Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder

This slow cooked lamb shoulder is the perfect family roast for Easter or a celebration.

Cooked on a bed of onions and studded with garlic, this lamb makes a delicious gravy, that your guests will love, with very little effort.

Slow cooked to tender perfection, then roasted with honey to finish, this recipe is a real family favourite.

It's so easy to prepare and then let the oven do all of the hard work.

Enjoy!

As much as I love a leg of lamb, it can be much more expensive than shoulder and can be difficult to feed a crowd. If you are having a family get together, this slow roast lamb shoulder is definitely more economical because it can serve up to eight people.

Slow roasting allows the fat to cook and melt away, leaving really tender meat that is easy to carve too.

I've used a bed of onions to act as a trivet. This helps the heat circulate around the meat as it cooks. More importantly, it means that you can serve the onions as an accompaniment on the side as a summertime dish or use them as the base for a gravy for a proper roast on chilly days.

Why you will love this dish

• Really easy to prepare in advance.
• Easily feeds 8 people.
• Delicious and tender meat.
• Perfect all year round.
• Delicious with onion sauce

Jump to:

• Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking Time
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• Storage
• FAQs
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🥘 Ingredients

• Lamb - 2 kg shoulder joint with the bone in. This is a typical weight in most supermarkets or butchers.
• Honey - clear honey. While the lamb meat is naturally sweet the honey enhances it and give sthe meat some great colour at the end.
• Garlic - chunks of garlic, pushed into the meat give it extra flavour and the long coking time turns the garlic soft and sweet.
• Pepper - freshly ground black pepper.
• Salt - flaked sea salt.
• Oil - vegetable oil or olive oil.
• Onions - I've used normal brown onions as they still become really sweet after roasting.
• Red wine - for deglazing the pan. Choose something you would normally drink or leave it out if you prefer.
• Stock - chicken or lamb stock for the gravy.

See recipe card for quantities.

🍽 Equipment

• Large deep roasting dish
• Aluminium foil
• Sharp knife
• Pastry brush
• Wooden spoon

🔪 Instructions

Peel the onions and cut into thick slices about a centimetre or half an inch.

Lay the slices in the centre of the roasting dish.

💭 Top Tip

• For a quicker clean up, if you are not making gravy, line the roasting dish with foil, as baked on honey often requires soaking.

Peel the garlic and cut each piece in half lengthways.

Use a sharp knife to make 12 deep slits and push a piece of garlic into each one.

Rub the skin with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.

Cover the dish with foil.

⏲️ Cooking Time

Preheat the oven to 160 C / 310 F / 140 FAN / Gas 2.5

 Roast the lamb for 4 hours.

Remove the lamb from the oven and remove most of the fat from the roasting dish.

💭 Top Tip

• Skim off the fat by tilting the dish and using a tablespoon to remove the fat into a heatproof container. Allow it to cool then discard in the the rubbish.

Brush the honey over the top of the lamb.

Increase the oven to 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6 and return the slow roast lamb shoulder to the oven without any foil.

Roast for 15 to 30 minutes until golden.

Let the meat rest for 20 minutes, loosely covered with foil before serving.

Serve the onions with the meat or leave in the pan to make the gravy.

Remove nearly all the fat from the pan. Put the pan over a low to medium heat and add the wine to the pan to deglaze.

Use a wooden spoon to scrape off any stuck on bits and allow to bubble for a minute before a adding the stock.

Bring to a simmer and reduce to your desired consistency.

If you prefer, mix a tablespoon of cornflour with water and stir through the gravy to thicken.

💭 Top Tip

• For a thicker, richer gravy finely chop the onions before making the gravy or pour the gravy into a liquidiser to process and then return to the heat. Be careful not to overfill as it may overflow.

So easy and delicious!

🥗 Side Dishes

• Roast Potatoes
• Braised Red Cabbage
• Honey Glazed Carrots and Parsnips
• Leeks in White Sauce
• Cavolo Nero Kale
• Coriander and Cumin Roasted Vegetables
• Roasted Winter Vegetables
• Fried Cabbage with Bacon and Onions
• Pan Haggerty

Substitutions

• Onions - use a mixture of vegetables, such as carrots, celery, celeriac and parsnips.

📖 Variations

• Herby - add a small piece of rosemary with each piece of garlic and add 3 rosemart twigs to the onions before adding the lamb.
• Pulled lamb shoulder - roast for an extra hour with the foil on until the meat can be pulled apart with 2 forks.

Storage

• Refrigerator - allow the slow cooked lamb shoulder to cool to room temperature then cover and refridgerate for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - wrap well and freeze for up yo 3 months.
• To reheat - wrap in foil and heat through in the oven.

FAQs

More lamb recipes

• Lamb with Pomegranate Molasses
• Slow Roast Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
• Lamb Kleftiko
• Cannon of Lamb with Redcurrant Sauce

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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