42 Ways to Cook Lamb Tonight
Roasted racks of lamb, burgers, bolognese, curries, seared lamb chops and more!
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Your New Go-To Protein
Many consider lamb a "special occasion" meat, something to save for Easter or other holidays and celebrations. But really, this protein should be enjoyed far more often! Lamb chops make a great (quick) weeknight meal and pair easily with your go-to sides, while lamb stews, curries and roasts offer slow-cooked comfort. These recipes are proof that this protein deserves a place on your table all year round, no matter the occasion, starting with these speedy lamb chops. They’re simple, straightforward and oh-so-delicious. Seared and topped with a creamy mustard pan sauce, they’re bound to become a regular part of your dinner rotation.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Chops with Garlic and Rosemary
Herb-Roasted Lamb
Leave it to Ina to perfect the art of roasting leg of lamb. She blends up a paste of butter, rosemary, salt and garlic to thoroughly coat the top and sides of her lamb with. "It's going to infuse the lamb with great flavor," she says, "and when it's roasted over the potatoes, it will flavor the potatoes, too."
Get the Recipe: Herb-Roasted Lamb
Pan-Roasted Double-Cut Lamb Chops
For a nicer presentation, ask your butcher for two “frenched” racks of lamb (which means that the fat is scraped off the bones). You can also ask to have the racks cut into chops, making your job at home even easier. Marinating isn’t essential but gives the lamb so much flavor that there’s no need for any sauces or condiments.
Get the Recipe: Pan-Roasted Double-Cut Lamb Chops
Braised Lamb Shanks
Reviewers rave about Anne Burrell's braised lamb recipe, with one claiming it's "the most tender, flavorful, delicious lamb dish" they have ever made. She breaks down each step — from seasoning and searing the lamb shanks to developing flavor along the way.
Get the Recipe: Braised Lamb Shanks
Grilled Lamb Chops with Olive Tapenade
These marinated chops are guaranteed to become one of your go-to recipes for grilling season. They're easy to make, don't take long to marinate and are full of incredible flavor.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Lamb Chops with Olive Tapenade
Kofta Kebabs with Tzatziki
Widely enjoyed throughout the Middle East and other parts of the world, kofta are made from ground meat mixed with aromatic spices and grilled. This recipe calls for either ground beef chuck or lamb, but the choice is obvious here.
Get the Recipe: Kofta Kebabs with Tzatziki
Skillet-Roasted Lamb Chops
This showstopping main will impress everyone at your table. Scott Conant interlocks the lamb bones from one rack of lamb with another before roasting everything in the oven. He bastes the lamb, often, resulting in a super-juicy finished dish.
Get the Recipe: Skillet-Roasted Lamb Chops
Shepherd's Pie
With over 1,000 5-star reviews, you know Alton's recipe for Shepherd's Pie is worth trying. It is one of everyone's favorite ground lamb recipes!
Get the Recipe: Shepherd's Pie
Grilled Lamb Chops
Giada marinates her lamb chops in garlic, herbs and cayenne pepper before throwing them onto the grill. It's "a mix that really accents the robust flavor of the lamb," she says.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Lamb Chops
Lamb Mixiote
Mixiote are seasoned packets of lamb, rabbit or chicken that are wrapped in fresh agave and steamed on the stovetop or cooked in a barbecue pit. Parchment paper works in place of the agave, here, but do not skip the marinade. It's the secret to the dish.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Mixiote
Marinated Lamb Chops
Valerie's simple marinade — made with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, herbs, cumin and garlic — allows for the flavors of the lamb chops to really come through. Reserve some of the marinade, though. It makes a great dipping sauce!
Get the Recipe: Marinated Lamb Chops
Lamb Meatballs with Eggplant Mash
Eggplant is really the star of this dish. We broil them until blackened, peel off their skins and chop them up in a food processor before stirring in olive oil and Greek yogurt. The mashed eggplant then makes the perfect base for meatballs, pomegranate arils and fresh herbs.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Meatballs with Eggplant Yogurt Mezze
Cheese-Stuffed Lamb Burgers
Geoffrey Zakarian stuffs his lamb burgers with a combination of shredded mozzarella and crumbled feta. Each bite is packed with herby meaty lamb, briny pickled onions and gooey melty cheese.
Get the Recipe: Cheese-Stuffed Lamb Burgers
Grilled Lamb Chops with Mint
Mint and lamb is a popular pairing and for good reason — lamb is one of the meats that's flavorful enough to it won't be overpowered by the herb. You can sprinkle a few leaves on your plate as a garnish, or take things up a notch by making a quick mint oil to brush all over your chops.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Lamb Chops With Mint
Lamb Meatballs with Gremolata
Tia Mowry makes her baked meatballs with a combination of ground lamb, toasted pine nuts, cumin, parsley and dried currants. She adds a kick to the lamb by garnishing it with a bright minty gremolata.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Meatballs with Gremolata
Lamb Curry with Peas
Cubes of lamb become meltingly tender and richly flavored after a long, slow braise with cinnamon, cardamon and turmeric spices. Potatoes and peas bulk up this dish, while whole-milk yogurt adds a refreshing creaminess.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Curry with Peas
Rack of Lamb
If you're buying lamb to make for dinner, lean on your butcher for help. For this dish, Ina asked her butcher to "French" the lamb, which means to scrape the meat off the tips of the bones.
Get the Recipe: Rack of Lamb
Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Lollipops with Feta Tzatziki
Lamb lollipops are the highlight of many catered cocktail parties. Now, you can make your own at home! Jeff Mauro shares his recipe for grilled lamb lollipops that are doused with a pomegranate glaze and served with a creamy feta dipping sauce.
Get the Recipe: Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Lollipops with Feta Tzatziki
Lamb Rogan Josh
Rogan Josh is an iconic Kashmiri dish that stars lamb or goat that is slow-cooked in oil, yogurt and a myriad of spices. This version stays truer to tradition, made without tomatoes or onion.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Rogan Josh
Spice Rubbed Lamb Chops with Green Beans
This healthy meal only takes 25 minutes to make. How? We're quickly searing lamb chops until browned and crisp on both sides, then shortly popping the skillet in the oven for the meat to finish cooking.
Get the Recipe: Spice Rubbed Lamb Chops with Green Beans
Crown Roast of Lamb
Alton Brown employs the assistance of a Bundt pan and some butcher's twine to assemble this pretty main. He uses the drippings left in the bottom of the pan as the foundation for a sauce, along with sherry vinegar, mustard and rosemary.
Get the Recipe: Crown Roast of Lamb
Spring Lamb Stew
Ree features a boneless leg of lamb in her cozy stew. She sears big chunks of the lamb in the Dutch oven, first, before adding in the rest of the ingredients to give the meat more depth and flavor.
Get the Recipe: Spring Lamb Stew
Spiced Lamb Chops with Herbed Mashed Potatoes
Here is evidence you can have lamb on any given day of the week. This whole meal, complete with creamy mashed potatoes, is ready in just 40 minutes.
Get the Recipe: Spiced Lamb Chops with Herbed Mashed Potatoes
Baby Lamb Chops with Lemon
Sometimes simple is best. For instance, these incredibly delicious chops are marinated in a straightforward mix of garlic, lemons, oil, mint and rosemary, then seared in a cast-iron skillet until golden brown.
Get the Recipe: Baby Lamb Chops With Lemon
Halal Cart Lamb
You can find halal carts all over New York City. We set out to recreate one of these food carts' most popular dishes, so you can enjoy the combo of rice, halal meat and salad no matter where you are. (Halal meat is slaughtered differently than conventional meat, in accordance with Islamic laws.)
Get the Recipe: Halal Cart Lamb
Lamb Shanks and Orzo
Ina's one-pot dish is ultimate comfort food. She allows lamb shanks to slowly cook in a mix of aromatics, tomatoes, beef broth and wine until the lamb is fall-off-the-bone tender.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Shanks & Orzo
Spicy Lamb and Mint Sausage
Making your own sausage is the kind of cooking project that sounds super impressive and somewhat intimidating, but is actually pretty easy to pull off once you have the right tools and ingredients. Michael Symon shares how to make flavor-packed lamb and pork sausage from scratch using a fridge, meat grinder and stand mixer.
Get the Recipe: Spicy Lamb and Mint Sausage
Hazelnut-Crusted Lamb Chops
Breaded chicken cutlets are great and all, but these hazelnut-crusted lamb chops are something else. In lieu of breadcrumbs or panko, we're coating meat with a mix of toasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds and spices. It's so crisp and so flavorful. We're obsessed.
Get the Recipe: Hazelnut-Crusted Lamb Chops
Olive-Stuffed Lamb Roulade with Salsa Verde
Lamb is often the centerpiece of a celebratory meal (hello, Easter!) and this dish is up for the responsibility. We stuff the lamb with a herby olive paste, then top the roasted lamb with a fresh salsa verde. It's bright, fresh and beautiful.
Get the Recipe: Olive-Stuffed Lamb Roulade with Salsa Verde
Chipotle Lamb Chops
Keep a couple of cans of chipotles in adobo and fire-roasted tomatoes in your pantry, so you can easily boost the flavor of your meat. Here, we use the chipotles to make a spicy-smoky paste to rub all over the lamb shoulder chops, and then the fire-roasted tomatoes becomes the base for a sauce.
Get the Recipe: Chipotle Lamb Chops
Baked Rigatoni with Lamb Ragu
"When people ask me about my favorite comfort food, I have a hard time deciding between a big bowl of satsifying stew and a pan of cheesy baked pasta," says Ina. "Now, I don't have to choose!" (P.S. This dish can be completely assembled a day in advance and refrigereated. Just pop in the oven to bake before serving.)
Get the Recipe: Baked Rigatoni with Lamb Ragù
Lamb Kabobs with Tzatziki Sauce
Sunny shares a recipe that's perfect for a night with friends in the backyard. The kabobs need to sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and the homemade tzatziki for at least an hour, so you can do all the prep before everyone comes over. When it's time to start dinner, just fire up the grill and casually cook outdoors as you hang out.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Kabobs with Tzatziki Sauce
Italian Springtime Lamb
Giada cooks up a sweet-and-savory filling for her butterflied lamb, made with garlic, rosemary, walnuts, spinach and raisins. She also covers the meat with a layer of whole-grain mustard before roasting. "It gives you a little extra tangy flavor, which works really well with the lamb," she says.
Get the Recipe: Italian Springtime Lamb
Lamb Stew
Lamb shoulder or precut lamb stew meat are solid options for a hearty stew. Before browning the meat, we dredged it in flour. This accomplishes two things — the flour coating helps the meat caramelize more quickly and it also helps to thicken the cooking liquid later on.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Stew
Braised Lamb Tacos
Slowly braised meats make for incredible taco fillings and Michael Symon's lamb is no exception. Marinated for a day or two, then cooked over a low heat for hours, this meat falls off the bone. It's easy to shred and divide among warmed corn tortillas.
Get the Recipe: Braised Lamb Tacos
Lamb with Lentil Salad
This speedy dinner involves dirtying just one single skillet (and a bowl or two). We quickly cook up shallot and lentils for our side salad, then use the same skillet to sear the lamb chops. See? Lamb is easy!
Get the Recipe: Lamb with Lentil Salad
Grilled Lamb Sandwiches
Guy marinates the leg of lamb in a mix of olive oil, yogurt, lemon, capers, oregano and garlic before charring it up on the grill. The yogurt marinade really works to make the lamb exceptionally tender.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Lamb Sandwiches
Spicy Lamb Bolognese
Ground lamb works really well mixed in with other types of ground meat, like beef, in meatloaves, meatballs and sauces. Exhibit A: Giada's spicy bolognese.
Get the Recipe: Spicy Lamb Bolognese
Lamb Souvlaki
Craving souvlaki? Michael Symon has you covered. He marinates pieces of lamb overnight, then threads them onto a metal skewer and throws them onto the grill. Serve with pita, red onions, French fries and cucumbers, if desired.
Get the Recipe: Leg of Lamb Souvlaki
Lamb Chops with Tomato-Mint Jam
Mint jelly is a classic accompaniment to roasted or grilled lamb. Inspired, we crafted our own, but with a twist: We charred cocktail tomatoes to add to the equation.
Get the Recipe: Lamb Chops With Tomato-Mint Jam
Lamb Ragu with Mint
If you start with a jar of store-bought marinara sauce, Giada's ragu recipe will take you only 30 minutes to make. The ground lamb is truly what shines in this dish. She says, "the lamb turns a regular ragu into a really special meal."
Get the Recipe: Lamb Ragu with Mint
Herbed Leg of Lamb with Roasted Turnips
Flavor the lamb with a paste made from scallions, parsley, dill, celery and garlic, then reach for your roasting pan.
Get the Recipe: Herbed Leg of Lamb With Roasted Turnips
