This slow cooked lamb shoulder will be the juiciest, most incredible lamb roast you have ever had! 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, served with a flavour packed gravy!
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
ON THE SIDE
- Glazed Carrots
- Truly Crunchy Roast Potatoes or make ahead Potatoes au Gratin
- Speedy Parmesan Green Beans
- Everyday Cabbage Salad
MORE ROAST LAMB
- Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy
- Slow Roasted Lamb Leg
- Greek Lamb Leg
- Slow Cooker Lamb Leg
- Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma
Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Slow Roasted Rosemary Garlic Lamb Shoulder
Ingredients
- 3.5 lb / 1.8kg 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 / 250ml water
Gravy
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups / 500 ml beef broth (or 1 cup red wine + 1 cup water)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220C/425F (fan forced/convection) / 240C/465F (standard).
- 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 160C/320F (fan forced / convection) or 180C/350F (standard).
- Roast, covered, for 3 hours. Remove foil, turn up the oven to 220C/425F and roast for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until the skin is browned and crisp. By now, you should be able to part the meat with two forks.
- 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.
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:
Originally published February 2015, updated with new photos, new commentary and video - AND Life of Dozer added!Nutrition
BEST OF SUNDAY SUPPER ROASTS
LIFE OF DOZER
Hmm. Not surprising he’s interested in what’s going on here….
I made this for dinner tonight and it was SPECTACULAR! Thank you so much for this amazing (and so easy!) recipe, I am never going to cook lamb any other way. My husband loved it too. We didn’t make the gravy, but even on its own the lamb was SO tender and juicy. Perfection!
Hi Nagi, we have two boneless lamb shoulders can I still use them? It is for my husbands Birthday. We love your recipes. Many thanks Sue
Hi Nagi, we have two boneless lamb shoulders can I still use them? If yes, what adjustments should i make for oven roasting. It is for my husbands Birthday. We love your recipes. Many thanks Sue
Hi Sue, what size are the shoulders?
1.258 kg each to feed 8 people
Actually to feed 6 people
what is the correct temperature for a standard oven I see that this recipe has three different temperatures so do you have to set the three different temperatures for Katie to DDS maintain one temperature at all time
Hi Danny, the standard oven temperatures are in the recipe directions – starting at 240C/465F, then slow cooked at 180C/350F then browned in the last stage at 220C/425F. – N x
I had purchased half a lamb that came with 2 shoulder roasts, and decided to use this recipe for one of them last night. Ended up being a great choice! The roast was perfectly delicious, my house smelled amazing. I used the wine for the gravy though, I’d probably do the broth-based gravy next time with just a splash of wine, the gravy was a little too wine-y. Now I just need to decide how to eat the leftovers! 🙂
Woah great Amber, I’m so glad you loved it!
Turned out absolutely perfect, tender and delicious!
Great Jacinta!
I just cooked the lamb shoulder today for dinner this evening. It turned out perfect! I have cooked my entire life. But, cooking lamb is new for me. Thanks for the recipe. It’s a keeper! 😋
I’m so glad you gave it a go Sherrie ❤️
I’ve been looking for a great go-to slow roasted lamb recipe for ages. I cooked this today and WOW!! Easy and delicious! Thanks for your recipe and easy to follow steps! You’ve converted my Lamb hating teenagers!
Thank you for this recipe. The lamb was absolutely delicious!! I love your lamb recipes, thanks!!
I’m so glad you loved it Mary!
Hi Nagi
Can I use a slow cooker with that recipe, if yes how long do I have to cooki it for ??
Thanks
Hi Sandie, you could do it in a slow cooker for 5-6 hours but you’d need to transfer back to the oven to get that nice crispy skin ☺️
I am cooking for 20 people how many kilos of lamb shoulder would I need?
Hi Jo – You can increase the servings on the recipe with the slide bar and all the ingredients will calculate for you ☺️
Hi! I left a message previously, not sure if it was posted or not…
Anyhow, I am planning on trying your recipe tomorrow so I bought a 0.9kg chunk of lamb shoulder.
I was wondering if you had any suggestions for adjusting the cooking time accordingly… I’d be very appreciative of any help in this matter!
In any case, thank you for your wonderful website 🙂
Hi! You can’t really go wrong here because it’s slow cooked and should be almost fall apart. I’d just check at about 1.5-2 hours to ensure the meat is tender and then continue with 30 minutes uncovered.
I will be trying your recipe tomorrow evening – it looks good.
BTW, typo: “this is not the sort of roast for craving, just pull the meat off with tongs.”
I expect you meant “carving” 😉
Hi Nagi,
Will this turn out dry if I use a deboned shoulder joint?
Love all your recipes, they’ve NEVER failed me, EVER!
As long as it’s shoulder it will still be juicy! It’s got alot of fat running through it so even deboned is terrific when slow cooked! N x
I did the shoulder roast according to your recipe and it came out fantastic. Best lamb roast I ever had!! Thanks for the help.
Woah thanks for the great feedback!!
I’ve made your recipe twice already and today I will again. Super super rich and tasty gravy and the lamb is to die for, the only bad thing about this recipe is that I end up eating almost a whole shoulder to my self while pulling the meat apart 😂
I know the feeling Lu!! 😂 The struggle is real!