My 3 favourite ways to cook a delicious lamb shoulder this summer
Here are my favourite 3 ways to cook lamb shoulder for approx. 6 people.
- Lamb shoulder in white wine
- Moroccan spiced slow-cooked lamb shoulder
- Slow-roasted Indian lime pickle lamb shoulder
And it should be no surprise to you, to find it’s all about low and slow cooking.
With as little prep as possible.
Of course, you do need approx 3 hrs to let the slow cooking work its magic.
But then who cares about time because once it’s in the oven, you can walk away from it and enjoy your day.
3 ways to cook tender lamb shoulder
1. Lamb shoulder in white wine
PREP TIME: 10 mins
COOKING TIME: 3 hrs 10 mins
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: crowd-pleaser, family, Sunday roast, special occasion
BUDGET: ££
Recipe from HoneyKitchen
This slow-cooked lamb shoulder was cooked in our wood oven.
But you can use your conventional over for fantastic results as well.
The key to this dish is browning the lamb first.
So be patient.
This lamb has lovely summery flavours with lemon, white wine, garlic and thyme.
Enjoy it with summer salads or fresh greens.
Lamb shoulder in white wine
Ingredients
- 2 kg lamb shoulder (high quality/high welfare lamb)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 heads of garlic
- 2 lemons cut in half
- 200 ml white wine (Sauvignon Blanc if poss)
- 100 ml chicken stock or water
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C/320F
- In a large roasting dish or frying pan, add the olive oil and brown the lamb shoulder all over.*If using the roasting dish, take the lamb out and place it onto a plate while you do the following steps*
- In the roasting dish, add the onions halves and squeeze the lemon juice over top of the onions and add the squeezed lemons into the dish.Next, add the heads of garlic, pour over wine and stock (or water) and mix everything together.Place the lamb shoulder on top and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook uncovered for 3 hrs – basting the lamb with the sauce every hour or so – until the lamb is incredibly tender and just breaks apart.
Notes
2. Moroccan spiced slow-cooked lamb shoulder
COOKING TIME: 3.5 hrs
DIFFICULTY: Not too tricky
IDEAL FOR: crowd-pleaser, family, Sunday roast, special occasion
BUDGET: £-££
Wine pairing: This was a lovely pairing from Michael Sutton’s Cellar; a Cabernet Sauvignon blend, the Massaya Le Colombier Lebanon 2018 is full of fruit with notes of dried fig.
Spiced slow-cooked lamb shoulder with onions and freekeh.
Just the sound of Moroccan spices on lamb is enough for me.
And this dish is truly spectacular and will be a hit on any dinner table, or as a Sunday roast.
But I’ll tell you now, there’s a little bit of work involved but nothing complicated.
It’s just combining both the roast and braise method that means a tiny bit more work.
However, it’s worth it.
Wine pairing: This was a lovely pairing from Michael Sutton’s Cellar; a Cabernet Sauvignon blend, the Massaya Le Colombier Lebanon 2018 is full of fruit with notes of dried fig.
It’s quite pricey at around £15 but worth it.
Moroccan spiced slow-cooked lamb shoulder
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg (quality) lamb shoulder, on the bone
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 100 g runny honey
- 6 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 40 g fresh ginger, grated
- 1 Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon, plus juice of 1 lemon
- 2 Finely grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
- 2 tbsp ras el hanout spice
- 500 g small onions, peeled and halved
- 150 g raisins
- 750 ml lamb or chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp (heaped) tomato puree
- 7500 g cooked freekeh (I cheated and bought pre-cooked cooked freekeh i.e. Merchant Gourmet)
- 1 – 2 tsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
- 1 mild red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
- handful of mint for garnish
- 60 g toasted almonds for garnish
Instructions
Roast
- Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
- Rub the lamb with salt and oil, and in a deep roasting dish, roast (skin-side up) for 35 mins until golden brown. Then, remove from the oven and transfer to a plate.Now, turn the oven down to 160°C/140°C fan.Add the halved onions and raisins and scatter them around the roasting dish, then add some seasoning and a tbsp of ras el hanout and rhe juice fron an orange and toss with the onions.Now, lay the lamb back on top.
Lamb glaze
- In a small bowl, mix the honey, garlic, ginger, the zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange, and 2 tsp ras el hanout.Brush 3/4 of the lamb glaze over the lamb (keep the rest to glaze the lamb later).
Braise
- Once the lamb has been glazed, cover the roasting tin tightly with foil, sealing it.(If it’s not fully sealed the heat will escape and the lamb will take longer).Braise for 3½ hrs.
Extra gravy (optional)
- While the lamb braises, put the stock, soy sauce and tomato purée in a medium saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by half, then remove from the heat.Once the lamb has braised, remove the foil (your lamb should be very tender) and lift the lamb onto a plate.Now, drain half the cooking juices into the saucepan with the reduced stock (you’ll have about 500ml liquid in total).Bring the reduced stock and lamb juices to a boil and whisk in the cornflour mix, until the gravy has thickened enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon.Season to taste with salt, ras el hanout and lemon juice.Set aside.
Freekeh and final 10 min blast
- Add the cooked freekeh to the roasting tin and stir it into the onions and remaining cooking juices. Turn the oven back up to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. Put the lamb back on top, glaze it with the remaining honey mixture, then put the tin back into the oven for 10 mins and baste a couple of times.
- Before serving, brush the lamb with gravy to give it a glossy shine. Sprinkle with chilli (optional), mint and almonds and serve.
Notes
3. Slow-roasted Indian lime pickle lamb shoulder
PREP TIME: 10 mins
COOKING TIME: 3 hrs slow cooking
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: crowd-pleaser, family
BUDGET: £
Wine pairing: I nice cold lager!
A decent shoulder of lamb is amazing however you cook it.
Lamb shoulder has more flavour and is easier to cook than lamb leg.
It’s virtually foolproof, with minimal effort, and incredible meat that is so tender that you won’t need a knife to carve this.
When cooked long and slow, it results in the most tender and juicy meat.
This slow-cooked lamb shoulder will be the juiciest, most incredible lamb roast you have ever had!
Perfectly marinated meat that melts in the mouth is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.
Wine pairing: I nice cold lager!
Slow-roasted Indian lime pickle lamb shoulder
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup store-bought Indian lime pickle (or see blog for homemade)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp malt vinegar
- 4 tbsp coriander roots (I've never heard of these so I just used 6 tbsp coriander leaves and stalks)
- 2.2 kg lamb shoulder, bone in
- 1 bulb garlic, halved
- 1 cup water
- 5 cm piece of ginger, sliced
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Into a food processor, add the lime pickle, sugar, vinegar and coriander (roots, if you have them) and whizz until fine. Then place the lamb in a large deep-sided roasting pan and rub with this marinade.
- Next, add the garlic, water and ginger to the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cover with foil and cook for 2.5 hrs or until tender.
- Remove the foil, and spoon over the cooking liquid, then cook uncovered, for another 30 mins or until nice and dark golden brown.
- Serve with rice and veggies.
For more ideas using lamb check out this page
