This slow cooked lamb shoulder will be the juiciest, most incredible lamb roast you have ever had! With rosemary and garlic stuffed into incisions, it infuses this lamb roast with the most incredible flavour as well as adding a subtle perfume to the lamb gravy.
Lamb shoulder has more flavour and is easier to cook than lamb leg. Virtually foolproof, minimal effort, and incredible meat that is so tender that you won’t need a knife to carve this! Want to upgrade to the Rolls Royce version? Try the Ultimate 12 Hour Roast Lamb or browse the entire Roast Lamb recipe collection.
Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder is the ultimate lamb roast
Being born into a foodie family, there is always a flurry of emails leading up to a Sunday Night Roast. It usually goes something like this:
My brother (the “serious” foodie): Let’s do a standing rib roast. Dry aged from Victor Churchill (PS A gourmet expensive butcher in Sydney!)
Me: That’s ridiculous. It will cost $100!
Brother: If we’re gonna do a roast, we should do it right. I’m not doing a lamb leg from Coles!
Me: Who said you’re cooking? I’M the Roast Queen, remember?
Brother: Self proclaimed titles carry no weight.
Me: How about a slow cooked lamb shoulder?
Brother: OK. That’ll do. I’ll do the sides.
Sister: I don’t mind. Just tell me what I need to do.
Mum: Send me a shopping list.
And thus the roles and responsibilities for a Sunday Night Roast are set.
Lamb Shoulder
Lamb shoulder is not as popular as lamb leg – and I truly do not understand why. It has more flavour and it’s far juicier. The only “downside” I can think of is that it needs to be slow cooked, it can’t be cooked hard and fast like a classic Roast Lamb Leg that’s cooked until perfectly pink and juicy inside.
On the other hand, because lamb shoulder is a juicier cut, it’s incredibly forgiving so if it’s in the oven for too long, it’s still going to be gloriously juicy.
I love using the technique of stuffing rosemary and garlic into incisions to infuse the meat with flavour. You can really only do this with rosemary because the sprigs are stiff enough to stick into the holes.
And also it works well for this recipe because it is slow roasted – the flavours do not infuse as well into the meat with a traditional roast that only takes 1 1/2 hours or so. So take advantage of it in this recipe!
OK, signing off! Love to hear if this makes it to your Sunday Night family dinner! – Nagi x
My favourite side dishes for roast lamb
More Roast Lamb Recipes
I love a good roast lamb – so I’ve shared a few over the years!
Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Slow Roasted Rosemary Garlic Lamb Shoulder
Ingredients
- 1.8kg / 3.5 lb lamb shoulder (bone in) (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 onion, quartered (no need to peel)
- 1 head garlic , cut in half horizontally
- 3 garlic cloves , cut into slivers
- 8 sprigs rosemary
- 1 cup water
Gravy
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups beef broth (or 1 cup red wine + 1 cup water)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F (220°C fan forced).
- Rub the lamb with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Use a thin, sharp knife to make 12 incisions in the lamb, deep as you can but without piercing through the bottom of the lamb. (See photo in post and video
- Stuff bits of rosemary and garlic slivers into the holes (chopstick helpful!)
- Place the onion, halved garlic bulb and rosemary in the base of a roasting pan. Place the lamb on top. Pour water around.
- Cover with lid or tightly with a double layer of foil. Place in the oven, and TURN DOWN to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).
- Slow roast, covered: Roast, covered with the foil, for 3 hours. (Note 1 for different sizes).
- Brown it, uncovered: Remove foil, check to ensure there's still liquid in the pan. If not, add 3/4 cup water (otherwise onion/garlic will burn). Turn up the oven to 220°C/425°F and roast for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until the skin is browned and crisp.
- Check if ready: By now, you should be able to part the meat with two forks – if not, just cover and return to oven at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) until you can do so.
- Rest: Remove lamb from the roasting pan and transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with foil then a couple of tea towels and let it rest for at least 20 minutes, up to a couple of hours (after this, you may want to reheat).
- Serve with gravy (below). If you want to go all out, make Duck Fat Potatoes or Super Crispy Roasted Potatoes!
Gravy
- Tilt the pan and use a spoon to remove all but around 2 tbsp of fat (try to avoid scooping out any juices).
- Place the roasting pan on the stove over medium high heat. Add the flour and stir to mix in with the fat. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the stock gradually and stir to combine. Use a potato masher to mash the onion and garlic, making sure that all the garlic squeezes out of the skin.
- Allow it to simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until it is just before your desired consistency (it will thicken a bit as it cools), then remove from the stove. Season to taste with salt and pepper, strain into bowl being sure to squeeze all juices out of garlic etc, then transfer into gravy jug.
Recipe Notes:
- Smaller lamb shoulder (around 1 kg) – cut down roasting time while covered by 20 minutes (doesn’t change by much, shoulder meat needs a minimum time to breakdown);
- Boneless lamb shoulder – reduce covered cook time by 20 minutes. A 1.8kg bone in lamb shoulder will weigh about 1.3kg with the bone removed;
- Rolled boneless lamb shoulder (~1.1 – 1.3kg) – cook time per recipe.
- 2 x ~1.5kg/3lb shoulders – fit into one pan (they will shrink, so ok if touching), add 30 minutes to cover slow roast time.
Originally published February 2015, updated with new photos, new commentary and video – AND Life of Dozer added!Nutrition Information:
BEST OF SUNDAY SUPPER ROASTS
Life of Dozer
Hmm. Not surprising he’s interested in what’s going on here….
I’ve cooked this before and it’s excellent. However, now I’ve bought a leg of lamb, do I have to alter the cooking time?
And thanks for the best cooking website ever 😀
Along with the garlic and rosemary stuffed into the lamb, I add an anchovy. They dissolve into the meat and sweeten the lamb, and no, they don’t add a fishy flavour.
My lamb shoulder is 2.3kg, how will this alter the recipe
Sunday roast tonight with a 1kg shoulder. Turned out absolutely delicious and soft. Maybe should have added some water to pan for the browning stage. Roasties also top notch. Go to recipe for sure! Thanks Nagi, another winner.
OMG I’ve never cooked lamb shoulder before and this was DIVINE!! Even easy enough for a complete newbie to follow! I didn’t make the gravy though….. Any suggestions as to how I could make a gluten free gravy? Would tapioca flour be a good substitute?
Hi Nagi, what changes do I need to do if I want to use a slow cooker instead of the oven for your Slow Roasted Rosemary Garlic Lamb Shoulder? Thanks
I’ve read on another site to slow cooker it for 8 hrs
I don’t know what goes wrong but I’ve tried this recipe 3 times now. It is never fall apart tender!
I have made your leg of lamb many times and it has always turned out great. Currently my shoulder of lamb (2kg) had been in the oven for four hours. It’s still a bit hard to pry apart with two forks. I added more liquid and oven isn’t old.
What could be the issue?
So frustrated!
I find any time it feels stringy or dry and not pull apart soft I freak out thinking I’ve over cooked it, but another hour in the oven same temp usually does the trick.
Same has happened to me and I find for a lamb that size you need 4 hrs slow cooking at least.
De lish Ish and so easy. I even made the gravy (I never make gravy) so yum, ngā mihi nui x
How would you adapt this for a slow cooker?
Loved this recipe! It was so easy, and so low effort. Love how you can scale it easily to cook for a crowd. Thanks Nagi xxxx
Made this tonight. Very good recipe and the gravy was delicious. Will definitely use this recipe again. Thank you for sharing.
OMG – this really is an awesome recipe. Just finished cooking this for a midweek dinner. The meat is incredibly tender and succulent; it’s falling off the bone. I made the gravy as well, which is delicious. I do love a fuss-free recipe with epic results.
I’m looking forward to seeing how it’ll be tomorrow once reheated using the tips from the 12-hour roasted lamb shoulder recipe.
Thanks Nagi for another fantastic “go to” recipe.
Tried this recipe the other week with friends. ( Fantastic) fall off the bone tender tender and great gravy. Thanks. I have made a few of your recipes and all are amazing.👍
I’m going to try this one on Sunday- I did the 12 hr roast and my oh my easy peasy- all done while I slept- then re heated in the evening for dinner- since this one is only 4 hrs can’t wait to compare ! Has anyone else done this and the 12 hrs? If so which did u prefer ?
Everything about this recipe was perfect. The meat was amazingly tender and the gravy the best we’ve had for ages. Thanks again for another great recipe.
Loved your ideas for years and only have one thing to say, make the flour for sauces in cold milk(?) or whatever to avoid congealing.
Love you! (& Dozer))
Love this recipe!
Made it last night. Loved it! So easy.
Love this recipe! Such a crowd pleaser!
I will be cooking this for a large group of 14 – needing two roasts, how long do you recommend them in the oven? Or should I cook separately?
When I first saw this recipe, I thought to myself this is way too much time for cooking and it will be dry and chewy. But I went ahead and followed it exactly. And WOW!! Melt in your mouth lamb. My husband could not stop eating 😃 and every two minutes saying this gets 15 stars. I cut up some veggies and potatoes to place around the lamb and then added a cup of broth. I sautéed mushrooms and used the broth as a gravy