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Easter Weekend: Herb-Encrusted Leg of Lamb
PIN THIS RECIPE!I don’t care if you celebrate Easter or not, I’m posting this recipe for Easter because at least one of my readers will celebrate this holiday on Sunday. If not, why wouldn’t you cook a leg of lamb just because? It’s delicious, makes your house smell delicious, then YOU smell delicious. WINNING. I still smelled like lamb the next day after making this recipe. Maybe I should wash my hair more. Just an assumption.
Wanna know something cool? Of course you do. I think I officially learned how to properly squat. After 2 years of CrossFit, TWO DAMN YEARS, I think my body is finally understanding how to move properly. The other day I did a strength session with front squats then a wod with back squats and I actually felt it in my butt for the first time. Never, seriously never, have I felt squats in my butt. Fingers crossed my butt becomes increasingly more taut now that I know how to squat. My friend Sergio told me that we have to do something 5,000-7,000 times to become efficient at that movement. That’s probably why I’m so good at eating. My chewing mechanics must be unreal.
I made my Blueberry Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake the other day…but I made it with strawberries….it was stupid delicious. Thank you Laura for being a genius. You should try it. Seriously.
I named my leg of lamb. I’ve never made my own lamb, let alone a whole leg of lamb. So I had to make it less intimidating. So I named my leg. Henry. Isn’t that cute? Wow. I’m that guy right now. That creepy guy. I’m done.
PrintEaster Weekend: Herb-Encrusted Leg of Lamb
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
- 4–5lb leg of lamb, bone-in
- 2 heads of garlic, 1/4 inch of top end removed to show the individual cloves
- 2 sweet potatoes, diced
- 2 apples, cored and diced
- 1 large red onion, roughly chopped
- 5–6 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 cup almond flour/meal
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- extra olive oil to top veggies with
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 400 degrees.
- Pat the lamb dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle salt and pepper on it and let it sit for 30 minutes or so to come to room temperature.
- In a bowl, stir together the almond flour, all your chopped herbs, garlic powder, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
- Coat the lamb on all sides with the mustard.
- Use a basting brush to spread the herb mixture on the underside of the lamb. Place the lamb on a rack in a large roasting pan, fat side up. Pack the remaining herb mixture on the top and sides of the lamb.
- Place pan in the oven to roast for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Then, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, add your vegetables to the roasting pan around the lamb, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper, and continue roasting until your thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat, away from the bone, registers 130 degrees for medium-rare, 1.25 to 1.5 hours.
- After the lamb is done cooking, place on cutting board and cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Carve and eat!
- Squeeze your roasted garlic on top of your lamb and veggies for extra flavor! And bad breath.
Notes
*If your vegetables aren’t quite cooked through (depending on the thickness of your sweet potato) leave them in the oven to roast while your lamb is resting.
**My TOTAL cook time for my lamb (which was 4.56lbs) was 2 hours and it was around medium, instead of medium rare like I would like.
Oh, Hi! I’m Juli.
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46 thoughts on “Easter Weekend: Herb-Encrusted Leg of Lamb”
Looks amazing!!! I love me some lamb. I will definitely be making this on Sunday!
good!! hope you like it!
I WISH my husband liked lamb…i would be all over this recipe…perhaps ill do a smaller chunk of lamb….or perhaps I’ll do a big one and eat it all myself anyways….decisions decisions…
Do it!! I made this entire leg of lamb for myself. no joke
That looks ridic! Husband and I will be eating our Easter dinner out of tupperware…his family is making exactly nothing that is paleo-friendly. Oh well, eating out of plastic is totally the way to be! P.S. We’re trying Crossfit for the first time on Saturday!
haha good for you guys Stephanie!! you will feel much better than them, I promise! Good luck with your CrossFit class!!! YAY!!!! proud of you 🙂
Thanks! I’m nervous and excited – will let you know how it goes!
I’ve only had lamb once!!! I loved it and need to buy and cook it for myself. I might have to do this for myself this weekend since I won’t be with family for easter.
You definitely should Katie!!
You’re too funny ya know that!? Thanks for the laugh, henry you’re a riot. Bahahaha n then u ate him! Poor guy!
Lol thanks Emily
Wow, looks unreal! Only thing better than me making it would be if you made it and I could just eat it, haha.
Just an idea for another time you do a roast. Instead of a rack in the pan to cook the lamb (or another roast) on, use celery as the rack. Lay it across the bottom of your roasting pan. This keeps the roast off the pan and the water in the celery keeps the meat moist and leaves more juice in the pan when Henry is done roasting. Straining the juice from the pan and adding almond flour and coconut milk will give you a great gravy. Salt and pepper to taste.
OMG I’m officially in love with you dude. Not even joking
haha, well then maybe you’ll let me buy you dinner next time your in so cal? yes, that seriously just happened.
say wha!? greg, you could a legit serial killer for all i know. and then I would die. THAT is what could just happen
wow, such the optimist.
So whats the key to using your butt during a squat!! I’m having that exact same problem 🙂
all I think about is knees out and chest up
Glad I’m not the only one who *still* feels like I can’t really squat correctly – there’s hope for me yet! 🙂
lol im so excited there is hope haha
Growing up I lived on a very small sheep farm and now I miss the fresh yummy lamb everyday. How do you do a proper squat then?
the two things that have helped me have been chest up and knees out. it just finally is clicking lol
Juli! My local meat shop is out of leg of lamb. Can I do this recipe with rack of lamb or loin chop? Thanks!
I’m sure that would still work just fine! Just the cooking time will be different so check that out online to help 🙂
We made this on Sunday and it was absolutely amazing. Even the people who swore that they didn’t like lamb tried it and then had seconds. 🙂
★★★★★
That’s freaking so cool!! Glad everyone liked it!
Absolutely fantastic, this recipe was a huge hit. Thank you!
★★★★★
so delicious, I just moved to New Zealand for a year from Colorado and lamb is a staple out here. I’ve never eaten lamb before let alone cooked it. BUT I gave your recipe a try and my New Zealand partner said it’s one of the best lamb roast he has ever tasted…..YIPPPY Your blog is now my household staple.
★★★★★
made it last night for dinner. OMG!!!! So delicious!! im going to do 2 WOD’s so i can eat some more.
★★★★★
Again, lady you rock! I made this for a couple discerning friends, they LOVED it!
Mmmmm…have loved lamb for as long as I can remember! Culinary arts trained and I have NEVER cooked it at home, way too intimidating! Guess what?! TODAY, is THE day woman! I just rubbed my leg down, and its about to go into the nice warm oven for a 2 hour nap 🙂 So excited to try it
Any thoughts on lamb shoulder?
Never used one
HOLY MOTHER OF LAMB! Hey, that almost works…anyways-
This recipe is phenomenal. I emailed it to my husband today and he made it for me while I was at Crossfit (Yup, we are that kind of couple. He is the best guy in the world).
He said he changed up a little bit of the ingredients but the essence was still there, and it was like having a Thanksgiving/Easter fiesta in my mouth. The veggies were delicious, and the crust on the lamb was sooo good! We used a meat thermometer because our lamb was not the weight of any in the recipe or comments. We just got it up to 160 and then let it sit for 20 minutes. THIS IS A KEEPER! I can’t wait to use it on thanksgiving so i have a paleo meal to enjoy!
★★★★★
Hi, I’d love to make this for a dinner party I’m having this weekend, but I’m on the autoimmune paleo protocol so can’t have the almond flour. Do you think it would work okay with coconut flour?
Thanks,
Teresa
coconut flour dries out a tooooon, so use a lot less of it
I made this last night and it was amazing. I am doing the autoimmune protocol and cannot have nuts so I substituted coconut flour for the almond flour. Instead of using less, I added one egg yolk to the flour/herb mixture and upped the oil a bit until it was spreadable. The crust was so delicious my husband and kids kept searching for pieces with more crust. Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
I never feel squats in my butt either! I thought people were lying about it being a butt exercise. Or sometimes, I would tell myself I didn’t feel them because I was already so strong in my booty.
I’ve never made Leg of Lamb before, so I turned to a trusted source! This turned out AWESOME! This was one of 4 Paleomg recipes I made today.
★★★★★
I made this (sort of )on Monday night. I used lamb chops instead because that’s what I had, and it was AMAZING! The flavors of the veggies with the lamb and the herbs is so delicious – you nailed it! We liked it so much we made it again last night but with lamb meatballs. Another winner! Can’t wait to finally give it a try with the actual leg of lamb the recipe calls for! 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Juli!
We are loving your blog. I am following up on a colleague’s email sent on the 16th of June with hopes that we might discuss a partnership opportunity. We would very much like to get in contact.
Best,
Jessica
This recipe was fantastic!!! I love your blog & have enjoyed several of your recipes. Thanks for making Paleo delicious!
Hi Juli! I may try to build my own Henry tonight in my house (who I call Henrietta). When I cook, it’s usually like the creation of Frankenstein, but with added modern sounds of smoke alarms and my own screams of horror. Anyhow, easy question. I cannot eat nightshades. Instead of sweet potato, do you think butternut squash may work with the same results taste-wise, or any guidance on a replacement for the potato part?
Thank you for sharing the recipe! I intend to build it tonight. If I do not burn down the house and lose Wi-Fi, I will let you know how it goes!
~starvingindenver
yep!
This looks wonderful! I am hosting Easter and I LOVE lamb. Planning to make this this week and then again for Easter! susie