Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipe - Southern Cravings (2024)

FAQs

What is the best temperature to cook a leg of lamb? ›

For a medium cooked lamb, which is perfectly pink on the inside, budget about 25 minutes per pound or until the internal temp registers somewhere around 130°F (about 1 ½ to 2 hours in a 325 degrees F-heated oven).

A whole leg of lamb will typically serve eight people, so is a perfect cut for entertaining lots of guests, especially on Easter Sunday. However, the leg can also be bought divided into smaller joints if you are catering for fewer guests.

Lamb should be roasted 20 mins per 450g/lb, plus an extra 20 mins. Weigh meat prior to roasting to determine cooking times. Cook at 220C/200C fan for the first 20 mins and then 190C/170C fan for the remaining time.

Trim the excess fat that lies beneath the fell, but leave enough to enrich the meat and gravy. It also crisps up nicely when broiled, which helps give the carved slices great texture. Use shears to trim the fat pads around the hip, or large end.

Slow cooking in liquid transforms tougher cuts of lamb into fork-tender meat.

The leg and rack of lamb are perfect for herb-crusting and oven-roasting; since the shank and shoulder are a bit tougher, they fare well in stews or braises—the long cook time allows them to significantly break down and become fork-tender.

If you're using a boneless lamb leg, you may need to adjust the cooking times slightly, as boneless cuts can cook faster than bone-in ones.

Bone-In or Boneless? The choice is up to you! Our Grass Fed New Zealand Spring Lamb is available bone-in or boneless. A boneless leg is easier to carve, while bone-in can be a bit more difficult to slice.

As the end of the cooking time draws near, press the outside centre of your lamb lightly with tongs or a clean fingertip to judge its degree of doneness. As a rough guide: Very soft = rare – bright red, raw centre. Soft = medium rare – pink inside with a red centre.

How do you know when a leg of lamb is ready? ›

Use an oven thermometer to cook your lamb perfectly

When cooking lamb to medium-rare (just a hint of pink on the inside) you want the internal temperature of the meat to get to between 60-65°C. Another important tip is not to continuously open and close your oven as this can affect the cooking temperature.

Cook all raw lamb steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145° F (62.8° C) as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming.

Washing beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces. We call this cross-contamination. Some consumers think they are removing bacteria and making their meat or poultry safe.

Plan on buying 1/3 of a pound of boneless lamb per person, or 1/2 to 2/3 of a pound of bone-in lamb.

Trim it . There is a lot of internal fat in a leg of lamb, and if you are cooking it to med rare the fat cap won't render off. If it is not tied with butcher twine or netting, open it up and look inside. There is a hard seam of fat that you can remove.

The Safe Internal Temperature for Cooked Lamb

An internal temperature of 145°F means that the meat will be at a medium-well doneness, and this is the official safe temperature recommended by the USDA. Ground lamb is the one cut of lamb that is an exception — it should be cooked to 160°F.

The slow cooker cooks foods slowly at a low temperature, generally between 170 and 280 degrees F, over several hours. The combination of direct heat from the pot, lengthy cooking and steam, destroys bacteria making the slow cooker a safe process for cooking foods.

With lamb, the recommended minimum safe temperature is 145 degrees. However, unlike beef, this does not make your lamb chops or rack of lamb medium… It makes it medium well, with a strong possibility of it edging over into well done!

You certainly can and in fact, most lamb cuts are best served either rare or medium rare at most. The key is knowing which cuts of lamb to eat rare and which to avoid, along with proper preparation, food safety, and cooking to ensure your lamb is both tasty and safe.