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….
All I could find where I live is boneless shoulder. Will it still work? Should I cut the cooking time? Thank you!
This was the perfect Sunday night dinner! My first time making lamb and the roast was incredibly juicy and flavourful. As with all your recipes, super easy to follow and execute. Thanks Nagi!
Followed this recipe exactly, and this was the best roast lamb I have ever made!! Absolutely fantastic! Thansk for another great recipe Nagi!
Just served this for Father’s Day lunch. Absolutely beautiful. Many thanks from a longtime fan.
Made this twice already and omg perfect every time. And those potatoes!!!!
Hi Nagi. Having a real hard time finding a good recipe for lamb forequarter. Could I use this recipe for that? Not sure how similar the two cuts are.
Hi Andy, are they forequarter chops? They won’t really be suitable for this one if so. Try this one: https://www.recipetineats.com/lamb-chops-with-rosemary-gravy/ N x
No it’s actually a massive forequarter with the neck and a shank, but I’ve since done more research and I’ve figured that the forequarter is mostly shoulder anyway! It’s shoulder plus neck plus a bit of rib and shank. Which apparently everyone knew but me…
Long story short, I’m following this recipe 😂
Great recipe 👍🏻
How do one reheat lamb shoulder leftover chilled in fridge overnight?
Melt in the mouth
It was delicious
I am about to make this today – this will be the fourth time in five weeks that I have cooked this recipe.
Apparently, it needs to be on the menu plan once a week for the foreseeable future!
This is the best lamb recipe ever and the instructions were clear and detailed. It looked and tasted fabulous. Recipetineats is my go to for all recipes now. Thank you,Nagi and Dozer!
Would’ve been good to have a (see step 6) in brackets in step 1
🙁
Made this last night, had some extra crimini mushrooms so threw them in with the chicken and it was fantastic. This was so good, we plan to always make more rice than we need so we have leftover rice for this recipe. Thank you Nagi, another great recipe from you.
Sorry Nagi, my comment was intended for the chicken fried rice, not the lamb shoulder. I hope you can move it.
Fantastic meal. The resulting gravy was divine. This is a great recipe. Thankyou!
I could not believe how well this actually worked!! I and my family were over the moon with the outcome, Thank you Nagi for another sensational meal
I’m so glad you loved it Amanda, thanks so much for the awesome feedback!! N x
Wonderful easy way to roast amazing shoulder of lamb. The gravy is terrific as well.
I must say this is idiot proof. Had a 2.25kg shoulder which I put into the oven for 4 hours. Then browned and rested for half-hour. Was perfect.
Amazing Anwar, that’s great to hear!! N x
Amazing also considering that in 35 years of marriage, this is the first time I have ventured into the kitchen. I am going to try your Spanish Paella next week.
Unbelievably tasty. I was initially apprehensive about using lamb shoulder, but it turned out a delicious combination of soft and crispy. Takes some time to cook but the results are well worth it.
Can I use cornstarch instead of flour for the gravy to make it gluten free?
Hi Maria, you sure can – use 1 tbsp of cornflour and mix with 3 tbsp of water to make a slurry before adding it in. Enjoy! N x
Just sublime! I combined with your 12hour lamb shoulder recipes to do a marinade on the lamb instead of inserting garlic & rosemary just as personal preference but this was more convenient time wise. Everyone was blown away, the bone slid out clean as a whistle. Never going to use another method for lamb shoulder!
Melt in your mouth deliciousness, the meat simply fell off the bone. Added bonus, my kitchen smelt amazing. Thank you.