Grilled Leg of Lamb With Spicy Lime Yogurt Sauce

Name: Grilled Leg of Lamb With Spicy Lime Yogurt Sauce
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12 to 15 servings
Ingredients: 1 (5- to 6-pound) boneless butterflied leg of lamb, well trimmed; 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup mixed chopped thyme and rosemary; Grated zest of 1 orange; 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice; 8 garlic cloves, minced; 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt; 1/2 cup basil leaves; 1/4 cup mint leaves; 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1 (1-inch-thick) slice of ginger, coarsely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, peeled; 1 small jalapeño, halved and seeded if desired; 1 large scallion, trimmed; Grated zest of 1 lime; 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste; 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste

By Melissa Clark

Total Time: 45 minutes, plus at least 2 hours’ marinating
Rating: 5(441)
Comments: Read comments

Leg of lamb is elegant, and one leg can feed a crowd. Marinate it with a garlicky herb paste, the longer the better. Overnight in the refrigerator is ideal, but even a few hours at room temperature will help. Just make sure to always pat your lamb dry after marinating; this helps eliminate flare-ups. Butterflied legs of lamb tend to be unevenly cut, giving you thicker and thinner parts. This is good if some of your guests like their lamb more well done than you do, but problematic if everyone likes it rare. If you want rare all around (or well done for that matter), consider cutting the lamb into pieces according to thickness so you can take the thinner ones off the grill first.

Featured in: Late Summer’s Grilling Sweet Spot

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Ingredients

Yield:12 to 15 servings

For the Lamb

1(5- to 6-pound) boneless butterflied leg of lamb, well trimmed
¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼cup mixed chopped thyme and rosemary
Grated zest of 1 orange
1tablespoon fresh orange juice
8garlic cloves, minced
2½teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
1teaspoon black pepper

For the Yogurt Sauce

1½cups plain Greek yogurt
½cup basil leaves
¼cup mint leaves
¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
1(1-inch-thick) slice of ginger, coarsely chopped
2garlic cloves, peeled
1small jalapeño, halved and seeded if desired
1large scallion, trimmed
Grated zest of 1 lime
1tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste
1teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

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Step 1
Pat lamb dry with paper towels and place it on a rimmed baking sheet. In a bowl, combine oil, herbs, orange zest and juice, the minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Rub mixture all over lamb. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate at room temperature for 2 hours, or overnight in the refrigerator.
Step 2
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt if you like.
Step 3
Heat the grill. Wipe lamb with paper towels, removing most of the rub, then grill until a digital thermometer reads 120 degrees for rare or 130 for medium (about 6 to 15 minutes per side, depending on how you like your meat and how thick the lamb is). If the meat starts to char before it’s done, move it to a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving with the yogurt sauce.

Ratings

5 out of 5

441 user ratings

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Comments

Lynette7 years ago

I have another recipe for butterflied marinated grilled lamb and it gives an alternate oven method. Place it on a broiling rack. Broil it for 35 minutes or until it reaches the temp you wish, turning once. Hope this helps.

Sierra7 years ago

The yogurt sauce is AMAZING. It's both delicate and complex, with a nice combination of subtle heat from the jalapeno and cool from the mint.

We served this sauce on lamb shoulder steaks served on a bed of fresh pea shoot sprouts, which provided a nice texture and gave the dish a very 'Spring' look and feel. Drizzled yogurt sauce generously on both lamb and sprouts. Big hit.

This sauce is perfect for lamb, but I think it would be good with almost anything.

Kelly7 years ago

If you want to cook it evenly, you can make slashes in the butterflied leg which will make the three sections level. And it helps the marinade penetrate the meats. Lots of how-to videos of this on You Tube.

Marcia2 months ago

I followed all the directions and slashed the meat to give an even thickness but it created more craggy surface area that resulted in yummy crusty bits! Aim for rare and the resting period will finish to the perfect piece of lamb.

jackie2 months ago

Absolutely delicious and so easy!!

Cayako2 months ago

Amazing dish! Even my kids 10 & 8, ate it up. like others have said, the sauce really brings it together, and can be used in many dishes! Served with the cucumber feta salad from Ali Slagle and mashed potatoes. Following the advice of another poster I opted to broil my lamb. I set my 14" cast iron skillet about 4 or 5 in from the broiler. Turned the broiler to high, let it warm up for 5 minutes and then placed the lamb fat side down and roasted for 12 minutes. Flipped and did another 12 minutes. Take it out. let it rest for six minutes, tenting loosely with foil.

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