This meltingly tender Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma is the stuff food dreams are made of!! Slathered in a deceptively simple shawarma spice rub then slow cooked until fall apart, the flavour and fragrance of this lamb is absolutely heavenly. This recipe is ideal for butterflied lamb leg OR lamb shoulder.
While it takes time to roast, it’s a very straightforward recipe – and will feed a crowd. Sensational for finishing on the BBQ! After more lamb centrepiece ideas? Browse all my roast lamb recipes!
Lamb Shawarma
This one’s for everyone who doesn’t have a charcoal spit in the middle of their kitchen….. and for Australia Day!!!🇦🇺 🇦🇺🇦🇺
Quick to prepare but tastes like you’ve been slaving away in the kitchen all day, this Lamb Shawarma is absolutely terrific for gatherings because it’s easy to make loads, can be cooked ahead then reheated. Or in the spirit of Australia Day, finish it on the BBQ!
This Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma is 100% me. Big hunk of meat. Big flavours. Simple, fast prep, with big pay offs. Meltingly tender, fall apart meat, dripping with the beautiful roasting juices. Food made for sharing with family and friends. Food to pile onto platters to let everyone help themselves, rather than using tweezers to daintily plate up.
Rustic. That’s how I describe my food. As opposed to refined and elegant! 😂
Just remembering how good this was is killing me as I sit here on the couch late on a Wednesday night sipping on a green smoothie of all things. Suddenly, this spinach-kale-mango-pineapple-ginger smoothie is very unappealing. 😩
So, here’s how this Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma goes down.
We start with a simple homemade Shawarma slather, my go-to mix that I use for my Chicken Shawarma and all things Shawarma on this site (Lamb Shawarma Chickpea Soup, One Pot Chicken Shawarma and Rice Pilaf). Nothing exotic in it, you’ll find all the spices at the supermarket: coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne and cardamon. Plus olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix and slather.
Use butterflied lamb leg OR lamb shoulder
As for what to slather, take your pick – lamb shoulder or butterflied lamb leg.
In the recipe video, I’ve used lamb shoulder because I wanted to show how to pull the lamb apart in order to finish it on the BBQ. Also because I think lamb shoulder is not quite as popular as lamb leg but I rate it highly and I want to encourage people to try it! It’s usually cheaper than lamb leg and it’s fattier which means juicier (and better for reheating), making it ideal for gatherings.
Lamb shoulder
Lamb shoulder has a bone through it, like pictured below. Because the shoulder is cooked to fall apart perfection, the meat slides off the bone in 4 or 5 large pieces which you can then either slice, shred or BBQ to get an extra tasty crust on it / reheat (see the video, it looks SO GOOD!).
Butterflied lamb leg
When making Lamb Shawarma with lamb leg, I prefer to use butterflied lamb leg because you can rub the Shawarma slather into the meat better. Even if you leave the lamb to marinate, a bone-in leg of lamb is very thick so the marinade doesn’t penetrate right through to the bone. Though having said that, there is plenty of heavily flavoured roasting juices to drizzle all over the meat once sliced or shredded.
Lamb leg is leaner than shoulder but in this recipe, it’s cooked until meltingly tender. One of the “pros” of butterflied lamb leg is that it holds together in one piece even after hours of slow cooking making it easier to slice neatly. Also for handling on the BBQ – one piece rather than the multiple pieces of shoulder you’ll see in the video.
Whether you use shoulder or lamb leg, you’re going to end up with this – incredible tender lamb. Sliceable but shreddable (I also show this in the video).
What to serve with Lamb Shawarma
Now for the hardest part – choosing how to serve it. What will you do – make Lamb Shawarma Wraps (Doner Kebab style!) or pile it on a platter with couscous? 🙂 Here are some suggestions for what to serve this with:
Lemon Herb Couscous – see recipe notes
Homemade Flatbreads – add slices of tomato, shredded lettuce, raw sliced onion and a dollop of yogurt or Hummus. You could also use a Lemon Yogurt Sauce (use the sauce in the Chicken Shawarma recipe)
For a side salad, try this Middle Eastern cabbage and carrot salad (you’ll love the burst of freshness from the mint) or this Tomato Cucumber Chickpea Salad (option to skip the chickpeas).
🇦🇺HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!! 🇦🇺 – Nagi x
More Roast Lamb Recipes
I love a good roast lamb – so I’ve shared a few over the years!
Classic Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy – the classic, perfectly blushing pink inside
Slow Roast Leg of Lamb – infused with garlic and rosemary flavours, slow roasted until fall apart tender!
Greek Butterflied Leg of Lamb – quick to cook on the barbecue, or stovetop and finish in the oven
Slow Cooker Roast Lamb – fall apart goodness in the convenience of your slow cooker
Slow Roasted GREEK Leg of Lamb – garlicky lemony fall apart deliciousness
Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder – the juiciest, most succulent roast lamb you will ever have!
See all Roast Lamb recipes
PS Jeez, my hands look extra small compared to that giant platter!!! 😂
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Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma
Ingredients
- 2kg / 4 lb lamb shoulder (bone in) or 1.7 kg / 3.5 lb butterflied lamb leg (Note 1)
Shawarma Paste:
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground cardamon
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp = not spicy)
- 2 tsp smoked paprika (ordinary also ok)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 – 3 tbsp / 40 – 60 ml lemon juice
Cooking:
- 2 cups / 500 ml water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan forced / convection).
- Place Paste ingredients in a bowl, starting with 2 tbsp lemon juice, and mix. It should be a wet paste that can be slathered onto the lamb (see video).
- Place lamb in a large roasting pan. Slather all over with paste. Optional: Marinate 24 hours (not mandatory, I usually skip).
- Position the lamb with the fat side up. Pour water around, cover tightly with foil.
- Roast 3 hours, removing from the oven 2 – 3 times to spoon over pan juices (ie baste).
- Remove foil. Meat should be tender – check with 2 forks.
- Baste again, then return to oven for 30 minutes to get a nice crust.
- Remove lamb from roasting pan – reserve juices.
Finish on BBQ, Optional (Note 2):
- Cool the lamb for 20 minutes or so (so it firms up slightly, easier to handle).
- If you used shoulder, pull the meat off the bone in 4 or 5 chunks (see video).
- Preheat BBQ to medium and oil if required.
- Coat lamb in pan juices. Sear on both sides until deep golden and a crust forms. Dab with pan juices on both sides.
Serving:
- Slice or shred lamb, as desired. Drizzle with plenty of juices.
- Make Lamb Shawarma wraps by serving with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and minted yoghurt (Note 3) or pile over Lemon Herbed Couscous (Note 4) and garnish with pomegranate seeds and parsley or chopped coriander/cilantro (if desired). Both pictured in post.
Recipe Notes:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
Someone is happy that I’m so terrible at butterflying lamb leg…. plenty of meat left on that bone!
Love, love, love this dish, turns out perfect every time!! Am doubling the recipe to feed a crowd this weekend. When I adjust the scale in the recipe, the size of the lamb shoulder increases but not the boneless leg. Is this right? Should I increase the leg size also? And does increasing the quantity change cooking times? Thanks so much!!
Came out fantastic!
I eat mostly vegetarian (“flexitarian”) but this dish reminded me of why I’m not a full vegetarian! So delicious, especially with the BBQ bit at the end. I had a 1.6kg lamb shoulder so just reduced the cooking time a bit. The sauce was dried out at the end but adding some water brought it back to life. Will do again, probably double it to have leftovers for wraps for the family’s lunches. Thanks Nagi, your reliable recipes always make my day!
This might be a dumb question but, can I make this with chunks of lamb instead of a whole cut?
because that’s all I’ll ever have, and if I can, how long should it cook
Hi Nagi, I have made this and it was delicious!! Thank you for the lovely recipe. I am making it for my family this weekend, my mum hates cumin though so is there anything else I can use? Or should I just leave it out?
Hey Navi I’m making a 6lb leg tomorrow how long do you think I should cook in the oven for?
This was spectacular!! Just combining spice, stick it in the oven and voila! Tasty!!!
Used a 3lb boneless leg and cooked just over 3 hours.
Made this today using 2 lamb shoulders for a family get-together, as well as the herbed cous cous and roasted homegrown vegetables. Not forgetting the pita bread and a huge bowl of Greek salad. Only leftovers were the bones😂. Rave reviews, including from some very pernickety grandchildren. Another recipe to add to the long list of Nagi repeats!
Hi Pepe, can I ask how long did you cook the two shoulders for? Was it in the same regular sized oven at the same temperature? I want to do the same this weekend and am fretting about cooking times…. Thanksx
This is a fantastic, easy recipe. So so tasty. I used lamb shoulder, next time will try leg. It was so succulent and full of flavour. I served this as you suggested with roasted middle eastern veg & fruit & nut pilaf.What a meal it was! Making it again very soon. Thanks again Nagi!
Dear Nagi, thank you for this wonderful recipe! I followed this recipe to roast a 4.5 lbs butterflied leg of lamb for the New Year’s Eve dinner, and it came out so tender and flavorful. I served it with pearl couscous mixed with sautéed mushrooms and parsley. I removed fat from the pan drippings, and used the preserved drippings to reheat the leftovers. What an amazing recipe!!! Happy New Year and my best wishes to you and Dozer.
Hi Nagi, your receipt looks delicious and would like to make it on new year’s eve. Would you recommend using over broiler in place of a grill?
Hi Nagi, I have a 1.4kg lamb shoulder – do I need to reduce the cooking time? Thank you! x
I’m looking at making this recipe for new year at the end of this week, have you done this in an instant pot yet? is it possible to?
Hi Nagi, making this recipe for Christmas and I just marinated it. If it stays in marinade for over 24 hours (36-ish) would that ruin the meat? Should I follow your make ahead recipe instead?
Hi Anu! Nope, that will be fine to stay in the marinade until then. Lamb is a tough cut of meat, it can withstand a long marinade time! N x
I love this recipe – it’s my favourite way to cook lamb shoulder.
Hi Nagi. What a beautiful recipe. I’m planning to make two 2kg lamb shoulders (bone in) for Christmas. How would you adjust the cooking time? Thank you for your wonderful website
Hi Isabella, cook as per the recipe if the weight is the same – as they are two separate pieces, not one large piece (which would take longer to cook) N x
1 Tbs ground cardamom??
Are you sure? That sounds like an awful lot
Yes that’s correct Claure! It’s absolutely amazing! N x
Delish! Since I didn’t barbecue the lamb at the end, I skimmed off the oil, thickened the sauce with cornstarch and added a little brown sugar and lemon into the gravy. Used this gravy, salad and garlic yoghurt in my wrap and it was perfect!
I think this would be great to serve all wrapped in foil for parties. Thanks Nagi!
Wow, this turned out so great! We got a 3lb boneless shoulder from our butcher and cooked it for 8 hours using the slow cook mode on our pressure cooker. We turned it after 2 hours, cut the strings and turned again at 4. After 6 we sliced it into sheets about 1″ thick and removed the unrendered fat chunks. At 8 hours we seared it on the gas grill, then pullet it apart and soaked it in the juice for a few. We drained some of the fat first, but it wasn’t too bad. The flavor and texture was awesome, we’ll definitely make this again..
Oh my lordy this was delish. The flavour was amazing. The smell devine. Lamb so soft. I’ve now tried quite a few of your recipes – huge fan. Thank you for sharing with us.
Hi Nagi,
Im a big fan of your recipes😊
Being Lebanese and growing up around lots of shawarma, i was wondering if you tried tahini sauce with it. Basically once the lamb shawarma is on the pita bread, you add diced tomatoes, chopped cucumber pickles, chopped flat parskey and finally the tahini sauce which is made from some tahini, little lemon juice, water and salt. Some add tiny bit of yogurt into the mixture. I think you’ll like it😊
Thanks for all these beautiful recipes,
Marie