Succulent roast leg of lamb with garlic rosemary lemon crust is so easy to perfect at home! The homemade mint sauce lifts and complements the meat beautifully. Serve with our fluffy Mashed Potatoes with Cabbage or Crispy Air Fryer Potatoes.
For more delicious meal ideas take a look at our Easter Recipe Collection.
What will you be having this Easter? Are you a traditionalist or do you like to mix things up? I wouldn’t consider myself very traditional except for the holidays. Then I expect certain food items to be present.
Our family’s Easter favourite is glazed ham, and I usually get creative with the glazes but nothing too crazy. The ham must be served with creamy potatoes au gratin as far as my family is concerned.
I didn’t realize until we moved to the UK that the tradition is different here, and roast lamb usually adorns the Easter table. I’ve always been a huge fan of lamb so I happily embraced this tradition.
No one likes being stuck in the kitchen while family and guests enjoy a relaxed Easter Sunday. This means be prepared! I usually plan and prep ahead of time as much as I can manage, so when the day arrives everything is ready.
You will love this roast leg of lamb, which hardly takes any hands-on time and cooks within one hour and a half. That is a win-win situation for me.
The combination of rosemary, garlic and lemon zest does wonders to improve the taste of this lamb roast. If you are not a big lamb fan like my husband was, I urge you to try it one more time with this rub because it might force you to change your mind!
Roast Leg of Lamb Recipe Tips
- take the lamb out of the fridge 1 hour before roasting. It needs to come up to room temperature for more even cooking
- prepare the aromatic herb rub and spread it all over the lamb
- roast the lamb at 200C/400F for 1 hour 15 minutes for medium rare and 1 hour 30 minutes for well done. These timings work for the specific weight given in this recipe
- Test the doneness of the meat by using a meat thermometer. The internal temperature of medium rare lamb is 55-59C/ 130-138F and 67-74C/153-165F for well done.
- Once your meat reaches the right temperature, do NOT be tempted to cook it longer! Trust your thermometer for juicy, succulent roast lamb.
- Cooking this lamb at high temperature, but for shorter time than it is traditional, produces the most tender and juicy roast
- Take the meat out of the oven and loosely cover it with aluminium foil
- Rest your cooked leg of lamb for 20 minutes before serving
- prepare the mint sauce by mixing all ingredients in a blender or a food processor
- or omit the sauce and serve this succulent leg of lamb with our best gravy recipe.
Recipe Flavour Makers
The flavours of rosemary, garlic and lemon zest cut through the richness of the meat and balance it out beautifully.
The mint sauce brings the freshness of spring and lifts that heavy flavour, that is often associated with lamb.
More Traditional Roast Recipes:
- Honey Mustard Crusted Prime Rib Roast (Rib of Beef)
- Rosemary and Thyme Roast Chicken and Potatoes
- Pork Roast Recipe
This recipe was originally published in 04/2014. Updated with new text and photos and republished in 03/2021.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- ½ small bunch fresh rosemary half the leaves removed and chopped
- 1 lemon, zest
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2kg/4.5 lbs quality leg of lamb
- salt
For the Mint Sauce:
- 20g/1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
- In a mortar combine chopped rosemary leaves, crushed garlic, coarse salt, lemon zest and olive oil. Bash it with a pestle till rosemary and lemon zest release their oils and the mixture resembles a paste.
- Rub the mixture all over the leg and roast in the preheat oven for 1 hour 15 minutes for a medium-rare and 1 hour 30 minutes for a well done roast.
- Put mint, sugar, salt, water, white wine vinegar and olive oil in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- When your roast is cooked take it out of the oven and loosely cover it with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 20 minutes before cutting it.
