Fresh rosemary, garlic, mustard, honey, and lemon zest are all used in the overnight marinade for this leg of lamb. Be ready to field several requests for seconds!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 9 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 5 pounds whole leg of lamb
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Mix honey, garlic, rosemary, mustard, lemon zest, and pepper together in a small bowl. Place lamb in a flat dish; rub mixture over lamb. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator 8 hours to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Transfer lamb onto a rack in a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt to taste.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and roast for 55 to 60 more minutes for medium rare. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 120 degrees F (50 degrees C). Let lamb rest for about 10 minutes before carving.
- USDA recommends cooking all raw lamb steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 553 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 157 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 41 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Sodium | 379 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 39 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Perfect! The only change we make is purée the marinade and add a bit of the lemon juice
I have been making this recipe for over 30 years .. it is delicious.. my guests love it
I used this marinate with lemon juice added on lamb chops overnight. It was very good.
I marinated the leg of lamb for about 7 hours before baking in a cast iron dutch oven with potatoes and carrots along the side. I found the honey was a little too strong and overtook the savory taste of the lamb. We did enjoy the meal and the lamb was very juicy and tender. Next time I think I would reduce or eliminate the honey.
Great recipe for a nice dinner!
I made this recipe per the instructions, but added the balsamic vinegar and olive oil that many reviewers suggested. I had a 3.5 pound leg of lamb, but made the full recipe for the marinade, which is for a 5-pound leg. The meat itself turned out perfectly cooked, but the marinade was way too strong. I think next time I’ll leave out the balsamic vinegar and reduce the amount of marinade by about half. Lamb by itself has such great flavor that this marinade covered up. I’ll make it again with these modifications.
Easy and delicious!
Turned out just the way I was hoping. Not a lot of experience cooking lamb and none with such a big leg. Will make it again.
This didn’t work out too well for me. They honey made it way too sweet. I did add a cup of water in the pan while roasting. I had extra marinade and some of that made it way with the water. Be careful with the honey. Way too sweet.
Absolutely delicious! Didn’t change the marinade (that would make it a different recipe) though I did use just a squirt of lemon juice rather than zest. Also had a deboned leg. Cooked for 20 minutes at 450° which created a beautiful crust and added 2 cups of water to the bottom of the roast pan. Reduced the heat to 350° and cooked until meat thermometer read 140° – a perfect medium – for about 1-1/2 hours without foil. I heated the pan drippings on the stove, whisking all the while and made a perfect gravy. I served with roasted garlic buttery whipped potatoes and turnip. Everyone loved the meal and we’ll definitely have it again! While it makes a very impressive company meal, we just had it on an ordinary Saturday night. Felt very special. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Wonderful recipe.
We raise market lambs and will definitely make this recipe again. I made this for my family and family friends! Everyone raved about the flavor and tenderness. I followed the recipe exactly except I used a lamb shoulder instead of a leg. I waited until the temp was about 165 and it was perfectly pink for everyone’s taste. The drippings and resting juice was to die for when poured over the slices of meat. A wonderful recipe!
Absolutely divine! i bathed the lamb in worchershire sauce, and substituted the lemon zest for McCormick’s California style coarse grind blend lemon pepper. Muah!
Thus was a great recipe. I made a wine base sauce with red wine, chicken broth and onions. Mix all ingredients and pour it in the bottom of the pan, before placing the lamb on top of it. It was great for dipping the slice lamb into it.
follow the recipe and it will turn out perfectly
We cooked it and it was tender and delicious! We grilled it.
The cook time was way off! 20 min on 450 degrees then 60 minutes at 400 degrees= crispy outside RAW inside! Cooked for another 45 minutes and it was medium-rare. This through off the rest of dinner!
absolutely delicious!!! first LOL i’ve cooked.
Temperature was too hot. I covered with foil for the first 20min at 230d, then took it off for the next 60min at 200d. Lamb got burnt outside on top but not medium yet inside. Marinate was a bit too sweet, I added lemon zest and a dash of lemon as suggested by others.
Made this pretty much via the recipe. Technically, this came out perfectly. Flavor wise, I did not appreciate the sweetness. Would have preferred a simpler garlic and rosemary profile. I only had a very strong Buckwheat honey in the house, but picked my rosemary straight out of my pot, and let marinate overnight. I used a convection roast setting on my oven, so dropped each temperature by 25 degrees and cooked it to medium rare on the probe. I did NOT tent it as I like a bit of crust on my meat. Perhaps if I had adjusted with some balsamic as suggested in other comments – but as I have only a long aged (and hence sweet) balsamic on hand in these quarantined times, it would probably still have thrown me off. So easy to follow, technically perfect – but I’ll go simpler and savory next time and skip the honey.
I added a squeeze of half a lemon and marinated it for a full 24 hours.