meat.
- Potatoes – Personally, I love using small roast potatoes because they really look elegant on the dinner table when entertaining and they hold their shape better despite the long cooking.
- Fresh herbs – when making a dish like this you do want to make an effort to buy fresh herbs. It does make a huge difference. Having said that, if dried is all you have, go ahead and use it. One tbsp each would be a good measure to start. Adjust according to your preference.
- Paprika – I use this mostly for color but also like a little bit of zing. You can use sweet paprika, but I often go for the smoked hot paprika.
- Red wine – if you like gravy and can consume wine? I highly recommend adding the red wine to the gravy. Red wine pairs so beautifully with lamb.
I made this with gravy but if you prefer you can also use my cilantro mint sauce instead. I shared the recipe for my cilantro mint sauce when I share my Ginger Spiced Lamb Chops with cilantro mint sauce.
Best Roast Leg of Lamb, Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb, Slow cooked Leg of lamb,
Herb Crusted Roast Leg of Lamb – Simple Easy and Delicious (Save/Pin)
Tools
- Roasting Pan
- Grill pan or heavy based saute pan
- Oven
- Chopping board and Knives
Best Roast Leg of Lamb, Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb, Slow cooked Leg of lamb,
Ingredients
- Leg of lamb (with bone) – 2 kg / 4 lbs
Marinade
- Garlic – 2 cloves thinly slices.
- Rosemary fresh – 2 sprigs (or dried 1 tbsp)
- Thyme fresh – 4 sprigs (or dried – 1 tsp)
- Oregano – 2 sprigs or (dried 1/2 tsp)
- Coarse salt – 1 tbsp
- Pepper – 1 tsp
- Paprika – 1/2 tsp
- Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp
Extra
- Extra sprigs of thyme and rosemary – 2 each
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp
- Baby potatoes – 1 kg (2 lbs)
- All-purpose flour – 1 tbsp
- Red wine or stock – 1/2 cup (optional for gravy)
Method
Prepare marinade
- Chop some fresh herbs – rosemary, thyme, and oregano – about 2 tbsp each.
- In a bowl combine – fresh herbs chopped, sliced garlic, paprika, lemon juice, and olive oil.
- Set aside.
Marinate the leg of lamb
- Wash clean and pat dry the leg of lamb.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Rub the marinade with your hands all over the lamb.
- You can leave this to marinade for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
- An hour before cooking – take it out of the fridge and let come to room temperature.
Roast the Leg of Lamb
- Preheat the oven at 200C/400F for 20 minutes
- Place the leg of lamb in the roasting pan
- Surround the lamb with potatoes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add more fresh herbs to the roasting pan.
- Insert the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat but not touching the bone.
- Place in the preheated oven on the middle rack.
- Immediately, reduce oven temperature to 160 C, or 325 F.
- Roast until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 130 F to 135 F for a medium rare – which usually takes between 45 to 50 minutes.
- I prefer to cook it at medium at about 140 F to 145 F (because my kids won’t eat meat rare (red)) – which usually takes about 55 to 60 minutes.
- NOTE: While roasting If you find the meat is browning too fast on the top. Tent it loosely with foil.
- When the thermometer has reached your desired temperature remove it out of the oven.
- Loosely tent it with foil and let rest for at least 15 minutes before you cut into it.
Make the gravy
- Transfer the meat and potatoes to a serving platter.
- Place the roasting pan on medium-low heat.
- Add wine, stock or water and deglaze the pan by scraping with a spatula.
- Gather as much of the flavor you can – add one tbsp flour and cook well until the gravy is thick.
- Add more water if necessary so it’s not too thick.
- Cook it for another minute or two.
- Strain it through a sieve to remove all the herbs etc.
- Enjoy
Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.
Best Roast Leg of Lamb, Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb, Slow-cooked Leg of lamb,
Herb Crusted Roast Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
- 1 kg Leg of lamb with bone
Marinade
- 2 cloves Garlic (thinly sliced)
- 2 sprigs Rosemary fresh
- 4 sprigs Thyme fresh
- 2 sprigs Oregano
- 1 tbsp Coarse salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
Extra
- 2 springs thyme and rosemary each
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 kg Baby roasting potatoes 2 lbs
- 1 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 120 ml Red wine or stock optional for gravy
Instructions
Prepare marinade
- Chop some fresh herbs - rosemary, thyme, and oregano - about 2 tbsp each.
- In a bowl combine - fresh herbs chopped, sliced garlic, paprika, lemon juice, and olive oil.
- Set aside.
Marinate the leg of lamb
- Wash clean and pat dry the leg of lamb.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Rub the marinade with your hands all over the lamb.
- You can leave this to marinade for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
- An hour before cooking - take it out of the fridge and let come to room temperature.
Roast the Leg of Lamb
- Preheat the oven at 200C/400F for 20 minutes
- Place the leg of lamb in the roasting pan
- Surround the lamb with potatoes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add more fresh herbs to the roasting pan.
- Insert the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat but not touching the bone.
- Place in the preheated oven on the middle rack.
- Immediately, reduce oven temperature to 160 C, or 325 F.
- Roast until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 130 F to 135 F for a medium rare - which usually takes between 45 to 50 minutes.
- I prefer to cook it at medium at about 140 F to 145 F (because my kids won't eat meat rare (red)) - which usually takes about 55 to 60 minutes.
- NOTE: While roasting If you find the meat is browning too fast on the top. Tent it loosely with foil.
- When the thermometer has reached your desired temperature remove it out of the oven.
- Loosely tent it with foil and let rest for at least 15 minutes before you cut into it.
Make the gravy
- Transfer the meat and potatoes to a serving platter.
- Place the roasting pan on medium-low heat.
- Add wine, stock or water and deglaze the pan by scraping with a spatula.
- Gather as much of the flavor you can - add one tbsp flour and cook well until the gravy is thick.
- Add more water if necessary so it's not too thick.
- Cook it for another minute or two.
- Strain it through a sieve to remove all the herbs etc.
- Enjoy
Nutrition Information
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I like that your roasted the lamb with wine and herbs. I always thought we can cook lamb only with spices .But this recipe changed my opinion. Delicious.
Thank you, Swathi. I love lamb and wine together.
I love a good roasted leg of lamb. Lamb definitely signifies that it’s holiday season for me, it usually what my family eats for most holiday meals
Thank you, Michelle. Us too we love lamb on festive occasions.
Oh Veena, your herb crusted lamb looks and sounds magnificent! I haven’t prepared one since last season and I know my family would absolutely love this!
Thank you, Catherine. You must try this recipe. So simpple.
This looks delicious. I bet it was devoured at your Passover celebration. I also agree that adding a little red wine directly to the gravy is a good call!
Thanks, Jenni. yes, it was very much enjoyed.
Roasted leg of lamb is a favorite of mine. Your recipe has everything I love in a homemade roast The marinade, fresh herbs, and adding a side of roasted potatoes, Perfection!
Thank you, Eileen. So happy to hear you like this recipe. Hope you try it soon.
What an elegant dinner centerpiece! This would make a fabulous Christmas or New Year’s Eve dinner so fancy. Yet, I love that the recipe seems so simple.
Absolutely Noel. Perfect for, Thanksgiving, Christmas Dinner or New Years dinner.
Wow, that sounds like a very flavorful and delicious roasted leg of lamb. I love your posts — all the tips and tricks you include are very helpful to easily follow the recipe.
Thank you, Pavani. Happy you like my writing style.
My fiance is a huge fan of lamb and is always buying it. I never know what to do with it since I don’t eat it, so thank you for a great recipe! He will love it!
This is a simple recipe Lauren. You must make it for him.
We love lamb at my house. What a great holiday recipe for sharing with the family. This meal looks lovely.
Absolutely, Dianna. Perfect for the holiday dinners
Wow and Wow! The recipe for this lamb is impressive! This is absolutely fantastic! So YUMMY! Is good food and this looks like one of the BEST!
Thanks Dan. Glad you think so.
I love lamb, but I don’t eat it nearly as much as I’d like. This is such an elegant dish for a dinner party, plus some leftovers to eat the next day! I’ll have to give this a try
Thanks, Karyl. This is so easy you will love it.
This looks delicious. We love lamb, and I know this would make a great dinner…great for a special occasion too.
Absolutely, Gloria. Perfect for special occasions
we really love lamb and I never seem to get a good cut of meat here in Florida. I usually buy the whole leg too .. I love that its herb crusted , I have to marinade ours for 4 days or its tough here. Wish we lived closer to Australia that where they get it from here in Florida maybe it sits too long! this looks marvelous! I am drooling!
Slow cooking would really help tough meats. This is really simple and easy.
I absolutely love all the spices and herbs you combined and used here. Lamb meat is absolutely delicious on his own but with all these spices I bet is just incredible and even better. Just yum!
Thank you, Natalie. Yes, it’s packed with flavor. I think you will love this.
Roast lamb is a massive favourite in our families, reserved for special days like Christmas. I’m sooo excited to cook it this year for family and love your mix of spices – but definitely intrigued by the Indian blend. Would love to try this if you do share it on your blog! 🙂
Thank you Laura, I’m sure you will love this – I too plan to make lamb this Christmas. I will definitely share my mom’s recipe with Indian spices very soon too! Thanks for the comment
Mmm, the herbs you used in this recipe sound like an amazing and fragrant combo! Next time I cook lamb, I’ll remember your tips on how to get it nice and crusty. Thanks!
Luci’s Morsels | fashion. food. frivolity.
Thank you so much Luci. So glad you like the tips. Thanks for the comment.
The meat looks so tender and delicious, yum!!
Thank you Melanie. What was very tender and delicious
I am a lover of all things lamb- in my family it’s tradition to find lamb at many holiday meals. Your recipe looks delicious!
Thanks Jessy. We are lamb lovers too! If I could afford it I’d be having lamb every week .. he he.. Thanks for the comment.
You’ve shared some wonderful tips on cooking lamb in this post and I love the rub you have used. It’s full of flavour. What a delicious recipe!
Thank you April. Glad you like my tips. Yes the flavors are definitely amazing