Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipe

How to cook perfect Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipe every time. Herb crusted and garlic stuffed, this is an easy lamb roast anyone can make!

Roasts are easy and impressive! Try boneless turkey breast roast, sirloin tip roast or beef eye round roast and never fret making a roast again!

My favorite way to celebrate anything is with this boneless leg of lamb recipe. I love cooking a boneless lamb roast because it’s so easy but looks grande on the table. More simple than bone-in leg of lamb and hard to mess up.

I created this basic recipe for boneless leg of lamb about 15 years ago. I make it for Easter dinner, Holidays or whenever I need to leave a lasting impression. Works every time.

Last time was my visiting mom that “doesn’t like” lamb. And a time before was to say “thank you” to the nicest plumber on Earth. Everyone loves it!

And I will teach you how to roast the most perfect boneless leg of lamb in the oven. You can do it!

Why You Will Love This Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipe

• Easy to make: Boneless leg of lamb is actually the easiest red meat to roast. Lamb is expensive, so I understand your fear of “screwing it up”. You will not.
• Tender juicy meat: Thanks to the precise cook times for your preferred level of doneness.
• Garlic lovers dream: Stuffed with over 30 slivers of fresh garlic.
• Foolproof recipe: This lamb recipe is 15 years old tried and tested on our family.
• Video: If you are more of a visual learner, video instructions will be helpful.

Ingredients and Notes

To make roasted boneless leg of lamb recipe you will need 6 simple ingredients you more likely have on hand right now. General rule of thumb is to plan about 1/2 lb of roasted lamb per person.

• Boneless leg of lamb: It is a leg of lamb where bone has been removed, and meat rolled, tied or netted into a shape of oval roast. You can find it in many grocery stores fresh or frozen, or in a butcher shop.
• Garlic: Juicy, fresh and plump garlic cloves make all the difference. After all, it’s a garlic lover’s dream lamb recipe! No garlic powder please.
• Dried rosemary: Dried rosemary is more convenient. However, you can use fresh rosemary if you wish and it will yield even more flavor. Or a mixture of both.
• Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil goes well with lamb naturally. But you can also use avocado oil or grapeseed oil.
• Salt and black pepper: To season and taste.

How to Cook Boneless Leg of Lamb

Here is a step-by-step process how to cook a boneless leg of lamb recipe. Full recipe card is located below.

1. Season lamb roast with garlic and rosemary

• Prep: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F while you are preparing the roast. Cut garlic into thin slivers.
• Make holes in the roast: In a medium roasting pan or Dutch oven (no need for a rack but you can use one), place deboned leg of lamb roast and make about 20-30 inserts with a paring knife.
• Stuff with garlic: Stick garlic slice into each opening until you run out of garlic.
• Season with spices on both sides: Rub boneless leg of lamb roast with oil all around. Then sprinkle one side with half of rosemary, salt and pepper. Turn around and repeat on another side.

2. Roast leg of lamb uncovered

Bake lamb roast uncovered according the schedule below until desired doneness when checked with a quality, reliable meat thermometer.

Meat will keep “cooking” as it rests. Please keep in mind internal temperature will rise while meat is resting after baking in the oven.

3. Let lamb roast rest and carve

• Important to let meat rest: Remove lamb roast from the oven and let rest uncovered for 15 minutes. Do not skip!
• Remove casing: Transfer boneless leg of lamb roast on a cutting board. Using a sharp carving knife, remove the casing. I highly recommend to sharpen the knife before slicing, helps a lot not to destroy the roast.
• Carving roast: Slice into 1/4 inch slices against the grain. Thin slices of lamb taste better than thick ones.

4. Roast potatoes in fat drippings (optional but good)

Lamb is extremely fatty meat. You will see a lot of fat and drippings at the bottom of roasting pan. Take advantage of it to make boneless leg of lamb and potatoes (and other veggies), so good!

• Remove some fat and drippings: Scoop out 1 cup of drippings as it is just too much and roasted vegetables will come out too greasy. Not healthy and there is enough flavor in remaining juice and fat.
• Add veggies and seasonings: I added about 2 pounds baby potatoes, 2 carrots, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, 3/4 tsp salt and ground black pepper to taste. Then stir to coat.
• Bake: At 450 degrees F for about 35 minutes or until fork tender. You can prep the veggies and seasonings while lamb is cooking, so after just pop them in without even turning off the oven.

How Long to Cook Boneless Leg of Lamb?

Here is a hangy boneless leg of lamb recipe cooking times chart.

Always check with a good internal meat thermometer. Cooking times are listed per 1 lb of meat.

Desired lamb doneness	Internal Temperature	Time
Medium rare	130F – 135F	16 minutes/lb
Medium well	140F – 145F	18 minutes/lb
Well done	150F – 155F	20 minutes/lb

All ovens vary due to age, electric vs. gas etc. Not to mention convection oven cooks food faster. So check earlier than later!

My best advice is for 4-5 lbs boneless leg of lamb roast to check internal temperature after 1 hour and go from there. For 2-3 lbs roast, check after 45 minutes. It all comes down to checking often after a certain period of time.

Tips for Foolproof Boneless Leg of Lamb

Here are the tips on how to cook perfect boneless leg of lamb recipe every time!

• Plan ahead: Cooking boneless leg of lamb in the oven is easy! It just needs enough cooking time. I recommend to plan ahead with this recipe. Just make sure you understand your dinner will be on the table in 2 hours if you roast lamb. I speak from my own experience.
• Don’t remove the casing before cooking: Under any circumstances keep netting or rope on. It is what is holding pieces of meat together. If you remove it, meat will fall apart.
• Bake roast uncovered: You need meat to brown on the outside, not steam. If you cover it with a lid or aluminum foil, roast will steam instead of roasting.
• Adjust for your oven: All ovens vary, I can’t stress this enough! If your oven runs hotter or takes longer to cook, adjust cook time accordingly to avoid overcooked or undercooked lamb. Rule of thumb is to start checking with internal meat thermometer 1/2 hour before end of cook time as per recipe.

Serving Suggestions

Serve sliced boneless leg of lamb on its own, or drizzled with freshly squeezed lemon juice or fresh mint jelly. We usually have lemon on hand at all times, so it rounds up meat flavors nicely.

• Sauces: Aside mint jelly and traditional gravy, chimichurri sauce adds bright tangy flavor to roasted lamb.
• Potatoes: Lamb roast would be delicious with mashed potatoes, sweet potato mash or this genius substitute for mashed potatoes. Instant Pot baked potatoes is “a new kid on the block” when it comes to easy potato side dish.
• Salads: Traditional Greek salad is a match made in heaven for lamb. This spinach salad recipe has Asian dressing but it is savory and pairs well with sweet lamb meat. Browse all my healthy salad recipes!
• Vegetables: Garlic green beans and baked asparagus are just classics.

How to Store and Make Ahead

Store: Refrigerate leg of lamb leftovers whole as a roast or sliced in an airtight container for up to 5 days. It tastes so good cold.

Freeze: Freeze leftovers sliced or cut into bite sized pieces in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator and then use as a protein in a salad for lunch, sandwich on-the-go or for lamb tacos!

Make ahead: To save time during a busy day of cooking of a holiday, you can stuff and season roast, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Then let it come to room temperature and roast as per recipe.

Common FAQs

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