Roast Lamb Shawarma Recipe

This nicely spiced roast lamb shawarma is tender, aromatic, and with an authentic flavor that will take you on a glorious trip to the middle east. Easy to make and to-die-for, this can be a great recipe to make-ahead or for a party menu.

And add some tabbouleh and hummus too.

What is Shawarma?

Shawarma is a popular middle eastern dish prepared by stacking thin cuts of marinated meat, then slow roasting on a vertical rotisserie or spit and thinly slicing off the outer roasted layers while it continues to rotate. 

Traditionally made with lamb, it is now also made with beef, veal, chicken or turkey.

Roast Lamb Shawarma

If you live far away from restaurants that serve shawarma and you crave that hugely popular middle eastern street food, then making it at home is the best solution. And this recipe is just the right fix for those cravings.

Besides, it is easy to make it ahead and freeze in bulk. It is a great option for a party menu as you can make a lot at a time to feed a crowd.

Recipe Ingredients

• Spices:
  • cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, nutmeg, paprika, sumac. Make the spice blend in bulk to use it later.
  • I also use a tiny bit of star anise and fenugreek seeds, which adds an intense element to the spice blend, but that is optional.
  • You could also substitute with baharat spice. Be sure to add the sumac and salt.
• Ginger, Garlic, Onions, Lemon Juice
• Olive oil
• Deboned leg of lamb
• Salt

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• Authentic flavor with easy to find ingredients.
• Less effort and minimal prep for a dish that can feed a large gathering.
• Scoring and marination technique infuses aromas perfectly.
• Not necessary to watch over and slice meat continuously.
• Lamb is roasted fat side up initially, which helps render the fat that flows down into the pan, while roasting the meat underneath. Similar to the traditional method that uses fat layers to add juiciness and flavor to the meat.
• The thin layer of fat on top also retains juices better, while meat on the other side is kept juicy with steaming water.
• Slow roasted and basting with the juices.
• Can be made ahead and leftovers freeze well.

How to Make It

Purchase and Thaw

1. Choose grass fed lamb leg that has been deboned and butterflied, and is about 4 pounds. This way the meat is like a thick sheet that can easily absorb the flavors and sliced like shawarma. Leg of lamb is more lean and tender than other cuts of lamb.
2. You can ask the butcher to prepare the lamb ready for seasoning. Avoid meat cuts from overly mature livestock. Thaw the meat in the refrigerator.

Prepare the Meat

1. Trim off extra fat, especially on the fat side, leaving just a thin layer. Look for thick pockets of fat on the other side and carefully slice it off.
2. On the meat side make some slashes about one inch deep in the thickest parts, to increase the surface area for marination. Flip over and make some slashes on the fat side, that are not too deep, barely going through the fat layer.

Season and Marinate

1. Grind all the spices into a fine powder in a spice grinder. Combine the shawarma spice mix with grated ginger and garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.
2. Apply ⅔ of the spice paste onto the seam side, rubbing into the slashes. Use the remaining marinade on the fat side evenly.
3. Marinate few hours to overnight. 

Cooking Time: Varies with the number of pounds and age of the animal. Typically 30 minutes of roasting time for each pound and a little extra overall. About 2 to 2^½ hours for a 4 pound butterflied lamb leg. The meat should be cooked fork tender but do not overcook it.

Roast the Lamb Meat

1. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting.
2. Scatter onions slices in the roasting pan and place a rack over that. Then place the marinated lamb leg, fat side up, over the rack and pour some water in the pan. Cover and bake for about 1½ hours. 
3. Baste the lamb with the juices collected in the pan.
4. Without lid, roast the fat side until golden brown on the top.
5. Flip the butterflied lamb leg and place it seam side up. Brush with juices.
6. Roast until meat has a golden brown crust on the other side too. It is well done, when the meat is fork tender but don’t roast until it disintegrates. Let it rest for some minutes before cutting. That will retain the juices better and make it firmer.

Well done or rare? Unlike roast lamb, which may be served medium rare, medium or well done, shawarma is served well done.

Roasting Internal Temperature: Roast the lamb until the thickest part of the meat registers a minimum temperature of  165ºF and the juices run clear. The cooking temperature will continue to rise for about 10 minutes after removing from the oven.

Slice the Shawarma

1. Using a sharp knife cut thin slices against the grain. Save the juices from the roasting pan to use for reheating or drizzle on the meat while making sandwiches.

How to Serve it

• Serve shawarma with flatbread such as barbari, sliced vegetables (cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, onions), tahini sauce (recipe notes below), hot sauce, pickles and cucumber tomato and onion salad.
• Any middle eastern rice or couscous dish. Some suggestions: baghali polo or Simple Couscous with mast-o musir.

Lamb Nutrition Facts

Lamb is a great source of high quality protein and vitamin B-12. It also provides niacin, selenium, zinc, phosphorus and Iron.

It is recommended that red meats, such as lamb should be consumed in moderation, since a diet rich in red meats can increase the risk of certain chronic diseases.

Choose grass fed lamb as it is more lean and a relatively better source of omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid, both of which are associated with good health benefits

More Lamb Recipes

• Lamb Shank Recipe
• Koobideh (Persian Ground Meat Kabobs)
• Kotlet (Persian Meat Patties)
• Shishlik (Grilled Lamb Chops)

More Lamb Stews

• Moroccan Stew With Lamb and Vegetables
• Lamb Tagine with Mushrooms and Olives
• Ghormeh Sabzi

Full Recipe Tutorial Video

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