One of the nicest dishes I’ve had in a while, this lamb with pomegranate sauce is about as seasonally suitable as it gets.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 3 pounds lamb shoulder blade chops
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 cups pomegranate juice
- ⅓ cup aged balsamic vinegar
- 8 fresh mint leaves
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon honey, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
- 1 tablespoon sliced fresh mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
- Generously season lamb chops with salt and black pepper.
- Heat vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Place lamb chops in Dutch oven and cook until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer lamb to a plate and reduce heat to medium.
- Stir onion and a pinch of salt into the Dutch oven; cook until onions are slightly golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Pour pomegranate juice into the Dutch oven and scrape any browned bits off of the bottom of the pot. Pour in balsamic vinegar, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil.
- Stir mint leaves, rosemary, and red pepper flakes into pomegranate juice mixture. Continue to boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Return lamb and any accumulated juices to the Dutch oven, spoon pomegranate mixture over lamb, and cover.
- Cook in the preheated oven until lamb is fork tender, about 2 hours.
- Transfer lamb to a plate and set the Dutch oven on the stovetop over high heat. Bring pomegranate mixture to a boil; cook, skimming any fat that accumulates, until liquid is reduced by 1/3, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in honey and season with salt and black pepper. Return lamb to the Dutch oven; stir to combine. Garnish with pomegranate seeds, sliced mint leaves, and pumpkin seeds.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 546 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 135 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 35 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 190 mg |
| Sugars | 18 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made this in a one-pot, using lamb shanks, by braising the meat on brown, then the onions. Returned meat to pot and poured over the juice, adding any other ingredients. I did not reduce the liquid and proceeded to cook on low for several hours. When the meat was tender, removed it and reduced the liquid, adding flour slurry to thicken and seasoning to taste. Served with quinoa, but would go well with rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles. Liked the fruity gravy balanced against the richness of the lamb.
We love this as it has become our traditional Easter dinner. The sauce is amazing it’s fruity with the pomegranate taking center spotlight, spicy and a touch of savoriness. the flavor profile has an exotic Mediterranean (Greek, Turkey, Persian, or Israeli )or Moroccan vibe that is gorgeous. The meat is so tender it falls off the bone and can be cut with a spoon. A gravy strainer is a must to separate the fat from the sauce quickly. The recipe also works with any red meat so if you prefer
We ate this on Christmas and it was a great recipe! The colors of the mint and the pomegranate made it look very colorful for the holiday.
This is a wonderful refined recipe. The only reason you might not like it is you just don’t like lamb. Made it exactly as written and served with couscous. One recommendation, buy pomegranate juice, do not try to make it from pomegranates. It took me an hour and 3 pomegranates to make 2 cups and was not worth it in my estimation. I also feel I reduced the pomegranate mixture more than I should have before returning the lamb. I will pay more attention the next time. Do not skip the garnish.
Hands down the most amazing lamb dish I have ever prepared. Thank you for this phenomenal recipe.
This recipe is brilliant. Easy, flavourful … The whole family loves it. I was certain I’d made enough for leftovers, but no such luck. I can’t wait to be able to serve this for company.
I modified the recipe just a bit and made it with a leg of lamb in a slow cooker. I raised thre lamb myself. My wife provided the honey from our apiary. We also provided our own home grown mint and rosemary for the recipe. It was almost completely “Home”made and it turned out great! This recipe is very similar to the recipe for balsalmic reduction lamb which we also give a five star. We thought the pomegranite, mint, and pumpkin seeds would provide an interesting twist. It did! Delishous!
I used cranberry pomegranate juice instead of pure pomegranate and made it with pork chops, easier on the budget. I have made this several times now.
I wasn’t going to make this at first because the recipe said Dutch oven and I don’t own one. Then I realized that all you need is a big pan with a lid and obviously, this could be done in a slow cooker as well!
The lamb was perfect and perfectly complemented by the sauce. I left out the honey in the sauce because it was plenty sweet for us. I served it with roasted acorn squash and green salad. Everyone loved it!
Extremely flavorful. Delicious!
Extremely flavorful. Delicious!
lovely… great combination of tangy, sweet and salty. I forgot about mint but still turns out great
Followed the recipe, except roasting 30min less and the meat was so tender that it almost melted apart. A perfect entertaining meal for fall/winter. Served with roasted asparagus, onions and mushrooms. Pairs well with a nice Syrah. There were no leftovers from kids and adults alike.
Very tasty it couldn’t have been made better
oh lord, this is fabulous Easter dinner. The lamb came out moist and tender, the onions/garlic brought out the savory quality of the meat. the rosemary cut the gaminess of the lamb and the mint cut the acidity of the sauce. I admit, I was doubtful of combining the rosemary and mint but the refreshment of the herbs played nicely with the other ingredients, and yes, the aged balsamic vinegar is not to be skimped on, get the good stuff, it’s worth it. The sauce overall was insanely sweet, I recommend a very savory side dish (e.g.:cheesy potatoes) to go with it. This medley of sweet and meaty art is now one of my family’s favorite dinners.
Used lamb leg cut into cutlets. Used cranberries and juice as pomegranites out of season at this time. It was very tasty with or without the sauce! I would make it again using black currants or black berries instead of pomegranites!
I stuck to the recipe but added 1 hour of cooking because I had an extra pound of meat, and it was like butter. Perfect combination of flavors. I always get excited about trying another Chef John recipe and this did not disappoint.
This was great. The pomegranate juice inspired me to take a cue from Persian cuisine, so when preparing the braising sauce I (as the boss of my sauce) added cloves, a pinch of dried ginger and some Turkish pomegranate syrup. At the end, when making the reduction I added some more spices and salt to taste and splashed in some Merlot before boiling it down. I had thought the meat needed to be in just one layer in the oven, but it cooked down so much I wished that I had cooked more. @Chef John, you should start experimenting with pomegranate syrup!
This was falling off the bone and delicious. I picked up the PomWonderful juice and later realized that it was their pomegranate/cherry juice rather than straight pomegranate. Did not matter, it was fabulous. I made it exactly as the recipe shows. I garnished with the pumpkin seeds since those were easy to buy a few of, but left off the pomegranate seeds since I did not want to deal with it. I made this for a new beau and he was blown away. I also turned the remaining juice into the best pom/cherry vodka martini. Yum!
We’ve made this a few times, and its excellent. We’ve used different cuts of lamb, from shoulder, to leg and they have all worked excellently. We’ve also done this recipe once in the slow-cooker/crockpot and with a longer cooking time, it comes out super tender!