This slow cooked lamb shoulder will be the juiciest, most incredible lamb roast you have ever had! With rosemary and garlic stuffed into incisions, it infuses this lamb roast with the most incredible flavour as well as adding a subtle perfume to the lamb gravy.
Lamb shoulder has more flavour and is easier to cook than lamb leg. Virtually foolproof, minimal effort, and incredible meat that is so tender that you won’t need a knife to carve this! Want to upgrade to the Rolls Royce version? Try the Ultimate 12 Hour Roast Lamb or browse the entire Roast Lamb recipe collection.
Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder is the ultimate lamb roast
Being born into a foodie family, there is always a flurry of emails leading up to a Sunday Night Roast. It usually goes something like this:
My brother (the “serious” foodie): Let’s do a standing rib roast. Dry aged from Victor Churchill (PS A gourmet expensive butcher in Sydney!)
Me: That’s ridiculous. It will cost $100!
Brother: If we’re gonna do a roast, we should do it right. I’m not doing a lamb leg from Coles!
Me: Who said you’re cooking? I’M the Roast Queen, remember?
Brother: Self proclaimed titles carry no weight.
Me: How about a slow cooked lamb shoulder?
Brother: OK. That’ll do. I’ll do the sides.
Sister: I don’t mind. Just tell me what I need to do.
Mum: Send me a shopping list.
And thus the roles and responsibilities for a Sunday Night Roast are set.
Lamb Shoulder
Lamb shoulder is not as popular as lamb leg – and I truly do not understand why. It has more flavour and it’s far juicier. The only “downside” I can think of is that it needs to be slow cooked, it can’t be cooked hard and fast like a classic Roast Lamb Leg that’s cooked until perfectly pink and juicy inside.
On the other hand, because lamb shoulder is a juicier cut, it’s incredibly forgiving so if it’s in the oven for too long, it’s still going to be gloriously juicy.
I love using the technique of stuffing rosemary and garlic into incisions to infuse the meat with flavour. You can really only do this with rosemary because the sprigs are stiff enough to stick into the holes.
And also it works well for this recipe because it is slow roasted – the flavours do not infuse as well into the meat with a traditional roast that only takes 1 1/2 hours or so. So take advantage of it in this recipe!
OK, signing off! Love to hear if this makes it to your Sunday Night family dinner! – Nagi x
My favourite side dishes for roast lamb
More Roast Lamb Recipes
I love a good roast lamb – so I’ve shared a few over the years!
Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Slow Roasted Rosemary Garlic Lamb Shoulder
Ingredients
- 1.8kg / 3.5 lb lamb shoulder (bone in) (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 onion, quartered (no need to peel)
- 1 head garlic , cut in half horizontally
- 3 garlic cloves , cut into slivers
- 8 sprigs rosemary
- 1 cup water
Gravy
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups beef broth (or 1 cup red wine + 1 cup water)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F (220°C fan forced).
- Rub the lamb with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Use a thin, sharp knife to make 12 incisions in the lamb, deep as you can but without piercing through the bottom of the lamb. (See photo in post and video
- Stuff bits of rosemary and garlic slivers into the holes (chopstick helpful!)
- Place the onion, halved garlic bulb and rosemary in the base of a roasting pan. Place the lamb on top. Pour water around.
- Cover with lid or tightly with a double layer of foil. Place in the oven, and TURN DOWN to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).
- Slow roast, covered: Roast, covered with the foil, for 3 hours. (Note 1 for different sizes).
- Brown it, uncovered: Remove foil, check to ensure there's still liquid in the pan. If not, add 3/4 cup water (otherwise onion/garlic will burn). Turn up the oven to 220°C/425°F and roast for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until the skin is browned and crisp.
- Check if ready: By now, you should be able to part the meat with two forks - if not, just cover and return to oven at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) until you can do so.
- Rest: Remove lamb from the roasting pan and transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with foil then a couple of tea towels and let it rest for at least 20 minutes, up to a couple of hours (after this, you may want to reheat).
- Serve with gravy (below). If you want to go all out, make Duck Fat Potatoes or Super Crispy Roasted Potatoes!
Gravy
- Tilt the pan and use a spoon to remove all but around 2 tbsp of fat (try to avoid scooping out any juices).
- Place the roasting pan on the stove over medium high heat. Add the flour and stir to mix in with the fat. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the stock gradually and stir to combine. Use a potato masher to mash the onion and garlic, making sure that all the garlic squeezes out of the skin.
- Allow it to simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until it is just before your desired consistency (it will thicken a bit as it cools), then remove from the stove. Season to taste with salt and pepper, strain into bowl being sure to squeeze all juices out of garlic etc, then transfer into gravy jug.
Recipe Notes:
- Smaller lamb shoulder (around 1 kg) - cut down roasting time while covered by 20 minutes (doesn't change by much, shoulder meat needs a minimum time to breakdown);
- Boneless lamb shoulder - reduce covered cook time by 20 minutes. A 1.8kg bone in lamb shoulder will weigh about 1.3kg with the bone removed;
- Rolled boneless lamb shoulder (~1.1 - 1.3kg) - cook time per recipe.
- 2 x ~1.5kg/3lb shoulders - fit into one pan (they will shrink, so ok if touching), add 30 minutes to cover slow roast time.
Originally published February 2015, updated with new photos, new commentary and video - AND Life of Dozer added!Nutrition Information:
BEST OF SUNDAY SUPPER ROASTS
Life of Dozer
Hmm. Not surprising he’s interested in what’s going on here….
Loved this recipe, so delicious and easy – used dukkah as that is what I had – served with duck fat roasted potatoes, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. Great sunday night dish. Thank you Nagi.
Nagi, your recipe blew our minds! Such a mouthwatering gourmet dish for our Cyprus Easter lunch. You are the best! ❤️
Hi Nagi, made your slow cooked lamb and greek potatoes yesterday and I totally disage with the 5 star rating.. This recipe is more than worthy of a 10!!!!!
Have made a version of slow cooked lamb previously which required turning every 2 hours, The lamb was absolutely delicious as were the potatoes
The set and forget ease will make this wonderful dish a regular on my go to list for family gatherings ? I am off to buy a copy of your book and work my way through all the fab recipes!
Thank you for all you so generously do
I love this recipe. Our family is growing, how big a shoulder can I go 6 adults, 2 teens and 2 youngsters?!
Made this last night with 2 small lamb shoulder roasts and it was delicious!! Next time maybe less wine and talking while cooking as I forgot to add water and crisp up the lamb after 3 hrs. Oh well no gravy but we didn’t really miss it. 2 hungry females and there is only a small portion left!! Thanks for another hit!
It’s better still with hogget (teenaged sheep). Or saltbush lamb/hogget. In Melbourne, see the Little Creek Cattle Company.
Nagi I love you! You’ve taught me how to cook!! Everything I cook from you turns out amazing. Did the lamb again tonight and it was amazing as always. People think im a gourmet cook but it’s all thanks to you!!
I just made this for my family, and it was delicious. It was such a large shoulder, I have a lot of shredded lamb left over. What can I do with this cooked lamb?
Amazing ! Turned out falling apart tender. I took it to a Christmas dinner party and everyone loved it 😊
The only thing that was a bit stressful to me was, that it took 1,5 hrs longer to cook covered. (Therefore I was running late ).
I bought a bigger size of meat, and 3hrs was far from enough.
This recipe is absolutely delicious….I’ve made it several times.
OMG. So yummy. Happy Hubby. Worked perfectly
We have just finished eating this delicious meal. The meat was like cake, it was so tender and juicy.
Absolutely delicious! Even though I didn’t read the cooking time properly, only had 4 hours to make, turned oven to 180 degrees, wasn’t falling off bone as it should be but it was easy to carve. Will definitely make again but next time I’ll bake to recommend time.
Amazing roast and the gravy was to die for
Thank you for this recipe . It was my first roast and it turned out perfect . It was so juicy and the flavour was perfect . I can’t wait to try many more recipes ❤️
Hi Nagi, my lamb shoulder is 2.6kg! How long would you recommend cooking for? Thanks in advance!!
I brought lamb shoulder to make this, when I got home I noticed that it’s a forequarter lamb shoulder…will it still work out fine if I follow thus recipe???
Lucky you.
You can just cut the forequarter off (= forequarter chops) or follow Nagi’s weight tips.
I realised the butcher gave me the same today! I’m so disappointed! I’m not risking trying this recipe, it just looks so different to Nagy’s. I’m taking it back to the butcher tomorrow.
Hi Kristy, mine still turned out great still followed the same instructions.
Hi Nagi,
How do you adjust for bigger cuts. Mine is 2.1kg.
Thanks
Cooking this one tonight, with roasted Med Veg & Mulled wine Looking forward to book coming out soon, I hope Regards John n Kaz
would this recipe work for a rolled lamb shoulder roast too?
thanks