A lot of people only think of lamb for those special occasions, primarily Easter. I’ve been on a lamb kick lately and discovered that lamb is the perfect dish all year round. Learning how to grill a boneless leg of lamb is great for when you have friends and family over as it will feed a crowd, and it also cooks relatively quickly on the grill — you can cook it in just under an hour!
How to cook a boneless leg of lamb:
Before we even get into my boneless leg of lamb recipe, let's start in the store. Ask your butcher to de-bone the lamb and butterfly it for you if you have trouble finding boneless leg of lamb in your neck of the woods. I’m a big fan of letting my butcher do the work for me!
When cooking a leg of lamb, I use the reverse sear method. Basically, starting by grilling the lamb on indirect heat for 45 minutes then moving it to the direct side, five minutes per side. I also use a brick covered in foil to flatten and caramelize the meat. You can check out a video I made on reverse searing — you'll be a pro in no time!
The best marinade for grilled lamb:
There's a reason I chose rosemary and lemon for this recipe. Rosemary and lamb are a match made in flavor heaven, and there's few better duos than rosemary and lemon when it comes to seasoning protein-rich dishes like chicken and lamb. Even better, it's minimal ingredients with high-impact flavor that still lets the main dish shine. Any leftovers you end up with would be great on a bun as sliders paired with a nice chutney or tzatziki sauce.
What temperature to cook lamb:
Just like with beef, how you cook lamb and at what temperature is going to depend on the cut and how you like it cooked. The rule of thumb I use is to serve a leg of lamb at 135 degrees. With the leg of lamb being muscle rich, it's important not to overcook it — you don't want to end up serving a dish of dry, chewy meat, blech!
Using a tool like a Thermapen internal read thermometer is a helpful way to keep track of the meat and to pull it out at the right time.
How long to grill a boneless leg of lamb:
Again, how you like your meat cooked is doing to impact how long you cook your leg of lamb. Going off of my recommendation to serve at 135 degrees, which is medium rare, you're going to cook about 20 minutes per pound. With the reverse sear, I cook the leg on indirect heat for 45 minutes, then move it over to the direct heat. There, I give it five minutes on each leg side and also put the foil-covered brick over it to give it a nice caramelized char.
Note: I'm working with the American Lamb Board to develop Recipes — partnerships such as these help keep this blog going!
Grilled Rosemary Lemon Boneless Leg of Lamb
- Total Time: 1:25
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 boneless leg of lamb
- 1 large bunch rosemary
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1 large bunch rosemary
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. pepper
Instructions
Prep Directions:
- Combine marinade ingredients in the food processor until uniform in consistency.
- Next, slather the marinade on the lamb and let marinate for 30 minutes or more in the refrigerator.
Grilling Directions:
- Prepare your grill for medium high heat at 350 degrees, and create direct and indirect zones.
- Grill the leg of lamb on indirect heat for 45 minutes or until an internal read thermometer registers 135 degrees. Now, transfer the leg to the direct side and let it continue to cook for another 5 minutes on each side. Use a brick covered in foil to help flatten the meat on the grill which will also help the outside get crispy.
- Once an internal read thermometer like the Thermapen reads 145 degrees, pull the leg off the grill and let it rest for 10 minutes under foil so the juices can redistribute.
- Slice against the grain for a beautiful presentation. How do you like to prepare lamb? I look forward to hearing your ideas!
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
Keywords: rosemary lemon leg of lamb, boneless leg of lamb, how to grill boneless leg of lamb, easter leg of lamb
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What do you do if you don’t have a grill?
Hi kay, you can do this in the oven at 350 degrees – roast until an internal read thermometer registers 140 degrees and then let rest for 10 minutes or more to get to 145.
Best of luck!!
Thanks for the reply. I’ll be looking forward to more receipts. Can’t wait to try the lamb! Kay Scott