Quick: What’s the world’s most popular meat for grilling? If you come from Texas (not to mention Tuscany or Argentina), you’ll probably say beef. If you come from the American barbecue belt (or Germany or Eastern Europe), you’ll name pork. But on any given night on Planet Barbecue, more people are likely grilling lamb than any other meat. The lamb belt begins in the southern Mediterranean (think Italian scottadito—“finger burner” lamb chops stung with three-alarm doses of hot red pepper flakes and black pepper). From there it’s on to North Africa (try the Tunisian Lamb Kebabs), the Middle and Near East (see the kofta), India with its tandoori, Indonesia with its saté, all the way down to New Zealand, where the sheep population outnumbers humans twenty to one. Want to grill something different this evening? Try lamb.
with Tandoori Seasonings
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Method: Indirect grilling
Prep time: 20 minutes to make the marinade plus 12 to 24 hours for marinating the lamb
Grilling time: About 1½ hours
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal or gas. You also need a food processor.
Shop: You’ve got two options for lamb: bone-in or boneless. Bone-in looks more impressive (and it’s how you’d get your leg of lamb in India). But boneless is easier to slice. Naan is Indian flatbread. One widely available brand is Tandoor Chef.
Insider tip: To be strictly authentic, you’d cook the lamb in a tandoor (Indian barbecue pit), and if you’re looking to add an amazing grill to your collection, you can order one from tandoors.com or luxury-tandoors.com. Barring that, a kamado-style ceramic cooker, like a Big Green Egg, comes closest to a tandoor, but any grill will get you in the ballpark. And because Indian cuisine does not generally use wood smoke, this is a good dish to cook on a gas grill. Note: Some Indian chefs like their tandoori dishes to have a strong red or orange hue, which they create with turmeric, paprika, chile powder, or food coloring. I don’t bother: I’ve made food coloring optional here.
Tandoori is one of the world’s great barbecued lamb dishes—the meat marinated in a pungent paste of ginger, garlic, chiles, spices, and yogurt. The “pit” is remarkable, too: a large charcoal-burning clay cooker called a tandoor, that thanks to its unique urn-like shape, roasts the meat by both direct and indirect grilling. The result? Lamb that is at once crusty and tender, full-flavored, and intensely aromatic. Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients. It’s really just a dump-and-mix marinade you can prepare in a food processor in 10 minutes.
Ingredients
For the Tandoori Marinade
6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 piece (2 inches) ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 fresh turmeric root (about 2 inches long), peeled and coarsely chopped, or 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
4 jalapeño peppers, coarsely chopped (for milder tandoori, remove the seeds)
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus ¼ cup for serving
1 tablespoon coarse salt (sea or kosher)
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅓ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon orange food coloring (optional)
3 cups plain Greek-style whole milk yogurt
For the Lamb
1 leg of lamb (5 to 6 pounds if bone-in; 3½ to 4 pounds if boneless)
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
5 tablespoons salted butter, melted, for basting
For Serving
1 large sweet onion, peeled and thinly sliced crosswise
1 bunch of cilantro, torn into sprigs
3 lemons, 2 sliced lengthwise into wedges, 1 sliced in rounds, for serving
Flaky salt, such as Maldon, and cracked black peppercorns
Naan (optional)
1. Make the tandoori marinade: Place the garlic, shallots, ginger, turmeric, jalapeños, ½ cup chopped cilantro, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, cardamom, lemon zest, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a food processor and finely chop. With the motor running, add the oil in a thin stream. Process to a coarse paste. Work in the lemon juice, mustard, and food coloring (if using). Work in the yogurt.
2. Prepare the leg of lamb: Using the tip of a paring knife, make a series of small slits in the lamb, ½ inch deep and wide and 1½ inches apart. Place the lamb in a baking dish. Slather with the tandoori marinade, forcing it into the slits with a spatula. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, ideally 24, turning several times so the lamb marinates evenly.
3. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium-high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well. Place the leg of lamb, fat side up, in the center of the grate over the drip pan and away from the heat. Close the lid and cook the lamb until crusty and browned on the outside and cooked to taste, 1¼ to 1½ hours for medium, 15 to 30 minutes more for well-done. (In India, this recipe would generally be cooked to well-done.) Halfway through cooking, start basting the lamb with melted butter, and continue basting every 15 minutes. Transfer to a platter and baste one more time before serving.
4. Place the lamb on a bed of sliced onions and cilantro sprigs, and sprinkle with the reserved chopped cilantro, lemon rounds, flaky salt, and cracked black pepper. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing and naan, if using, warmed on the grill.
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Method: Indirect grilling
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus 10 minutes for the sauce
Grilling time: 3 to 3½ hours
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal or gas. You also need butcher’s string; meat claws (optional); 2 hardwood chunks or 1½ cups wood chips (optional; the latter soaked in water to cover for 30 minutes, then drained); and an instant-read thermometer.
Shop: You need to know about one special ingredient here—five-spice powder—a smoky, licorice-flavored Chinese seasoning composed of star anise, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper (the formula varies by manufacturer). Look for it at an Asian market, well-stocked supermarket, or online.
Insider tip: There are several ways to serve this lamb shoulder: sliced with Hoisin Barbecue Sauce, for example, or chopped or pulled and piled on slider rolls or into steamed buns.
The shoulder is one of my favorite cuts of lamb—well-marbled and full-flavored, so it comes out rich, moist, and crusty. This one sounds an Asian note, with a Chinese five-spice powder rub and a hoisin barbecue sauce. It’s as simple to prepare as it is impressive, and you can serve it whole as a roast or shredded on buns to make sliders.
Ingredients
1 lamb shoulder (about 3½ pounds)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut lengthwise into matchstick slivers
2 pieces (1 inch each) fresh ginger, peeled and cut lengthwise (along the grain) into matchstick slivers
1 tablespoon coarse salt (sea or kosher)
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, such as Sugar in the Raw brand
1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Using the tip of a paring knife, make a series of small slits in the lamb, ½ inch deep and wide and 1½ inches apart. In half of the slits insert garlic slivers and in half insert ginger slivers, being sure to intermix the flavorings. Tie the shoulder into a compact oblong using butcher’s string.
2. Combine the salt, sugar, five-spice powder, and pepper in a small bowl and mix them together with your fingers. Season the lamb on all sides with the rub. Let it marinate in the refrigerator while you light the grill.
3. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium. Smoke isn’t usually part of the flavor profile for this kind of dish, but if you like a smoke flavor, add the wood to the coals or your gas grill’s smoker box (see here).
4. Indirect grill the lamb until darkly browned on the outside and cooked to taste: 195°F on an instant-read thermometer for well-done, 3 to 3½ hours (the meat won’t shred properly unless it’s cooked to this temperature). If you prefer your lamb rarer, go for 135°F for medium-rare, or 150°F for medium, but you’ll need to slice the lamb, not shred it.
5. Transfer the lamb to a cutting board and let it rest, loosely draped with aluminum foil, for 5 minutes or so. Then pull it into meaty shreds with meat claws or forks for serving (or chop it or slice it). Serve with Hoisin Barbecue Sauce.
Yield: Makes about 2 cups
You could think of hoisin sauce as the Chinese version of ketchup—a dark, thick, sweet-salty soybean-based condiment with distinctive anise-y overtones. Look for it in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets. Good brands include Pearl River Bridge, Ma Ling, Amoy, and Koon Chun.
Ingredients
½ cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine, sake, or dry sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
1 to 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar, or to taste
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon garlic powder or minced fresh garlic
Combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer the sauce, uncovered, until richly flavored, 5 minutes. The sauce should be thick but pourable—if too thick, add a few tablespoons of water. Use right away or transfer to a jar; cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate. The sauce will keep for at least 1 week.
Asian-Flavored Lamb Sliders
Yield: Makes 12 to 16 sliders
Here’s one of my favorite ways to serve lamb sliders—on sweet Hawaiian slider rolls or on Chinese steamed buns. Kimchi is available at most supermarkets, at Asian markets, or online. All of these accompaniments are available on Amazon.
Ingredients
1 hothouse (English) cucumber, thinly sliced (see Notes)
12 King’s Hawaiian slider rolls or 16 Asian steamed buns
3 tablespoons butter, melted (optional)
Asian-Flavored Lamb Shoulder, cooked to 195°F and shredded
1½ cups kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage)
1. Place cucumber slices on the bottom section of each bun. (The cucumber keeps the bun from getting soggy.) For extra flavor, brush the cut sides of the slider rolls or buns with melted butter and toast on a hot grill before adding the cucumber.
2. Pile the lamb onto the buns atop the cucumbers and finish with more cucumber slices and a spoonful of Hoisin Barbecue Sauce. Add kimchi and dig in.
with Mint Chimichurri
Yield: Serves 4
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 6 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. You also need a food processor.
Shop: You don’t often find lamb steaks in the supermarket meat department. Order them from your butcher.
Insider tip: Most of the lamb sold in the United States comes from New Zealand and Australia. American lamb may cost a bit more, but the flavor is well worth the price. Can’t find lamb steaks? This preparation works great for lamb rib or loin chops.
The “steak” is one of my favorite cuts of lamb—a ¾-inch cross section of the thigh possessing the rich flavor of leg of lamb and much of the tenderness of a chop. It’s also a bargain, costing substantially less than rib chops or loin chops. It even looks cool, thanks to the elegant circle of leg bone in the center. The following recipe takes advantage of lamb’s natural affinity for mint—in particular, a mint chimichurri. Think of it as lamb channeled by Argentinean asado.
Ingredients
For the Mint Chimichurri
2 cups fresh mint leaves, washed and stemmed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
Coarse salt (sea or kosher) and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup cold water
⅓ cup vegetable oil, plus more to oil the grill grate
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, or more vegetable oil
For the Lamb
4 lamb steaks (cut from the leg), each about ¾ inch thick
Coarse salt (sea or kosher) and freshly ground black pepper
1. Make the mint chimichurri: Finely chop the mint and garlic in a food processor. Add the salt and pepper (about ½ teaspoon each), lemon zest, lemon juice, and water and process to blend. Slowly add the vegetable and olive oils through the feed tube with the machine running to make a thick sauce. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt or lemon juice as necessary; the sauce should be highly seasoned. Serve within 2 hours of making.
2. Set up the grill for direct grilling and heat to high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well.
3. Season the lamb steaks generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill until done to your liking, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let the steaks rest for a minute. Serve with the mint chimichurri.
Yield: Serves 4
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 10 minutes
Grilling time: 6 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. You also need butcher’s string; 2 wood chunks or 1½ cups unsoaked hardwood chips (optional); and aluminum foil to make a grill shield.
Shop: You want lamb rib chops for this dish (the smaller the better), so you can pick them up by the bone.
Insider tip: The seasonings here go great with virtually any grilled meat, poultry, or seafood. For heightened drama, make a basting brush with a bunch of fresh rosemary and use it for basting the lamb.
Italians call these spicy grilled lamb chops scottadito—“finger scorchers”—served so hot off the grill, they burn your fingers when you dig in. And with your fingers is precisely how you’re supposed to eat them. As with most Italian grilling, the seasonings are pretty simple—rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper—with hot red pepper flakes to notch up the heat.
Ingredients
1 bunch rosemary
3 pounds lamb rib chops, bones frenched (scraped clean)
Coarse salt (sea or kosher) and cracked or freshly ground black peppercorns
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 to 3 tablespoons hot red pepper flakes
Extra virgin olive oil
3 lemons, cut in half crosswise and seeded
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
Pickled cherry peppers, for serving (optional)
1. Strip enough rosemary leaves off the bunch to obtain 3 tablespoons of leaves, then finely chop. Tie the remaining rosemary sprigs together at the stem end with butcher’s string. Trim off any straggly leaves at the opposite end.
2. Arrange the lamb chops in a single layer on a sheet pan. Generously season on both sides with the salt, pepper, garlic, chopped rosemary, and hot red pepper flakes. Drizzle olive oil and squeeze one of the lemons over the chops on both sides and pat the flavorings into the meat with the flat part of a fork. Marinate the chops in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you build your fire. Brush the remaining lemon halves with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Set up your grill for direct grilling and heat to high. In the best of all worlds, you’d grill over a wood fire. Barring that, add wood chunks or chips to your charcoal fire (or place wood chunks on the heat diffuser of your gas grill—see here). Leave one third of the grill fire-free as a safety zone.
4. Fold a 12-by-18-inch piece of aluminum foil lengthwise in thirds like a business letter. This is your grill shield—it will keep the exposed ends of the bones from burning.
5. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well. Arrange the lamb chops on the grate in a neat row, rib bones facing the front. Arrange the lemon halves, cut sides down, on the grate. Grill until the lamb chops and lemons are sizzling and browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare for the lamb; the same amount of time on 1 side for the lemon. At some point, the ends of the rib bones will start to burn: Slide the foil grill shield under them. At some point, the dripping lamb fat may cause flare-ups. Move the meaty part of the chops onto the foil or away from the fire into the safety zone.
6. Transfer the chops to a platter or plates and let rest for a minute or so. Squeeze juice from the grilled lemons over them and eat—how else?—with your burning fingers. Serve the pickled peppers alongside, if desired.
Grill the lemons with the lamb chops so you have smoky grilled juice to squeeze over them.
with Harissa Mayonnaise
Yield: Serves 4
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 10 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. You also need flat metal or bamboo skewers and a grill basket.
Shop: Two good brands of harissa are made by Mina and Teeny Tiny Spice Co.
Insider tip: For two other compelling flavor combinations, try spicing the lamb with the rub used in the Coffee-Crusted Beef Short Ribs or Pork Belly Steamed Buns.
These simple, colorful kebabs take their inspiration from Tunisia, where caraway, cumin, coriander, and black peppercorns are roasted whole, then ground to make a fragrant seasoning called tabil. Roasting gives the spices a smoky flavor that goes perfectly with the fire-seared lamb.
When building kebabs, use flat metal or bamboo skewers, which hold the ingredients in place without slipping. Try to intersperse lean cubes of lamb with fatty pieces, so they melt and baste the meat as it grills.
Ingredients
For the Spice Mix
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon coarse salt (sea or kosher)
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
For the Kebabs
1½ pounds boneless lamb shoulder (not too lean—you need some fat to keep the kebabs moist)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for basting
1 medium-size onion, peeled
1 jar (16 ounces) sweet cherry peppers, drained
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
1. Make the spice mix: Place the caraway, cumin, coriander, peppercorns, and salt in a dry cast-iron skillet. Roast over medium heat until the spices are fragrant and just beginning to brown, 2 minutes, shaking the pan so they cook evenly. Transfer the spices to a bowl and let cool, then coarsely grind in a spice mill or a mortar with a pestle. Stir in the hot red pepper flakes. Set aside.
2. Cut the lamb into ¾-inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the spice mix over the meat and stir the cubes with a wooden spoon to coat. Stir in the olive oil. Let marinate while you prepare the onion and light the grill.
3. Cut the onion in half crosswise. Cut each half into 6 wedges and break each wedge into individual segments. Stir any really small pieces into the bowl with the marinating lamb.
4. Thread the lamb cubes onto the skewers alternating with pieces of onion. Place the cherry peppers in the grill basket.
5. Set up your grill for direct grilling and heat to high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well.
6. Grill the lamb kebabs until cooked to taste, 1 to 2 minutes per side, 4 to 8 minutes in all for medium. (People in North Africa tend to eat their lamb medium or medium-well.) Grill the cherry peppers in the grill basket for 1 minute per side. Transfer the lamb to a platter and sprinkle with parsley, if using. Scatter on the cherry peppers. Serve the Harissa Mayonnaise on the side for spooning over the lamb.
Yield: Makes 1 cup
Harissa is a North African hot pepper sauce. It’s available at upscale supermarkets like Whole Foods, and of course, at North African and Middle Eastern grocery stores. Alternatively, you could substitute sriracha or sambal oelek or other hot pepper paste.
Ingredients
¼ cup harissa (North African hot pepper sauce), or to taste
¾ cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann’s or Best Foods
A few drops of fresh lemon juice
Combine the harissa and mayonnaise in an attractive serving bowl and whisk to mix. Whisk in lemon juice to taste. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.