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Roasted Leg of Lamb (Foolproof)

By Snejana Andreeva

on Mar 31, 2023, Updated Apr 17, 2025

This roasted leg of lamb is ready to take center stage on the Easter table. Traditionally, the Easter meal in Bulgaria and Greece includes a whole lamb 🐑 cooked on a spit (skewered and over a fire) and served with roasted 🥔 potatoes or rice, green salad, sweet Easter bread, and baked phyllo with feta (which is called “ Banitsa ” in Bulgarian or “Tiropita/Spanakopita” in Greece). If you are religious, the choice of lamb represents Christ 😇, known as the holy Lamb of God. This is oven method ensures everyone can achieve a tender, succulent roast, no fire-roasting required!

Why You’ll Love Roasted Leg of Lamb
How to Prepare
Foolproof Tips for Roasted Leg of Lamb
Nonna’s Tip 🐑
Variations and Substitutions for Roasted Leg of Lamb
Other Easter Recipes
Best Served With
Common Questions
Roasted Leg of Lamb Recipe

Close-up of a juicy, roasted lamb shoulder garnished with herbs. The meat is tender and shredded, with crispy, seasoned edges and visible sprigs of rosemary. - 3

Why You’ll Love Roasted Leg of Lamb

The oven does most of the work in this recipe. After massaging an aromatic blend of spices into the meat, 🧄 garlic cloves are nestled in before slow-roasting in the oven. The result is a fall-apart- tender leg of lamb that gives the most delicious juices . The best part? I’ve roasted the potatoes in the same pan as the Roasted Leg of Lamb, so they can absorb all of that deliciousness. It’s the perfect feast to serve a crowd 👪.

How to Prepare

🌙 Start by soaking or marinating the lamb overnight.

🔥 The next day, pat the lamb completely dry and preheat the oven to 400F.

🧄 Place the lamb in a big baking dish with a wire rack on the bottom skin side up. Using a small sharp knife, score the lamb on top and press in a piece of slivered garlic into each insert.

Raw lamb leg on a wooden board surrounded by potatoes, onions, garlic, rosemary, spices, salt, pepper, olive oil, and other seasonings in small bowls on a white background. - 4

🥣 Then, mix together salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, and olive oil until you have a paste. Next, massage the spice paste onto the lamb.

A white bowl filled with a dark, oily mixture of herbs and spices sits on a light marble surface. - 5

🧅 Add onion, unpeeled garlic cloves, rosemary, water and wine to the bottom of the baking dish.

⏲ Cover the lamb with parchment paper and foil. Roast for 40 minutes.

A seasoned and spiced leg of lamb sits on a rack in a roasting pan, surrounded by halved onions, garlic cloves, and sprigs of rosemary, ready to be cooked. - 6

🌡Now, reduce the heat to 350F and continue to cook it until the meat is falling off the bone.

🍋 Meanwhile, prep the potatoes by mixing them with olive oil, salt to taste and lemon juice.

🥔 After the meat has cooked halfway, remove the foil and baste the meat with the pan juices and then pour the seasoned potatoes into the bottom of the baking dish.

Raw potato wedges seasoned with spices in a stainless steel mixing bowl, placed on a light-colored countertop. - 7

🍽 When the Roasted Leg of Lamb and potatoes are done, allow them to rest for 15 to 20 minutes so that the juices can redistribute. Serve and enjoy!

Foolproof Tips for Roasted Leg of Lamb

Thinking of tackling a Roasted Leg of Lamb for your holiday dinner? It may sound intimidating, but it’s really not! My set-it-and-forget-it method will have your guests thinking you stood over a hot stove all day – only we’re letting the oven do all the work! Follow these foolproof tips for perfect execution:

Marinate overnight – Marinating tenderizes the meat and makes it more flavorful and juicy in the process. Time is on your side here – you’ll want to go the full 24 hours for best results.
Let it come to room temp – Remove your lamb from the marinade and let it sit at room temperature for around an hour before roasting. This step ensures it will cook more evenly without drying the meat.
Score the fat cap – This may look fancy, but it actually serves an important purpose. It creates an opening that allows the seasoning to penetrate and helps the fat render evenly. Make sure you roast the lamb with the fat cap side up.
Baste like a pro – This step is the unsung hero of the whole process. Basting layers on the flavor and creates a beautiful caramelized crust. Spoon the pan juices over the lamb about once an hour while roasting.
Let it rest – Good things come to those who wait! Rest your lamb for 20 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute.
Pair it with something bright – Lamb is a rich meat that needs light sides to balance its depth of flavor. Pair it with tzatziki, a crisp Greek salad, and lemony potatoes for a well-rounded meal.

Nonna’s Tip 🐑

The vinegar and water soak is optional , but it’s the way grandma would do it to helps remove some of the gamy taste of the lamb. If you want to skip this step, simply marinate the lamb in olive oil, lemon, oregano, and salt and roast the recipe in the same way.

A roasted leg of lamb seasoned with herbs sits in a baking pan next to golden roasted potato wedges, garnished with sprigs of rosemary. - 8

Variations and Substitutions for Roasted Leg of Lamb

Fresh rosemary is one of the most popular herbs for lamb and very complimentary to this type of meat, but any hardy 🌿 herb will work, such as thyme or mint.
When you add in the potatoes, you could also add in 🥕 carrot wedges.
White wine is totally optional. If you’re not using wine, add in another 1/2 cup of water or substitute with low-sodium broth.

Other Easter Recipes

A plate of chocolate chip cookies topped with pastel-colored candy-coated chocolates, made using our Apple Cookies Recipe, sits beside a glass of milk in the background. - 9

Cadbury Chocolate Chip Cookies

22 mins

A fresh salad in a wooden bowl featuring sliced hard-boiled eggs, radishes, and cucumbers on a bed of chopped lettuce. - 11

A fresh salad in a wooden bowl featuring sliced hard-boiled eggs, radishes, and cucumbers on a bed of chopped lettuce. - 12

Simple Green Salad

15 mins

Heart-shaped bread made of small rolls, topped with sesame seeds and butter. Garnished with basil leaves and cheese cut into butterfly shapes. Placed on parchment paper. - 13

Easter Bunny Bread

35 mins

A braided loaf of bread topped with sesame seeds and decorated with colorful candy-coated chocolate eggs, perfect for serving alongside French Toast Rollups, rests on a light surface with a white cloth beside it. - 15

Sweet Easter Bread

2 hrs 45 mins

Deviled eggs decorated to look like baby chicks, with dollops of yellow yolk for faces, black pupils, and triangular carrot beaks, placed on a bed of fresh green arugula on a white plate. - 17

Deviled Egg Chicks

25 mins

Chocolate nests topped with colorful candy eggs sit on a bed of fresh arugula. The nests are made of chocolate-coated sticks and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The eggs are pastel shades of blue, green, yellow, and pink. - 19

Chocolate Easter Nests

45 mins

Best Served With

Growing up, we always had lamb with my grandma’s Easy Traditional Bulgarian Banitsa . They’re the dynamic duo 👯‍♀️.
The rich flavor of Roasted Leg of Lamb is perfectly balanced with my family recipe for Easy Healthy & Creamy Bulgarian Salad 🥗.
If you’re roasting leg of lamb for your holiday meal, pair it with my Sweet Easter Bread 🐰 for an extra festive touch.
My easy Tzatziki is perfect for dipping!
If you’re not roasting potatoes with the lamb, make these bright 🍋 Greek Lemon Potatoes instead!

Common Questions

Traditionally in Bulgaria we only put salt , oil (or butter), and paprika (sometimes mint as well). In Greece, we like to add olive oil, salt, and oregano, and lemon juice if we don’t do a vinegar soak. Seasonings are up to you.

Not at all! You can bake the potatoes completely separately from the lamb instead. This method will also create a totally vegetarian side dish, if you need one. I highly recommend my Crispy Greek Lemon Potato recipe…it’s perfection!

For this Roasted Leg of Lamb recipe, I ordered the meat from The Butcher Shoppe in Etobicoke and this is the exact cut I ordered: Canadian Lamb Leg Bone In Linked Here . You can also get lamb without bone as well but it is a bit pricier.

You do not have to do the vinegar soak overnight, but my grandma always did. It helps to remove the strong gamy taste and to thoroughly clean the lamb.

After roasting, the onions are super soft and tender so they’re great served on top on the meat or even mixed in with the potatoes. The roasted garlic is sweet GOLD and is absolutely sensational when it’s squeezed out of the skin and spread on a slice of fresh bread.

The general rule of thumb is to use 1/2 teaspoon of salt per pound of lamb. For example, if you have an 8 pound piece of meat you would need to season with 4 teaspoons total for the whole piece of meat. Remember, this is all to TASTE so please follow personal preference.

If you have one large enough, that works! If not, I’ve suggested placing parchment paper on top of the meat and then foil paper. I like to cover the lamb with parchment first so that the skin doesn’t stick to the foil, so you may still want to do this if you’re lid touches the meat.

To baste while lamb is cooking, carefully scoop up some juices from the bottom of the pan using a turkey baster or a large serving spoon and pour them over the top of the meat. Doing this a few times as while it’s roasting helps make sure the meat doesn’t get too dry on the surface.

The general rule of thumb for slow roasting lamb is 20 minutes for every 1/2 pound of meat.

If, by the end of cooking, the Roasted Leg of Lamb is still not browned enough for your taste, switch the oven to BROIL for the last few minutes of cooking. This will help the meat get nice color on the skin. Keep a close eye on the meat while it’s under the broiler!

If at any point the meat is getting too dark on the top, place the foil paper back on top while it continutes to cook. Every oven is different, so I always recommend to watch it closely.

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Equipment

▢ Parchment Paper
▢ Baster
▢ Nakiri Knife
▢ Redmond Real Salt
▢ Peeler
▢ Mixing Bowls
▢ Measuring Cups + Spoons
▢ Liquid Measuring Cup

Ingredients

Vinegar Soak (optional)

▢ 28 cups water
▢ 7 cups white vinegar

The Lamb

▢ 1 leg of lamb , 8-10 lbs
▢ 5 cloves garlic (peeled) , cut into slivers
▢ 4 teaspoons salt , quantity depends on the size of the meat
▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
▢ 2 teaspoons paprika
▢ 3 teaspoons dry oregano
▢ 4 tablespoons olive oil
▢ 2 yellow onions , peeled and sliced in quarters
▢ 15 cloves garlic , unpeeled
▢ 3 sprigs rosemary , thyme, and/or mint
▢ 1 cup water
▢ ½ cup white wine , (optional)

The Potatoes

▢ 6 large yellow potatoes , large, peeled, cut into wedges (900 grams or 2 pounds)
▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
▢ 1 pinch salt
▢ 1 lemon , juiced

Instructions

The Vinegar Water

▢ The vinegar and water soak is OPTIONAL . This soak helps remove some of the gamy taste of lamb. My grandma would always include a soak since she didn’t like the strong taste of lamb. If you don’t want to do the soak and you love the taste of lamb, you can marinate the lamb in olive oil, lemon, oregano, and salt and bake it the same way. The spices and aromatics are up to you to choose and customize.
▢ Place the lamb in a big dish. Add 4 parts water to 1 part vinegar until the lamb is fully submerged. (Example: 4 cups water will need 1 cup of vinegar. 16 cups of water will need 4 cups of vinegar. If you take the amount of water and divide it by 4 it will give you the amount of vinegar you need to add in.)
▢ I added 28 cups of water to 7 cups of white vinegar. Cover the dish and let the lamb soak in the fridge overnight.
▢ The following morning we discard the water and pat dry the lamb really well with paper towels.

Marinating the Lamb

▢ Preheat the oven to 400F.
▢ After the lamb is patted dry, place it in a big baking dish with a wire rack on the bottom; the lamb should be skin side up. Using a small sharp knife, score the lamb on top, making many small inserts in the meat. Add a piece of slivered garlic into each insert, and press the garlic into the meat.
▢ In a small bowl, add the salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, and olive oil and mix really well until you have a paste.
▢ Note: You can add ANY seasoning you like. The general rule of thumb is 1/2 teaspoon of salt per pound of lamb. (If you have an 8 pound piece of meat you would need 4 teaspoons total for the whole piece of meat.) This is all to TASTE and please follow personal preference. We measure with our heart.
▢ Take the seasoning paste and massage it all over the lamb. You can use a brush but I like to use clean hands.
▢ Add the onion and unpeeled garlic cloves to the bottom of the baking dish. We use unpeeled garlic so that it doesn’t burn. Add the rosemary, if using. Add the water and wine, if using.
▢ Cover the lamb with parchment paper and then foil. If you have a baking pan lid, you can skip this step. I like to cover the lamb with parchment first so that the skin doesn’t stick to the foil.
▢ Roast in the oven for 40 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F and continue to cook it until the meat is falling off the bone. A little after the half-way mark we remove the foil and add in the potatoes ( see below ).
▢ We like to remove the foil (and parchment paper) a little more than halfway through , and baste the lamb with it’s juices. Removing the foil (or lid) will allow the lamb to get browned and golden and the excess juices to evaporate. To baste, using a turkey baster or a large serving spoon, carefully scoop up some juices from the bottom of the pan and pour them over the top of the meat.
▢ The bake time will depend on how big your piece of meat is. Our 8 to 10 pound leg took 4 1/2 to 5 hours in our oven. General rule of thumb for slow roasting lamb is 20 minutes for every 1/2 pound of meat.
▢ Note: If you have a LARGER cut of meat you can INCREASE the temperature to 400 to 425F after you remove the foil. If the meat is getting too dark on the top, feel free to leave the foil or parchment on. I take all of these factors into consideration as every oven is different.
▢ Optionally, if the meat hasn’t browned on top near the end of cooking, switch the oven to BROIL (top element only) for the last few minutes of cooking, and this will help the meat get nice color on the skin on top. Keep a close eye on the meat while it’s under the broiler.

The Potatoes

▢ There are a few ways to make the potatoes. You can make them separately in a baking dish, in the style of my favorite recipe: Crispy Greek Lemon Potatoes
▢ OR add the potatoes, olive oil, salt to taste, and lemon juice to a bowl. Stir to combine all the ingredients. (You don’t need much olive oil or seasoning because the potatoes will cook in the fat and seasoning falling off the lamb.) Pour the seasoned potatoes into the bottom of the baking dish containing the lamb. Add the potatoes 1 1/2 hours before the lamb has finished cooking.

Final Notes

▢ When the lamb and potatoes are done, allow them to rest for 15 to 20 minutes so that the juices can redistribute.
▢ Depending on how fatty the lamb is, it can release a lot of oil so you can skim it off the top, discard the fat, or use it for anything else you like.
▢ The onions will be completely soft, the potatoes incredibly delicious, the lamb will be falling apart and the garlic can be squeezed out of it’s peel and enjoyed on fresh bread.
▢ You can serve this meal with my Bulgarian Green Salad , Sweet Easter Bread , my No Knead Bread , Tzatziki , Bulgarian Yogurt Salad , Carrot Cake , or any of these recipes on the site.

Nonna’s Notes

Herbs: Fresh rosemary is one of the most popular herbs for lamb and very complimentary to this type of meat, but any hardy herb will work, such as thyme or mint.
Veggie Options: When you add in the potatoes, you could also add in carrot wedges.
Wine Alternatives: White wine is totally optional. If you’re not using wine, add in another 1/2 cup of water or substitute with low-sodium broth.

My Notes

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.