BBQ Leg of Lamb | Butterflied Leg of Lamb Recipe

BBQ Leg of Lamb | Butterflied Leg of Lamb Recipe

Greek inspired BBQ Leg of Lamb – specifically butterflied leg of lamb recipe served with harissa yoghurt.

Butterflied BBQ leg of lamb is a wonder of the barbecue world and for something so easy to cook I don’t think gets center stage on the BBQ enough.

When I say Greek inspired BBQ leg of lamb I don’t mean that it’s 45 minutes late and you’ve cooked too much! 🙂 I just mean it has a lovely zesty marinade to go with it. Plus is it’s late and we cooked too much.

Butterflied leg of lamb makes for a fab alternative to your usual burnt bangers and burgers on the BBQ. Lamb is obviously delicious – the Greeks have always had a special affinity with lamb (not that sort of affinity), as a meat it is wonderful slow cooked and equally delightful served rare.

But there is something a little fancy-pants (which disguises how ridiculously easy it is to make) about barbecuing a butterflied leg of lamb, proudly announcing it as you bring it to the table and carve for everyone to help themselves.

How long do you cook BBQ leg of lamb for? Surprisingly for such a large piece of lamb it’s quick to cook – you can go from zero to hero in about 20 minutes.

A little lamb marinade also works great, but you don’t need a lot – the taste of barbecued lamb is a glorious thing and should be celebrated.

Close up BBQ Leg of Lamb Greek Style - Butterflied Leg of Lamb
Look at that lamb! With Harissa Greek Yoghurt on the side..

I love that when you barbecue leg of lamb you get this wonderful crispy exterior, moist succulent center and it looks bloody marvelous when you carve it and present it in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves.

If you’ve read much of my blog or looked at my BBQ recipes (or BBQ videos) you’ll know that I tend to go with the philosophy that the charcoal is doing most of the work in terms of adding flavour (not exclusively, but most of the time – see my Peruvian pork chops which totally contradicts that).

Butterflied leg of lamb is basically the leg bone being removed and the leg of lamb being splayed open so it lies flat. Because the meat is then much thinner and there is more surface area a butterflied leg of lamb will cook in the fraction of time that a roast leg of lamb would take.

Source your lamb leg from your butcher; when you are barbecuing a leg of lamb and not intending on covering it with a ton of sauce you want the best quality you can afford. Equally your butcher will no doubt do a fine job of butterflying the leg of lamb.

This also means you can BBQ the leg of lamb over a high heat to char the outside whilst leaving the center pink – bit like steak, only a little longer. 

I like to make a light summery lamb marinade for my butterflied leg of lamb that I not only marinate the lamb in, but baste whilst cooking over the coals and then also use as a dressing at the end (obviously don’t dress your BBQ leg of lamb with the same marinade that has been in contact with raw meat).

I then serve my butterflied leg of lamb Greek style with a little dollop of harissa infused Greek yoghurt (a very snazzy way of saying – just stir in a couple of tablespoons of shop-bought harissa paste into Greek yoghurt).

BBQ Leg of Lamb Recipe (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

1.5kg leg of lamb butterflied (that’s 1.5kg after the bone is removed).

Lamb Marinade

See this post for a full breakdown.

125ml Olive oil

Juice & zest 1 lemon

10g Chopped Parsley

Pinch Sugar

Seasoning

3 cloves garlic crushed

10g chopped hard herbs (thyme or rosemary)

Butterflied Leg of Lamb Method:

  1. Make marinade and reserve 1 third to use as a dressing later.
  2. Score the butterflied leg of lamb and massage the marinade into the meat; leave to marinate for 1 hour or overnight (easiest is to place in a zip lock bag in a bowl).
  3. Remove lamb from fridge an hour before cooking to bring it up to room temperature and shake off the excess marinade.
  4. Once your BBQ is ready and the coals are ashen place the leg of lamb directly over the coals (ideally a medium high heat), let it sear for 10 minutes before turning over and doing the otherside. Watch out for flare ups and watch temperature to avoid burning (you want char – not ash).
  5. Check the meat by cutting into the thickest part to see if it’s done – it will continue cooking once you remove it from the heat so go for just under what you want to serve. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
  6. Gently drizzle the rest of the marinade (that you reserved) over the cooked lamb and thickly slice; serve with a dollop of harissa yoghurt. Boom!

Serve with a bunch of delicious side salads that are perfect to make for a BBQ!

 

BBQ Leg of Lamb | Butterflied Leg of Lamb Recipe

This is my Greek inspired BBQ Leg of Lamb – specifically butterflied leg of lamb recipe with lamb marinade and harissa yoghurt.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 kg leg of lamb butterflied ((that’s 1.5kg after the bone is removed).)

Lamb Marinade:

  • 125 ml Olive oil
  • Juice & zest 1 lemon
  • 10 g Chopped Parsley
  • Pinch Sugar
  • Seasoning
  • 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • 10 g chopped hard herbs ((thyme or rosemary))

Method:

  1. Make marinade and reserve one-third to use as a dressing later.
  2. Score the butterflied leg of lamb and massage the marinade into the meat; leave to marinate for 1 hour or overnight (easiest is to place in a zip lock bag in a bowl).
  3. Remove lamb from fridge an hour before cooking to bring it up to room temperature and shake off the excess marinade.
  4. Once your BBQ is ready and the coals are ashen place the leg of lamb directly over the coals (ideally a medium high heat), let it sear for 10 minutes before turning over and doing the other side. Watch out for flare ups and watch temperature to avoid burning (you want char – not ash).
  5. Check the meat by cutting into the thickest part to see if it’s done – it will continue cooking once you remove it from the heat so go for just under what you want to serve. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Gently drizzle the rest of the marinade (that you reserved) over the cooked lamb and thickly slice; serve with a dollop of harissa yoghurt. Boom!

 


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