My lamb ribs recipe is a best kept secret – roasted lamb ribs are totally underused, packed with flavour, easy to cook and cheap (the lot in the photo cost me a fiver from my local butcher).
Combine Lamb Ribs with my Greek marinade for lamb and you are hitting a culinary home run!

My lamb ribs recipe is infused with my Greek marinade for lamb which is deliciously fresh and vibrant and perfect for any cut of lamb.
Lamb ribs don’t have as much meat as my slow cooked BBQ pork ribs or my six hour beef short ribs, but they cost a lot less and taste just as good.
What is great about my lamb ribs recipe is the lamb fat really renders down and leaving the ribs slightly crispy which I personally love, a cook’s favourite…
I’ve cooked these lamb ribs a dozen times with all sorts of spices and rubs and I’ve found that the less I do to this beautiful cut of meat the better which is why I now just stick to my Greek marinade for lamb.
They are better naked than dressed; which isn’t something I could say about myself…
In saying all that, here is a link to my Greek Marinade for Lamb which is just a perfect match for the ribs.

Lemon, rosemary, garlic – it’s like the holy trinity of sheep.
The dressing is awesome and I use it alot on a variety of meats (works great on chicken as well). As such I’ve written a little recipe post dedicated just to this lemon and garlic dressing as it works as a dressing, a little condiment on the side, a marinade… it’s endless!
Anyway, back to my mouthwatering lamb ribs recipe!
Lamb Ribs Recipe
Ingredients:
1 rack of lamb ribs pp (as a main or 1 rack for 2 pp if served with sides)
8 cloves (optional)
Salt/Pepper
2 onions thickly sliced
Greek Marinade for Lamb Recipe
Ingredients:
To make the dressing simply add all ingredients together (I put them in a jar and just shake).
2 tbl fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
1/2 tbl dried oregano
1 tsp salt
Pinch sugar
Zest 1/2 lemon
Juice 1/2 lemon
Olive oil – equal amount to lemon juice
Pinch of Chilli flakes
1 clove garlic whole (lightly crushed)
Lamb Ribs Recipe – Method:
Preheat oven 180c
- Season ribs with salt and pepper.
- Place a large piece of foil on a flat surface, drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil before sprinkling over half the onions, place the ribs on top (bone side down – so the fatty skin is facing upwards) and put the rest of the onions on top of the ribs. Now wrap up your ribs into a nice airtight foil package (I usually wrap them a couple of times to ensure they are sealed).
- Pop the ribs in a roasting tray (if you have a grill that goes in your roasting tray put them on that).
- Cook the ribs for 1 hour 30 minutes at 180c (FAN) then remove from the oven leaving them wrapped up.
- While resting, turn up the oven to 220c, once it’s reached temperature cut open your foil package – watch out for the hot steam ! Open fully to reveal all the ribs. I usually cut lengthways with a pair of scissors, gently push the onions from the top if they haven’t disintegrated and drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the lamb and a sprinkling of sea salt.
- Pop back in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes depending on how big and how much fat you have on your ribs. This will crisp up the skin beautifully and render more of the fat.
Finishing:
Remove ribs from oven and let them rest for 5 minutes. Slice them into pairs, drizzle over the dressing saving some to dip them in and eat!
Goes well with an ice cold Mythos beer and some bad boy chips!
Check out my other rib recipes or recipes for the BBQ.
REALLY want to make this but how long to marinate the lamb? Am I missing something? Help!
You can marinate the lamb up to overnight or just cook it straight away! The secret is to keep some of the marinade to use as a dressing at the end of cooking.
This recipe is really, really good. We raise & butcher our own lamb – the ribs have never been a favorite… until tonight! We followed the instructions with exception of doing the cooking on a charcoal BBQ. They were out of this world good. The marinade took the flavor to another level. Served it with your flatbreads and a cuke, tomato, sweet onion salad in a dill & parsley vinaigrette. We have 6 kids and everybody loved it. I hadn’t seen your stuff before, but you can bet I’ll be a regular on your website from here on out. A la Greek for the win! Thanks Theo.
Amazing!! That sounds fabulous!
This is the fastest way to cook lamb ribs – an absolutely delicious recipe. We added rosemary and whole garlic cloves to the bake. The marinade is so versatile I often use that to make pitta chips in the oven 🙂 It would be nice on grilled octopus or calamari! or add a few extras and go salsa Verde and add to fish.
THanks! These are delicious and love the idea of using the sauce for different things!