Our family enjoys eating lamb for Easter dinner every year. Usually, I only cook half a leg. You should double the recipe if you prepare a complete leg of lamb. This recipe must be started at least 24 hours before cooking. At least one night is required for marinating.
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 1 day |
| Total Time: | 1 day 1 hr 35 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) container plain yogurt
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped
- ½ bunch fresh parsley, stems removed
- ½ head garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 ½ lemons, zested
- ½ (6 pound) leg of lamb
- 2 large onions, quartered
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped
- ½ bunch fresh parsley, stems removed
- ½ head garlic
- 1 ½ lemons, zested
Instructions
- Prepare marinade: Mix yogurt, rosemary, parsley, garlic, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Place leg of lamb in marinade and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Spread onions on the bottom of a roasting pan. Remove lamb from marinade, rinse and pat dry. Set aside.
- Place olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, garlic, and lemon zest in a food processor. Process until mixture becomes a smooth paste. Rub leg of lamb with paste and place on top of onions in the roasting pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue baking until desired doneness, 40 to 50 minutes for medium. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 707 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 22 g |
| Cholesterol | 161 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 47 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Sodium | 3073 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 49 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The marinade and crust make a great flavor. BUT, I used a 6 pound, boneless leg of lamb, cooked it in the netting, and checking w/ meat thermometer had to add more than 2 hours to get it beyond bloody raw and bleeding in the center. Please specify in recipe if roast is: boneless vs boned, cooked in netting or unrolled. Smelled great, tasted great, but a real joy-killer to have to cook slices the rest of the way in microwave so we could eat it.
Definitely using this going forward for Easter lunch. Served with gravy, roasted potatoes, and roasted carrots.
This is the best recipe for leg of lamb! I’ve used it three years in a row now. I follow the recipe and I use a boneless leg of lamb (around 4 lbs).
Brilliant recipe. Will do again and again! Would not alter in any way! Thank you!!
I did not make any changes, it was delicious!!
3rd time making this- Amazing recipe.
Great recipe. I used a 6 pound boneless roast (after bone was removed, and put aside), and doubled everything except the salt and pepper (way too much here). I put some lemon juice in the marinade too. Made a gravy with the drippings, flour, and beef stock. Served with roast fingering potatoes and baby carrots with brown sugar and Dijon mustard. Yum. Made a stock with the bones (after roasting them), and looking forward to a lamb and lentil soup.
My family tradition is lamb with mint vinegar. That is good but this recipe is great.
Since I’ve never cooked lamb before, I followed the recipe to the letter. It was delicious. My husband never orders lamb but has now requested that I make another leg of lamb for his birthday.
This was the hit of Easter dinner! I was hesitant to use yogurt but decided to try it anyway. Boy, was this dish a success!
This recipe is amazing! Made this for my family last night and they absolutely loved it. Marinated a boneless leg of lamb for 24 hours and butterflied it and cooked on the grill for about an hour and it was perfectly medium rare! I wish I took a picture it was gorgeous.
Followed the recipe as written. De-lish! Company thoroughly enjoyed it. I think we’ll use this recipe for Easter from now on…
Next time I will definitely cover with foil. The taste was great and I will try it again.
I made this for Easter dinner but I doubled everything as suggested for a whole leg of lamb. It seemed like way more marinade and paste than was needed but I did it that way anyway. The outcome was just so so. All the onions on the bottom burnt to a crisp. Also, I had no idea how long the whole roast would take to cook. I had to estimate and my guests were left waiting for half an hour. Also, it would be nice to mention what to do with the string- thing that the roast comes in. Take it off right away? Leave it on for roasting? I left it on and the whole crust part fell off as we were removing the string to eat the roast. Also, are you supposed to eat the crust?
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving, along with the usual turkey. I didn’t change a thing, but I had to double everything for a 11 pound leg of lamb. I liked the tip about the thermometer as every roast cooks a little different. I used sweet onions, and would advise anyone else to do the same. Everyone raved about this recipe. I wouldn’t change a thing, and I will likely be making this again for the next holiday!
Have made this recipe for my family twice now and they cannot tell me enough how much they love it! Last time I did not have enough parsley so had to sub in cilantro and dried parsley and it was still amazing. I believe the key is the soaking and marinating for 24 hours prior, then making sure to allow the lamb to come to room temp (1 hour) prior to the second slathering of deliciousness and roasting. Bravo and Yummmmm!
Very tender and moist. We cooked until the roast reached 130 degrees. We like our lamb med. rare. Then we let it rest for ten minutes which continues the cooking process. We adjusted the amount of salt and pepper to 1 T of each. For us, this was plenty. We love the flavors of the coating and would not change a thing more. Thanks for a delicious roast. I know what I will be making for Easter and other times as well!
I made this recipe for Easter Sunday, and it was delicious! Even cautious lamb eaters had second helpings.
Loved it! the cooking time was a-bit off, but I am at high altitudes so it’s to be expected. Very moist, with good flavor.
Oh, this was so good. I thinly sliced and caramelized the onions instead of putting them in raw. Cooked the lamb longer and slower – used an electronic thermometer probe to 150, then turned off the oven and let it finish for about 20 minutes. Made a gravy with the juices cut with chicken broth – added herbs and a bit of montrachet goat cheese to the gravy. The family is begging me to do it again.
Delicious and easy! Used lamb chops instead of lamb leg. The rub was a little too salty for us, but we’ll just cut back next time