10 wonderful ways to barbecue lamb

One of my favourite neighbourhood restaurants is the local Ocakbaşı Turkish kebab house, which boasts a huge charcoal grill where they cook skewered kebabs. Most of the time I choose lamb, it lends itself very well to a charcoal grill and is delicious slightly burnt on the outside, but still pink and tasty in the middle.

It’s a shame that lamb does not feature more on our barbecues, beef and chicken always seem more popular.

Here are 10 ideas to get some lamb onto your barbecue!

When it comes to a barbecue, I think that marinating improves almost everything. This recipe is perfect for using up the remains of a pot of redcurrant jelly, which is heated with balsamic vinegar, garlic and herbs to make a tasty glaze for lamb chops.

Find the recipe at Fuss Free Flavours

Franglais Kitchen is my go-to blog for more complicated recipes, which are broken down into smaller achievable steps. This recipe calls for a half leg of lamb slowly roasted in a barbecue at 120C for 8 hours.

Find the recipe at Franglais Kitchen

The most-simple recipes are often the best, these skewers from An Italian in my Kitchen use diced lamb, which once cooked is seasoned with olive oil and parmesan.

Find the recipe at An Italian in my Kitchen

You will find sosaties at every South African barbecue with different meats and marinades. This lamb recipe by Michelle from Greedy Gourmet is from the Cape Malay region and uses apricot jam in the sauce.

Find the recipe at Greedy Gourmet

Fajitas will always be a crowd pleaser as they are very adaptable. Just layout a selection of fillings and let everyone pick and choose according to their taste. This recipe uses a boned shoulder of lamb spread out to absorb the marinade and also to cook quickly.

Find the recipe at Fearless Dining

With a traditional Mongolian barbecue, the food is stir-fried on a circular metal plate. In this take on the Mongolian barbecue lamb chops are marinated overnight and then cooked on a regular barbecue and served with a red pepper sauce.

Find the recipe at Kevin is Cooking

Burritos make a perfect grab and go meal. Protein, salad and some carbohydrates all wrapped up in one handy foil wrapped roll. The lamb in these burritos from a Mummy Too are marinated in Mexican spice rub, cooked on the barbecue and then served with refried beans.

Find the recipe at A Mummy Too

Inspired by her Greek heritage Marissa at OMG Food gives lamb shoulder chops a simple treatment of marinating in oregano, lemon, olive oil, pepper and salt before cooking. Her top tip is to use Greek oregano as it has so much more flavour.

Find the recipe at OMG Food

Burgers are perfect for a more casual barbecue, fast to cook and easy to eat with one hand while standing and chatting to your friends. These spicy lamb burgers from Shockingly Delicious have a clever quick short cut ingredient of a glug of chilli sauce for flavour. Choose whatever you have to hand!

Find the recipe at Shockingly Delicious

South African Jeanne from Cook Sister Blog takes her barbecue, or braai, very seriously and urges everyone to be adventurous and to cook more substantial pieces of meat on theirs. I love her recipe for a whole leg of lamb, which promises to be tender, moist and full of flavour—we’ll be giving it a go this weekend.

Find the recipe at Cook Sister

Helen Best-Shaw, is a freelance food & recipe writer and blogger at Fuss Free Flavours.

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