How To Cook a Boneless Leg of Lamb for the perfect roast every time. This tender juicy lamb roast with garlic and herbs can be enjoyed any time of the year. Seriously, it's the best leg of lamb!
Cooking a lamb roast is very simple and requires minimal ingredients (like 6). These instructions will work whether you have a semi-boneless or bone-in leg of lamb. Are you ready to make it? 🙂
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🎥 Recipe Video
❤️ Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipe
"I think you'll love this boneless leg of lamb recipe - not only is it super easy but it's so flavorful and tender." -Kori
Easy To Make
An easy-to-make boneless leg of lamb recipe! So many people avoid cooking roasts because they think they are hard or challenging. Definitely not! In fact, I think they are often the easiest way to cook meat.
Roasts usually only require a few ingredients - usually just olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs.
Not Just For The Holidays
Growing up we always had a ham and lamb on Easter. Most people serve a lamb roast on special occasions so it definitely reminds me of the holidays.
Because a leg of lamb roast is so delicious, I've started cooking year-round! I use the leftover to slice or dice and add it to a greek salad, or a gyro. Lamb just has so much flavor! Yum.
Low Carb and Keto
Lamb roast is gluten free, low carb and keto-friendly. No sugar is used in the recipe and all ingredients are natural.
🥗 How To Serve
Leg of lamb would go really well with Cauliflower Cheese, Air Fryer Green Beans, Crockpot Green Beans and Ham, and Layered Salad. Both the green beans and layered salad will serve a crowd.
Try serving it with a side of Mint Chimichurri sauce to drizzle over the lamb.
Want a tasty leftover lamb recipe? Try my Leftover Lamb Shepherd's Pie or this Leftover Lamb Stew - absolutely delicious! Or, add diced or sliced leftover lamb to this Greek Salad.
🥘 Ingredients
Here's what you will need to make this boneless leg of lamb recipe:
Lamb Roast - you can use a boneless leg of lamb or semi-boneless
Olive Oil
Garlic
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Dried herbs or Fresh herbs - I used oregano, chives, thyme, parsley - use your favorite!
Be sure to see the recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions!
🍽 Equipment
Equipment and tools needed to make this semi-boneless or boneless leg of lamb:
🔪 How To Cook a Boneless Leg of Lamb (Bone-In Too)
Cooking a boneless leg of lamb is really easy, and cooking with the bone-in is just as simple. You can use a boneless or semi-boneless leg of lamb in this recipe as the techniques are the exact same with only a slight adjustment in roasting time.
Prep
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prep all your ingredients.
Remove roast from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to roasting.
Season the Lamb
Rub olive oil all over the outside of the roast.
Follow with garlic, herbs, and then generously season with salt and pepper.
Place the lamb roast in a roasting pan.
Oven Roast
Use an instant-read thermometer or a thermometer with an alarm that can stay in the roast.
Roast for approximately 20 to 25 minutes per pound, but determine the doneness of the roast based upon the below guidelines.
Finish and Serve
Once done, remove the roast and cover with foil. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Slice the lamb. Serve and enjoy!
💭 Expert Tips
- Always use a thermometer to test the doneness of your roast. Insert the thermometer in the thickest part of the roast. If your roast has a bone or is semi-boneless avoid touching the bone when you check the temp.
- Allow the roast to come to room temperature prior to roasting. I usually remove it from my fridge about 30 minutes prior to roasting.
- After roasting, allow the roast to sit for 15 minutes covered in foil before serving.
- Optional serving idea! Place potatoes and carrots in the bottom of the roasting pan. They will absorb the juices and be REALLY good. 🙂
❓FAQ's
How long should I cook a lamb roast?
The boneless leg of lamb cooking time varies with the size of your roast.
Boneless Leg of Lamb Roasting Time Per Pound:
As rule of thumb a lamb roast will take approximately 20 to 25 minutes per pound to cook.
The roast used in this recipe was actually semi-boneless and 4.5 lbs. It took about 1 hour to reach my desired temperature, however, I started checking the temperature after 45 minutes.
See the temperature guide below for proper cooking. Use time as a guideline but remember to use a thermometer to test doneness.
What temperature should a leg of lamb be cooked to?
A lamb roast should be cooked as follows. According to the USDA the proper cooking temperature of a lamb roast is 145°. Personally, I lamb roast tastes the best when it is cooked to medium-rare. Whatever temperature you choose, cook the roast 5 degrees less than you want to end up with.
Remove from oven, and tent with foil. Allow the roast to sit for 15 minutes before carving. The temperature of the roast will increase by approximately 5 degrees, and your roast will be much juicier.
- rare 120°
- med rare 125°
- medium 135°
- medium well 145°
- well done 155°
What can I serve with a lamb roast?
My favorite idea is to add potatoes and carrots to the bottom of the roasting pan and have them cook right along with the roast. A traditional way to serve lamb is with a side of mint sauce/jelly or a modern sauce such as Mint Chimichurri. Serving lamb with a side of Tzatziki sauce is also delicious.
Mashed cauliflower or mashed potatoes are always the perfect side dish.
Speaking of - I love to serve this lamb roast with a Greek Salad. I will often chop leftover lamb and eat it with the Greek Salad. Kind of reminds me of a gyro. So good!
✔️ More Lamb Recipes
Whether you are looking for more boneless leg of lamb recipes or other delicious lamb recipes here are a few ideas I think you'll love!
More Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipes:
Roasting lamb in the oven isn't your only option - I also have a slow cooker leg of lamb recipe and a pressure cooker version! 🙂
More Lamb Recipes:
- Air Fryer Lamb Chops - quick and easy plus really tender!
- Leftover Lamb Shepherd's Pie - the PERFECT recipe to use up the extras. This recipe is unique and is made with Stout beer and tater tots - the family LOVES it!
- Lamb Stew Recipe - a classic braised lamb stew.
- Lamb Stew (Instant Pot) - classic lamb stew made easy in your Instant Pot
- Lamb Mince Shepherd's Pie - a classic shepherd's pie recipe with garlic mashed potatoes.
- The Best Greek Burger (Gyro Burger) - uses ground lamb (lamb mince).
Did you try this boneless leg of lamb recipe and love it? Let me know! I'd love for you to come back and give the recipe a 5 star rating and a comment 🙂
Let's stay connected, please drop a comment or share photos of your creations with me and others on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest! Don't forget to tag #seekinggoodeats
📋 Recipe
Best Leg of Lamb! (How To Cook a Boneless Leg of Lamb)
Ingredients
- 4.5 to 6 pound lamb roast (boneless or semi-boneless)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 6 teaspoons minced garlic (or, 6 to 8 garlic cloves)
- 2 - 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup dried herbs or ½ cup fresh herbs chopped (we used oregano, chives, thyme, parsley - use your favorite!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove roast from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to roasting.
- Rub olive oil all over the outside of the roast. Follow with garlic, herbs, and then generously season with salt and pepper. Place the lamb roast in a roasting pan.
- Roast for approximately 20 to 25 minutes per pound, but determine doneness of the roast based upon the below guidelines. Use an instant-read thermometer or a thermometer with an alarm that can stay in the roast.
Video
Notes
Helpful Hints
Remove from oven, and tent with foil. Allow the roast to sit for 15 minutes before carving. The temperature of the roast will increase by approximately 5 degrees, and your roast will be much juicier.- rare 120°
- med rare 125°
- medium 135°
- medium well 145°
- well done 155°
Nutrition
© 2023 Seeking Good Eats™
The Best leg of lamb! This super easy lamb roast requires only minimal prep and 6 ingredients. Lamb is perfect for a special occasion, holiday roast (like Easter dinner), or your next Sunday dinner. Lamb is low carb, paleo, ketogenic, sugar-free, and gluten-free. #lamb #Easter #spring #lambroast #roastedlamb #easyroastrecipe #lowcarb #glutenfree #paleo #keto #ketogenic #roastrecipe #holidayroast
Frederick Blythe says
My mother/grandmother never ever used a thermometer to check temperature of the meat and it always came out perfect so why is it most recipes mentioned it or is it because most people are useless at cooking like granny did.
seekinggoodeats says
My grandmother didn't use a thermometer for testing her meat either 🙂 I learned to cook from Grandma - she was a wonderful cook. Fond memories. Most recipes nowadays mention it for food safety reasons and also so that their readers can get consistent results when cooking the recipes (We don't want to get yelled at because someone burned their roast) haha! 🙂 Also, I'm finding a lot of new cooks out there that are just learning and maybe they are teaching themselves. Hope you have a good rest of your day and enjoy the roast!
Don Ciesielski says
Cooking is a big thing in our big (6 siblings) but recipes online are used often . We're all from central NJ. Gotta be from NJ to know we divide up our small state. Many cultural differences for such a small state. I'm a Piney now. Again, gotta be from Jersey to know what I mean...I'm from the Pine Barren region of "Soutd"Jersey now .
Anyway, my contribution would that if you can't find, or if you don't have, a thermometer, we we all would tell you, because mom tell us, that you cook a roast with you nose... when it smells done it is done!
However, I'le using a thermometer...
The recipe sounds like how mom would have made it so I'll be using it. I love leg of lamb and finally convinced my wife to serve this Easter. She was never secure enough to have me cook it because she's afraid it'll be dry. So we're gonna have a pre-Easter dinner with some neighbors for practice. Maybe they know us better than family now? They are, after all, fellow Pineys.
I'll try and update this after Easter.