This is how the Greeks make roast lamb – cooked until tender, half braised in a garlic lemon flavoured liquid that transforms into a luscious sauce – no mucking around with gravy! This Greek Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb takes hours and hours to roast, but it is EASY, virtually foolproof and very hands off. A perfect centrepiece for Easter, Sunday Roast or any other occasion for feasting!!
After more ideas? Browse all my roast lamb recipes!
Fork-tender, authentic Greek Slow Roast Leg of Lamb
All around the world this weekend, there will be gatherings of family and friends to celebrate Easter. I was quite interested to learn that ham is very popular in America. Here in Australia, it’s all about roast lamb and seafood.
I love a good roast lamb! I’ve shared quite a few of them – from a classic Roast Lamb Leg, to a Slow Roast Leg of Lamb (fall apart tender!), Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder and even a Slow Cooker Roast Lamb.
But this one I’m sharing today is not just another lamb roast. It’s a Greek one. Rubbed with a simple spice mix, slow cooked until tender, half braised so it sucks up all the yummy lemony garlicky herby flavours.
No carving knife required. See?
Aussies love their lamb. In my family, Sunday Night Roast Dinners are an occasion that triggers fiery correspondence between us kids as we debate the menu. You can read one such dialogue in this Slow Roasted Rosemary Garlic Lamb Shoulder, along with my self proclaimed family title as Roast Queen.
The thing with roasting a leg of lamb is that unless (and even if) you have a meat thermometer, it is actually quite hard to cook the roast perfectly so it is blushing pink on the inside, moist and juicy. It can take just 20 minutes for a leg of lamb to go from perfect to dry.
It can even overcook while resting. Truly. Been there, done that – cutting into the lamb straight out of the oven to take a peek, grinning smugly when I spied pink, set it aside to rest for 30 minutes, then when I carved it, there was not a hint of pink left.
I was temporarily dethroned as Roast Queen when that happened. I’d like to say I stepped down like a good sport, but no, I was overthrown 😤. I’m taking back the title for this Greek lamb though!!
Flavour, flavour, flavour, juicy, juicy, juicy, easy, easy, easy. That’s what this Greek Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb is all about. As long as you allow for sufficient cooking time, it is really hard to go wrong with this.
In true Greek form, this lamb is packed with extra flavour by stuffing bits of garlic into incisions made all over the lamb, then it’s rubbed with paprika and garlic powder. Add a simple braising liquid to keep it beautifully moist and to infuse it with even more flavour, then cook it long and slow.
Oh! The other advantage of this Greek Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb? NO MUCKING AROUND TO MAKE GRAVY! The braising liquid reduces down to an intensely flavoured sauce that needs to be generously poured all over the lamb. This is how it is supposed to be. And I’m not complaining!!!
This lamb does take hours to roast. Hours upon hours. 7 hours for a 3.5kg/7lb leg of lamb, to be precise. But it’s hands off, low maintenance time.
And at the end of it, look at what you get!! Now THIS is a step up from the usual Sunday night roast! – Nagi x
PS Greek Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb is pictured here with my. They really are….well, crunchy!! 😉
Try these on the side
Truly Crunchy Roast Potatoes – outrageously crunchy!
Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes – loaded with Greek flavours
Lemon Potato Salad – skip the mayo, go for fresh lemon flavours
Greek Salad – big, fresh and juicy
More Roast Lamb Recipes
I love a good roast lamb – so I’ve shared a few over the years!
Classic Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy – the classic, perfectly blushing pink inside
Slow Cooker Roast Lamb – fall apart goodness in the convenience of your slow cooker
Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder – the juiciest, most succulent roast lamb you will ever have!
Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma – flavour bomb! Your favourite Lamb Shawarma, slow roasted and piled over couscous or stuffed in pita bread
See all Roast Lamb recipes
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Greek Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
- 12 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 7 lb / 3.5 kg leg of lamb , bone-in (Note 1 & Note 3 for roasting times for larger/smaller)
- 1 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (double for flakes or flaky salt)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tsp paprika powder (regular / sweet, not spicy or smoked)
- 3 tsp garlic powder (or sub with onion powder)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large onions , quartered (white, brown, yellow, red)
- 10 sprigs of thyme
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 3 tsp dried oregano
- 3 dried bayleaves (or 5 fresh)
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (2 – 3 lemons), plus more to taste
- 1 1/2 cups white wine (or sub with chicken broth/stock, low salt)
- 2 cups chicken broth/stock , low sodium
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE
- Stuff incisions with garlic, season, roast leg uncovered 30 min at 240°C/465°F (220°C fan). Lower to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Put everything else in pan, flip leg upside down, fill with hot water 1/4 way up, roast covered 3 1/2 hours. Flip lamb, roast covered another 2 1/2 hours, then brown uncovered 30 minutes. Strain pan juices, serve!
FULL RECIPE
- Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F (220°C fan-forced). (Note 2)
- Garlic incisions – Use a small knife to make around 25 incisions all over the lamb, with most on the top. Cut around 6 cloves into slivers and stuff them into the incisions.
- Season – Sprinkle the lamb generously all over with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Drizzle with olive oil and rub all over the lamb.
- 30 minute browning – Place the lamb in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes or until it has a nice brown crust.
- Prepare for slow-roasting – Remove from the oven. Turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Turn the lamb upside down. Pour / place all the remaining ingredients in the pan around the lamb (including remaining garlic cloves). Fill the roasting pan with hot water so it comes up about 1/4 – 1/3 of the way up the height of the lamb.
- Slow roast part 1 (3 1/2 hours) – Cover with lid or with baking/parchment paper then 2 layers of foil. Roast for 3 1/2 hours. Top up water if it dries out (e.g. Might happen if your foil is loose) ** See Note 3 for larger/smaller leg roasting times **
- Slow roast part 2 (2 1/2 hours) – Remove the roast from the oven and remove the lid/foil. Turn the lamb over so it is the right side up. Cover again and roast for a further 2 1/2 hours, or until you can pull meat apart easily with forks.
- Finish browning – Remove cover and roast for a further 20 – 30 minutes (to brown).
- Rest – Remove from the oven and transfer lamb to serving platter. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 30 – 40 minutes.
- Sauce – Strain liquid into a clear jug. The fat will rise to the top. Scoop/pour most of it off and discard (I get 3/4 – 1 cup). There should be 2 – 3 cups of Sauce left. Adjust salt, pepper and lemon to taste.
- Serve lamb with the Sauce on the side and Truly Crunchy Roast Potatoes* or Greek Lemon Potatoes. The lamb will stay warm enough for 1 hour so you can roast / prep other sides during this time.
Recipe Notes:
Servings – Allow 350 – 400g/12 – 14oz uncooked bone-in meat weight per person, so a 3.5kg/7 pound leg will serve 8.75 to 10 people. I know this sounds like a lot, but you lose more weight with slow cooked meats than roasting leg to blushing pink. plus the bone is sizeable and nobody can carve every scrap of meat off the bone. 🙂
Make-ahead – This is best served freshly made as leg is quite lean so it just isn’t as succulent when reheated. It stays warm for 1 1/2 hours so you needn’t worry about being 100% precise with cook timing. Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months.
Nutrition per serving assuming 10 servings.Nutrition Information:
MORE ROAST LAMB
Slow Cooker Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy – The most succulent lamb leg you’ll ever have!
Classic Roast Lamb – Perfectly pink and juicy inside, with a killer gravy!
Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder – My favourite cut of lamb for roasting! Super tender, incredible flavour, and so forgiving!
LIFE OF DOZER
Oh, look who made an appearance when I pulled this out of the oven. Sorry Dozer, no lamb for you! Too much garlic – bad for you!
Is the water extra to the liquid, ie wine and chicken stock
Hi Nagi,
I love used many of your recipes and you are my go to for all my cooking inspiration.
I was wondering whether this recipe could be made in the outdoor bbq?
I’m planning on it for Easter and hoping you could please share any tips. thank you 🙂
Jen
What would the cooking time be for a 1.3kg leg of lamb?
What a beautiful dish! Made this today and all guest loved it! That’s a keeper!
wtf i think you got the temps mixed up ……hot to sart and then turn it doem
Has anyone had any luck slow cooking or pressure cooking this recipe and finishing off in the oven to brown the top similar to another of Nagi’s lamb recipes?
Made your Greek lamb with crunchy potatoes yesterday. Big success. Followed each step and didn’t cha he anything. Any good idea for leftover lamb?
Rogan Josh.
We make this every year and use the leftovers in this rice pilaf recipe. Just throw together the pilaf and when it is done, shred or chop leftover lamb and toss with the pilaf. We serve with homemade flat/unleavened bread and asparagus on the side, so yummy!
Hi Nagi, I’m hoping to put this in the slow cooker to Cook while I’m at work. Would it work ok if I popped everything in the slow cooker on low?
Hi there,
Can this be made with red wine instead of white? thanks!
For Greek slow roasted Lamb. Where in recipe does it say WHERE OR WHEN the quartered onions go???? I reviewed over recipe many times Thanks.
Step 7
Step 7
Step 7 ‘place all the remaining ingredients in the pan’
Step 7. Where it says, add ALL other ingredients!,,
It says, add all other ingredients to the baking tray. Put them in together with the herbs, water, lemon, garlic, wine…
Rogan Josh curry. Nagi has a recipe but you can also buy it in a jar.
Step number 7…”Place all remaining ingredients….”
Hello this sounds delicious but I have a half leg that’s just 1kg. Would I simply half the cooking time?
Hi Nagi, big fan! Can I follow these steps but use my slow cooker instead?
The Lamb (2.5kg) is falling off the bone after the first three hours.
Might look at an hour for the last “covered” component of the recipe.
Thoughts?
I had the same issue, was falling off the bone after the 1st 3 1/2 hrs. I wonder if it should have been cooked at a lower temp. Also my Leg of Lamb was smaller, around 4Ibs
Thats what I was wondering. Most slow cooked legs of lamb are done at 150 or 160
Making this again today,and didn’t want a repeat of it being cooked hours early. Read the recipe this was adapted from, so have changed the cook time to
what is stated here :
https://www.kalofagas.ca/2013/02/10/slow-roasted-leg-of-lamb/
My 2.5kg leg was cooked before it was due for the Final roast session too, way too early for dinner and veges not even prepared yet! Followed the cooking times for it too, even at a lower than stated temp. Plus way too much liquid in the
pan still.
Same thing happened to me with a 3kg leg. It was falling off the bone at 3,5hrs. 3 hours before dinner time! I’ve turned the oven off and left the leg covered in there. 1.5 hrs before dinner, I will uncover the roast, remove most off the liquid, add the potatoes and cook the meat until its browned and crispy. Then take it out to rest covered while the potatoes crisp up. Here’s hoping that I’ve saved a family reunion roast!
I had a 3kg and it cooked in around 4hrs maybe I had it too high. (I was aiming for fall off bone meat).My sauce was very acidic lemony. I had to add honey/water and a pinch of bicarb soda. I also smash through the garlic & onions when straining the sauce
I made this last night for some guests with a 2kg leg of lamb and followed the directions and temperatures given exactly. Unfortunately the lamb was over cooked! First time I’ve been disappointed with a recipe on this website.
Made this today,same issue. Really disappointed. Will adjust times on next cook.
This recipe is epic. Due to shortages in store I used dried thyme and rosemary, and it still came out so good. The sauce is so lamby and tasty and the meat falls apart. I cannot rate this highly enough
Thanks for the dried herb advice! Just about to make this and realised I am out 😊
Hi Nagi,
Would this recipe be suitable to cook in a Weber?
Hiya Nagi. You probably won’t see this in time since I’m making this today. I have a 1.3kg half of a leg of lamb. I was wondering if you knew the cook times and the desired internal temperature of the finished product? Big fan of all your recipes! x
I ended up doing it 2 hours for the up-side-down, and 45 for the other side. This got it to about 210F internal, which I think is about right! It’s juicy and falling apart!
Well, I already left you a book so I thought I would just tell you how it turned out. It was wonderful, succulent, and juicy! I only poured some of the drippings over it and served the rest in little tiny au jus bowls. I served it with your truly crunchy potatoes (holy crunch!) and spanakorizo (Greek spinach rice – so good!).
Thanks for leaving this comment. I had a 1.5kg leg and used your timings and it was perfect!
I made this recipe and it turned out great for the friend and myself. Hubby won’t even touch the lamb. 🙂 The last hour of cooking I threw in some nugget potatoes, baby carrots and zucchini and let it cook in the juices. I was asked to do this again when the two of us go to have lamb. Thanks Nagi, for the recipe.
Hi Nagi –
I use your recipe alot, and they always turn out perfectly.
Tomorrow night I have several people coming for dinner and I want to serve slow cook leg of lamb. I was looking at this recipe of yours –
https://fast-enhancement.today/slow-roast-leg-of-lamb/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Looks great BUT my legs (2 @ 1kg each) are boneless or have been boned. Do you have a slow cooked recipe for boned legs? Or if not what would you suggest I chance in the above linked recipe?
Thanks for your time (& all your incredible content!)