3 Easy Ground Lamb Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How should ground lamb be cooked? ›

Lamb patties and ground lamb mixtures such as meat loaf should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F (71.1° C), and measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.

Some of the most popular lamb dishes include rack of lamb, lamb chops, lamb shank, lamb kebabs, and lamb curry. Whether you prefer your lamb slow-cooked and tender, or grilled to perfection, there are endless possibilities for creating delicious and satisfying meals with this versatile meat.

Anyway, here's how it works: cut the meat into 1-inch cubes and freeze them for 30 minutes. Freezing the meat helps it to "grind" more evenly and prevents the processor from overheating the lamb in the process. Put the meat in the processor in batches and pulse until it gets to the desired consistency.

Lamb chops and steaks

These can be pan-fried, griddled, quickly barbecued and used in casseroles. Browse our lamb cutlet recipes. Loin chops – Cut from the saddle, these meaty chops have a T-shaped bone in the middle and as they're so thick, the meat is quickly roasted.

The big, bold Lamb flavor goes well with spices like coriander seeds, cumin, curry powder, harissa paste, garlic, rosemary, oregano, thyme, black pepper, chilly flakes, and mint. Spices compliment Lamb, but it also holds its flavor with just salt and pepper.

If we look at fatty acids, like CLA and omega-3's, lamb comes out victorious and can be seen as marginally healthier. If we look at vitamins, like B12 and zinc, beef comes out victorious. The bottom line is both are excellent and both should be eaten with abundance!

The loin produces the most flavorful and tender cuts of Lamb in our opinion, due to its generous and tasty fat cap. Lamb Loin is located in between the ribs and sirloin. Lamb Loin Chops look like miniature bone-in T-Bone steaks or Porterhouse, that are straightforward to grill or pan-fry.

Lamb is best served rare to medium-rare (unless you are talking about ground, shank, or stew meat). The second is that lamb greatly benefits from a marinade. Either overnight or for a few hours, allowing some olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs and spices to infuse the meat beforehand is always recommended.

USDA research found that washing or rinsing meat or poultry increases the risk for cross-contamination in the kitchen, which can cause foodborne illness. If you wash meat or poultry, some bacteria can be splashed on the surfaces of your kitchen.

How do you make ground lamb not taste gamey? ›

When lamb is ground and crisp, it tastes less gamey than a chop, but you can still get a little bit of that gamey flavor. If that doesn't appeal to your tastebuds, you can soak it in milk or yogurt prior to cooking to get rid of the gaminess.

Since ground Lamb is high in saturated fats, drain the fat from the meat once it is browned to remove the saturated fats. Removing the saturated fats is a good for your heart health. Cook ground meat, where bacteria can spread during grinding, to at least 160°F.

And when you have a gorgeous cut, like a rack of lamb, you can cook it the good ol' Gordon Ramsay way—which is to say, lightly pan-sear it first, then baste it with an herby, garlicky butter, and finally finish it off in the oven until it's still pink and juicy in the middle. It comes out perfectly every time.

But what it all comes down to is its fat and a particular type of fatty acid that lambs have that beef doesn't. It's called branched-chain fatty acid. This is something that humans can detect at tiny levels. It's what gives lamb this gamy, more earthy taste than beef.

Slow cooking in liquid transforms tougher cuts of lamb into fork-tender meat.

As we mentioned earlier, ground lamb or lamb burgers should never be cooked rare. The large surface area on ground lamb causes it to be too dangerous to eat. This same rule applies to lamb sausage, lamb kebabs, and lamb stuffing (usually ground lamb and vegetables used to stuff a leg of lamb).

Ground lamb should be cooked to at least 160º. But don't serve immediately. Resting your lamb will allow the juices to settle. Wait 10 minutes before serving roasts and just five minutes for chops.

The USDA recommends cooking lamb to 145°F, which will result in medium-well doneness. 1 This is the official guideline for safely cooking lamb, but many chefs and cooks prefer their lamb rarer.

A rare, or pink, lamb chop that has been seared well on the outside should be fine because any bacteria on the outer surface will have been killed by the heat. But minced or diced lamb or mutton should never be served pink. It needs to be thoroughly cooked and browned. The same goes for burgers.