Chef John's Roasted Leg of Lamb

I hadn't heard of Aleppo Pepper before, and looked for it for this recipe. Current conflict in Syria (Aleppo) has affected the availability of this spice. Pray for peace! Here is a substitute: 4 parts sweet paprika, one part cayenne pepper.

I used John's recipe to cook a leg of lamb for Christmas. Home run for my finicky eaters. I like the way he details how to prepare the meat by cutting slashes. I did substitute honey for the molasses. Chef John is my go-to when trying new dishes.

Thank you, Chef John, for making our Christmas dinner a smashing success! I followed your special pomegranate mollases recipe and it was wonderful! I tripled the recipe for 3 boneless lamb roasts of about 5 pounds each and, after marinating them overnight, I gave a fun layer of fresh baby spinach leaves, goat cheese and chopped sweetened dried cranberries before rolling them up. I used the elastic wrappers that came with the lamb roasts to package them up and placed them side-by-side on a roasting rack with a little water at the bottom of the pan. They turned out perfectly! And we made lamb gravy for the mashed potatoes with the drippings. Wow! Heaven! Merry Christmas Chef John and thank you for your excellent advice! Leslie

I had to make my own pomegranate molasses, but it was pretty easy and the roast was awesome! Recipe I used for the molasses was 4c.pomegranate juice, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1/4 c. lemon juice reduced down over low simmering heat - about one hour.

Chef John I want to thank you for sharing this recipe for all of us to make. I did it exactly as you describe. It came out outstanding!!! I will certainly be making this again. Thank you!!

I made this for the family this weekend and it was simply amazing! Although I could not find Pomogranate Molasses I took some plain dark molasses and added cranberry juice then reduced it. For anyone who hasn't made a lamb roast before (like me!) I highly recommend watching Chef John's video. It was soooo helpful. The recipe is definitely a holiday type, or great serve for special guests you want to impress and, the best part is that it isn't hard at all. Thanks again!

Even if I didn't love cooking I would watching you. I grow my own pomegranates and make my own jellies--this year I will also add molasses and syrup. This one goes in the oven---but the one sitting in the freezer I will cook south Texas style==outside over mesquite. Since I do alot of cooking for ranch hands and family I want the best ideas. Every time I see one of your recipes try it. I like your quality.Thank you very much.

Delicious! Our guests loved it too! The only change I made was to add a little organic dark brown sugar to the marinade, as I found it too tart without it. All Chef John's instructions about how to prepare the leg of lamb were clear and worked out perfectly. Thank you!

Love the sweet/tart of the pomegranate molasses. Didn't have an Aleppo pepper, so I added a dash of powdered Cayenne. Seemed to work just fine.

I made this recipe for our Passover meal feeding 8 people. I had guests who never had lamb before, I know, right? Anyway, they loved it. I will be making this spectacular meal again. I never got a picture of my lamb which is a bummer. Next time.

Can I give it 6 stars? The BEST lamb I've ever had. Compliments & recipe requests from everyone at the table. It really was to die for & so easy.

Truly one of the best leg of lamb recipes I’ve found! Get the pomegranate molasses on line. It was so complimentary to the lamb, everyone raved! The leftovers were wonderful and I used scraps and cooking juices for gravy for shepherds pie, which was also wonderful. Highly recommend this recipe. Everything from Chef John turns out so well! Rich, flavorful and complimentary to the lamb!

My family said it was the best lamb I ever made. Definitely a keeper!

I usually mix fresh lemon juice with the pomegranate syrup/molasses (look for versions with less sugar for more flavor, the typical small bottles from Turkey are very sweet and not as flavorful as others you will find in Middle eastern stores or large grocery stores perhaps). I have not added cumin or chili pepper. I will see which version I make tonight.

This is an amazing recipe. Have made it twice now for holiday dinners to rave reviews. If you a splurging on a leg of lamb, you might as well treat it right and make it amazing. This is the recipe for that. I subbed paprika and cayenne for the Aleppo pepper as another reviewer suggested, and I subbed fresh mint for dried. It is a little spicy for the kids. Next time I would cut down on the pepper.

OK!!!!!!!!!!! Best flavor ever serious perfection.

Fabulous! I love Chef John and the fact I can get this great lamb recipe makes me love him more.

This is delicious, I prepared it exactly as stated. I cooked it in the crockpot for 4 1/2 - 5 hours, just bursted with flavor. This is a keeper

I followed the recipe exactly, love Chef John's recipes. The only thing is my oven may run a little too hot, so next time, I will drop the temp a wee bit and go for 1.5 hours versus 1.75 hrs. My husband savoured it, and he is not particularly fond of unique flavours, but it won him over. Leftovers with potatoes au gratin tonight!

I loved this recipe it was my first time coming a leg of lamb and it was delicious

I made this exactly per Chef John's instructions and it turned out fabulous! The star of Easter dinner for family & friends. The accompanying video was very helpful as I had never cooked a lamb before, let alone debone and butterfly one! I highly recommend this recipe!

I did not have the pomegranate molasses, so I used plain molasses & it worked great. I also didn't have the pepper in the recipe so I used ancho chile pepper & it worked great too. Other than that I did everything else the same & it was wonderful.

Yes, yes. . SOO , as I said before, me News Years Resolution was to make ONE NEW recipe per month, for the year of 2018, & all of them would be "Chef Johns' " recipes. This month, Easter was April 1st, April Fools day, & I did both. I made a recipe of Leg of Lamb with homemade Mint sauce, played 2 jokes , & went to Easter Sermon. BLOODY "ELL WOW! Enough said. I'm British The mint sauce was soo ENGLISH! The Lamb had NO Muttony taste, & was ever soo succulent, The skin ... Soo crispy skinned. Everything was over thee top fantastic. This was a 7 1/2 pound Leg of Lamb. Hardly anything is left! Happy Easter all you foodies. I'm making a Bloody Mary now as we speak to celebrate. ( Ok a pitcher of them ) Cheers all.

Made this for our Easter meal last night. Followed the directions except for the Aleppo pepper that is not available in Austin due to the un-rest in Syria--used red chili flakes. Have a new grill with a rotisserie so I tied the leg of lamb around the spit when I was tying it. Turned out great! Moist, tender and flavorful. Watch the cooking time and take temperature readings as it was more medium than medium rare, Made a gravy with drippings with some red wine.

Didn’t have pomegranate molasses or fresh to make it, so I used fresh calanamsi juice and turned into molasses. Turned out very well but would make again using pomegranate molasses next time.

Thank you, Chef John! Once again, you're one of the home cook's best friends. This was my first attempt at lamb (other than grilling chops, which doesn't really count as any idiot can do that), and following your recipe to the letter, was a wonderful success. I made it for my church's Maundy Thursday potluck, and got raves, even from my pastor's father, who is Armenian and something of an expert on preparing lamb. I would add just one thing: if you did not get your leg boned, cleaned, and butterflied from your butcher, I would strongly recommend watching a video on Martha Stewart's website. This was an excerpt from an episode of her PBS show "Martha Cooks" in which she brings in a butcher to demonstrate preparation of several cuts of meat, including leg of lamb. Critical point here: there is a gland encased in a fat vein between the top and bottom round muscles. It gives off pungent flavor/odor when cooked and must be removed or the meat will be gamey. I suspect this is why many people are put off by lamb's "gaminess"... the lamb isn't the issue, rather the butcher's carelessness or the inexperienced cook's ignorance. It was fortunate I saw that episode and was able to refer to it on Ms. Stewart's website.

I was honestly displeased with this. Maybe my oven is on the hotter side, but it turned out dryer than a toenail. The molasses (naturally) burnt , but didn’t provide a good flavor as a result (it just tasted burnt) . First time I ever made lamb with mint and truthfully, we did not enjoy that flavor addition either. I will not be making this again sadly, my guests were polite but did not enjoy it as well. I do love the pomegranate molasses and its flavor , so I might try cooking a rack with it or something that doesn’t roast as long as this did.

I have made this four or five times. It is the best tasting leg of lamb recipe I have ever used. I also used the tutorial on de-boning a whole leg to good success. I did not change anything nor am I willing to ever do so. Gorgeous! It made my reputation in my community. Thanks Chef John!

Another winner from Chef John. Tried this recipe for New Year's meal as was looking for a new twist. Alepo pepper was impossible to find, but I did find "Aleppo Chili". I assume it is the same thing.??? The family enjoyed it, but my Albanian wife commented that she personally preferred a simpler recipe with garlic, salt and pepper and natural flavor of the lamb, like her mom used to make more.

All I can say is WOW, Chef John you've done it once again! I followed the recipe exactly except I couldn't find dried mint so I used fresh mint. It is simply melt in your mouth delicious and easy too! Served it with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans.

Delicious recipe! Couldn't find allepo peppers so used another type. Made my own pomegranate molasses (which went amazing with the lamb!) Do not skip. If you can't find it, buy a bottle of 100% pure pomegranate juice in the health food section of your store. (Pom Wonderful would work, but you can get a large glass bottle on the shelf with the natural cranberry and cherry juices for around $5.) Look on here or google a recipe, but you're just making a reduction. I sometimes find the flavor of lamb to be too much, but the mint and pomegranate together made it amazing! I've made lamb chops with mint and the extra pomegranate molasses as well. I like to drizzle extra pomegranate molasses on my plate to assure I have a little on every bite!

I loved the flavor of this recipe. I used red pepper flakes instead of Aleppo pepper and I used 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary as I didn't have fresh on hand. Outstanding taste. I also cooked it at 325 degrees since I was cooking a small boneless leg of lamb (2.5 pounds). I generally cook that size for one hour at 325 degrees so I stuck with what I am familiar with. For those wondering where to buy pomegranate molasses - try looking in middle eastern/halal grocery markets. I found it a year or so ago to use in a particular recipe and it was so nice to see that Chef John created a recipe that allowed me to use up some more of this tasty condiment.

Great as is. One suggestion: if you can't find dried mint and don't have fresh, just use the content of a peppermint herbal tea bag. Works perfectly and I use that everywhere that I want mint but don't have fresh at home.

Excellent recipe! I substituted red pepper flakes for the aleppo pepper and ground marjoram for the mint because I didn't have those and it turned out great. Even my family members who don't like lamb enjoyed it.

This was a hit at our house! Voted best lamb ever. Thanks, Chef John. Had no dried mint but used fresh in fine mince. The smell while this was cooking was heavenly.

I never roasted lamb before. I saw this recipe and decided to give it a try. I made this for Easter, following the recipe as written, including making my own Pomagranate molasses. It was wonderful. The lamb was moist and full of flavor. My husband complimented me on the meal many times. Chef John’s video instruction was very helpful. Thanks, Chef John! Will definitely make this again.

Followed recipe. Helpful. Delicious. Easy!!

I just LOVED the way this turned out! Made it for Easter lunch, and my family wasn't wild about the seasonings (personal preference), but I enjoyed it for days. The roasting is effective in sealing in the flavor, and creating a nice crust! I will make this again for company, and perhaps adjust the seasonings... Thanks, Chef John!

I made this recipe for Easter for my husband, his mom and brother. It's only the 2nd time I've made lamb. I wasn't very fond of the recipe I used the first time so thought I'd try something different. I followed the recipe as written with the exception of the dried mint which I did not have. I used fresh and doubled the amount since it was a fresh herb. I found the pomegranate molasses at a mediterranean food store. Everyone LOVED it and my husband said it was the best lamb he's ever had. All the flavors blended so perfectly and the meat was very tender. I used a remote read thermometer, set it to 135 degrees and in about an hour and 45 minutes it was done. It was super simple. I most definitely will make this recipe again.

The marinade was easy and resulted in a delicious roasted leg of lamb. The family loved the lamb. I will definitely make it again. The recipe is a keeper!

The flavor on this is fantastic! Followed the recipe with no changes and it was great. Left overs the next day were really good too.

The marinade is on point. Exactly the flavoring lamb deserves. My roast was 6 pounds and already deboned but not butterflied as pretty as yours Chef John, so my twining went both ways to keep it all together. It took 2 1/2 hours to cook but I didn't mind. However I might take it out at 125-130 F next time to have more of that delicious medium rare in the center. My small party of three loved it and I can't wait to eat the leftovers. We just had a veggie orzo dish on the side with homemade rolls. Delectable, I can't say enough good things about this recipe. Thank you!

Great recipe if you like lamb!

Best leg of lamb 12 of us ever had!! My neighbor made it after having it at my house and two months later their friends are still raving about it too. Really divine exactly as written. Thank you Chef John!! I have now made it three times and plan to use it every time I make a leg of lamb.

very simple and yet very classic meal...

Best lamb we have ever eaten! Authentic Mediterranean flavors that we love. Easy to make pomegranate molasses and it is delicious with this lamb! Plan on overnight marinating time but it is well worth the wait! Also thank you for the video, it was helpful in following the recipe

I've made this recipe over and over and always love it just the way it's printed. MmmmMMM!

Turned out really good. I cooked to the 135 temp and let sit accordingly but feel it was way too raw in the middle. Next time will try 140. Other than that the flavor was amazing. I'm Middle Eastern and had the pomegranate syrup which I think is what made it. Will definitely make again.

Very good!

Everyone loves this dish. My favorite way to prepare lamb.

Excellent! Great videos on the preparation of the butterflied roast as well as the recipe itself. I also made the pomegranate molasses from juice and that was great too! This may be our signature dish for Passover. Thank you!

We took a boneless leg of lamb covered with salt and pepper smoked it until it was 200 degrees. Let is rest and then shredded it. We paired it with the pomegranate molasses sauce that we reduced. It was outstanding! Thank you for the inspiration!!

Loved it. I really had to change up the math, because I had a roast that was only 2.75 lbs after the bone was removed. It almost got over done, but I saved it just in time. Thank you Chef John for the various ways of cooking such an awesome protein.

I thought this was really tasty. I am not a fan of lamb but this really changed my mind. I had to make the pomegranate molasses, but it was easy with a bottle of Pomegranate juice. I did not have fresh rosemary or Aleppo pepper so I used dried rosemary and red pepper flakes. Still really delicious.

It's seldom that I make no changes in a recipe since I know my family's taste so well (most often more herbs, garlic, and pepper than the original recipe). However, the first time I made this, trusting Chef John's delicious sounding ingredients, I followed the recipe absolutely and the unusual blend was beyond excellent! Best lamb I have ever eaten! I prepared to make it again and noticed the dregs of my recent homemade blackberry jam in a jar. In it jumped - a couple of tablespoons of seeded blackberry jam! The result was just as delicious, so if you want to add another fruity flavor to the delicious pomegranate molasses, I assure you it'll work!

If the rating went up to 10 stars, I would give this lamb recipe 10. OMG this was the best tasting lamb I have ever had, juicy, tender and a flavor to die for. I decided to try a new recipe this year, my traditional Easter lamb is smoked and grilled, but this was out of this world. Everyone loved it. This is now my favorite lamb recipe. Thank you Chef for sharing this.

Pomegranate molasses were amazing. Definitely make again

It wasn't has tender as I had hoped. The flavor was great. I used about 3x the rosemary, because I really like its taste. It also held good flavor in the stew I made. With the leftover lamb, I cubed it, and I made 2 lamb stew dinners with my instant pot pressure cooker. These were outstanding meals! After the Instantpot reached temperature (it took 12 minutes) on high pressure. Plus, the lamb was SO tender after this process. So, the 5# leg of lamb from Sam's Club--$20ish, and 3 meals. Not too bad.

WILL make this again. Did not have any Aleppo pepper. Turned out great. Try making your own pomegranate molasses - easy to do, but use a defuser/simmer plate on your burner. Less chance of burning during cook down. Mine took a little over 2 hr.

Made exactly per recipe,marinade for twelve hours. Baked an hr. 30 but did it on convection..thus a little overdone.i found the marinade rather bitter and will add sugar nexrpt time. However the lesson on tying the meat was great as have always found this difficult and Johns method works really well...forget the knots !

I decided to try this recipe for family Easter dinner. I make a leg of lamb every year, family wasn’t thrilled, it was so-so. This year was totally different! Everyone loved it, I had a very small amount of leftovers. Received many compliments! Thank you Chef John, you’ve done it again!

Delicious! Made the recipe just as detailed, but made additional dressing for dipping. I’ll definitely be making this again!

great recipe...

Chef John does it again! We made this wonderful leg of lamb dish thinking we would enjoy it for a night or two, then freeze the leftovers, since there are only two of us. Instead, we had lamb for four nights in a row because it was so delicious. The last night we stuffed the lamb into pocket bread with a cucumber sauce and had the best Gyros ever. Thank you Chef John for your great recipes and entertaining videos.

My first leg of lamb. It was very good. Decided to cook a few minutes longer to get temp to 135 in center. The marinade / rub needs to be doubled to cover a 2.5lb leg. I wouldn't fixate on the Pomegranate Molasses. Its only for binding. Couldn't taste it at all after Lamb was cooked. Find something else to put in dry rub for rubbing on meat

I gotta say, I do not like lamb. I made this as a request, for Easter-seemed appropriate. Wow, was it awesome!!! I made the molasses from scratch , using a recipe from this site-very easy. The meat was perfectly done, I followed the instructions exactly as Chef John and the video directed. What a hit for everyone. I will for sure make it again.

We made a bone in version and tied it up before marinating, and it still tasted great! Make sure you check at multiple sites with instant read thermometer. I think the boneless version would double tasty. Make sure you multiply the amounts to make enough to baste with. Another must try from Chef John! And as always, enjoy! Cook on!

So melt in your mouth delicious

Loved it. (Didn’t have pomegranate molasses. Used regular molasses and added some dried cranberries. Didn’t have Aleppo pepper. Used dash of crushed red pepper and 1/2 tsp of paprika.) So easy, delicious, tender, perfectly cooked. Will definitely make again. May try with beef.

Love Love Love it! Was easy and super delicious, A real hit at family holiday dinner. I did make my own Pom molasses from another of Chef Johns recipes- also super easy and delicious!! Will definitely make this again. I've also used the pom molasses with lamb chops pan or oven roasted, or grilled. Really has become a fam fav sauce for our lamb! Ps- We are NEW to cooking lamb!! Chef John is awesome and has made it easy to be successful!! :)

It’s a great recipe and I will make it for friends next time. I did a half recipe because I thought I didn’t need that much. I wish I would’ve made the whole amount. I had a small leg and It would have been better with more of the pomegranate mixture. I look forward to making again.

This wonderful recipe was a huge hit this Easter Sunday! We usually have a traditional Polish Easter; kielbasa, ham, hard-boiled eggs, and babka. This year I finally decided to add another item to the menu. After googling the best lamb recipe I found Chef John's and boy am I glad I did! Everyone loved it. Thank you Chef John, we now have a new tradition.

Definitely turned out nice and tender, and I would make this again. We had it for thanksgiving and everyone was very pleased with the taste. Very filling.

Fantastic! I had guests over for Easter who said they never have like lamb. Their minds have now been changed. Everyone loved it. With a little mint sauce on the side, perfection.

This was by far the best leg of lamb recipe that I have ever used. The pomegranate molasses complements the lamb so wonderfully. My only regret is that I did not buy a bigger lamb as there was barely any leftovers! This dish pairs nice with roasted red potatoes, asparagus and a bottle of Cabernet. Chef John never disappoints with his creations!

This was great, a super way to do a leg of lamb outstanding!

This will be my go to Lamb roast recipe from now on. Loved all the flavor. I didn’t change a thing. Was able to find the Aleppo pepper and pomegranate molasses. This is probably my fifth or sixth Chef John recipe. He never disappoints.

This recipe was absolutely delicious! I substituted paprika and cayenne peppers for Aleppo peppers as per one reviewer. I made it for Easter and my family loved it! The lamb was so tender and delicious. Highly recommend.

This is amazing! I made the recipe as is. I ordered the Aleppo pepper and pomegranate molasses from amazon. It was Easter dinner, and it was worth it. Several family members who said they don't like lamb, loved this dish! I bought the roast at Costco. This will probably be our new Easter tradition.

Chef John hit this one OUT OF THE PARK!! I had to skip the garlic, as my wife is allergic, but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. Didn't have time to go looking for a local store that carried Pomegranate Molasses, so I followed the link to make my own. I cooked to an internal temperature of 135º on a covered gas grill set at 350º. Smash hit!!! Best Lamb I've ever had anywhere! I will absolutely do this again!

This was absolutely the best leg of lamb we ever had in my family, and it was very easy! Followed the recipe as is and it was foolproof; the most tender leg ever.

Can you make your own pomegranate molasses