Lamb Shoulder or Lamb Leg: Which Roast Is Right?

Roast lamb is about as Australian as Sunday lunch gets. But the two cuts most people reach for, the shoulder and the leg, behave very differently in the oven. Choose the right one for the meal you have in mind and you are halfway there.

Lamb Leg: The Classic Carving Roast

The leg is the back leg of the lamb. It is lean, with a fine grain and a thin layer of fat on the outside. It is at its best roasted to pink, then carved into neat slices at the table.

To roast a bone-in leg, rub it with oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast at 180°C until the thickest part reaches 55°C for medium-rare or 60°C for medium. As a rough guide that is around an hour and a half for a 2kg leg, but a thermometer is the only sure way. Rest it, loosely covered, for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.

A leg is also available boned and rolled, which carves into even round slices, or butterflied, which opens it flat for the barbecue. A butterflied leg cooks in about 30 to 40 minutes over medium heat.

Try our slow-roasted herb-crusted lamb leg for a crowd-pleasing version.

Lamb Shoulder: The Slow Roast

The shoulder works much harder than the leg, so it carries more fat, more connective tissue and more flavour. Roast it like a leg and it will be chewy. Roast it low and slow and it becomes soft enough to pull apart with a spoon.

Season the shoulder well, sit it on sliced onions with a splash of stock or wine in the tin, cover it tightly with foil and roast at 150 to 160°C for 4 to 5 hours. Uncover it for the last 30 minutes to brown. It is ready when the bone pulls away cleanly.

Do not try to carve a slow-roasted shoulder into neat slices. Pull it into chunks and serve it with the juices from the tin.

Which One Should You Choose?

• Choose the leg if you want pink, sliced lamb, a leaner roast, or a quicker cook.
• Choose the shoulder if you want rich, falling-apart lamb, a forgiving cook, and a roast that can sit in the oven while you get on with your day.

As a guide, a 2kg bone-in leg or shoulder feeds six people.

Leftovers

Leftover leg is wonderful cold in sandwiches with mint sauce. Leftover shoulder makes a great shepherd's pie or lamb wraps with yoghurt and herbs.

The free Lamb Guide shows where every cut sits on the animal. Ask at the counter and we'll bone, roll or butterfly your lamb to suit.