Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem Lamb Shawarma Recipe (2024)

I have made this about 4 times and everyone loves it. Instead of roasting it, I use the sous vide for up to 24 hours and then finish it by browning it on the grill. It is juicy, tender and irresistible.

I have made this twice for crowds with bone-in legs of lamb--very juicy, not at all dry. I served it with harissa sauce, chopped cucumber and tomatoes, and an amazing yogurt sauce plus pita. This is equally wonderful as a winter dish. In the end, one guest stood in the kitchen trying to get every last bit of meat off of the bone.

I made this but used boneless leg of lamb because that's what my butcher had- it was delicious but was a little dry because I did not adjust the time to account for the fact that it was boneless. Will do this again with lamb on the bone.

It came out fantastic on the BBQ last night. Used a boneless leg of lamb, laid it out flat, smeared both sides with the marinade and let it sit all day. Grilled it on high heat for 20 minutes a side (depends on how thick your lamb is), until 120-degress. Let it sit covered for another 20 minutes while I made the amazing pita bread (also on the BBQ, but on a cookie sheet - did 4 at a time). Added the mint/basil yogurt sauce from another NYT lamb recipe and everyone raved! Bad news - no leftovers!

You must mean cardamon seeds and not pods, right ? Grinding the pods would be unpleasantly fibrous.

I used a boneless leg, which significantly reduces cooking time. A good sauce for this can be made from yogurt, tahini, pomegranate molasses and lemon juice. If you are having a hard time finding fenugreek, which is a very important ingredient here, go to a nutrition store and buy a fenugreek dietary supplement. The capsules should contain nothing but pure powdered fenugreek (read the label to make sure). It is very potent in this form.

Pretty much any lamb will benefit from low-temping. I often do a shoulder, 12 hours at about 95-100 degrees celsius, and it turns out amazing. I imagine this would do the same. And no risk of overcooking it so it becomes dry either.

I had a boneless leg of lamb, so after marinating for about 8 hours, I cooked it in a roasting pan at 425 degrees, 20 minutes, turned it, cooked another 20 minutes, and was tender, just barely well done. Did not add water. I was lazy, so added some fingerling potatoes and carrots, cut into about 1/2 inch widths, and they came out excellent, slightly carmelized. Dinner in one dish.

Used a 3 lb boneless leg and about 1/2 spice mix. Roasted at 325 convention oven for about 1.5 hrs. Perfect. The non lamb lovers said to make it again! *did not have sumac or cilantro - added lemon peel to grinder

I made this yesterday with 4.5 lb. bone-in, grass fed lamb leg and it was divine. This is not your usual medium-rare lamb; the longer roasting time yields another result entirely. I grilled eggplant, peppers, and onions for a side. For the leftovers, I've made a sort of chimichurri sauce, using aji amarillo, garlic and lemon juice, ground walnuts, Italian parsley and more fresh cilantro, some plain yogurt, and black pepper. Wrapped in fresh, warm naan, this is messy and really delicious.

3lb boneless leg - 325 degrees for 90 minutes

A fantastic recipe BUT, strongly advise to do 2.5-3 hours. 4 hours is just too long and leaves the meat a bit dry. Also adding boiling water is essential, while it says one cup of water it really depends on your tin. The key here is make sure there’s a good centimetre of liquid at the base of the tin throughout the cooking time.Highly recommend you serve this with yoghurt (add diced baby cucumber, dried mint and salt)

Delicious, even enjoyed by those who say they don't normally like lamb. I left out star anise because I forgot to purchase, but was extremely flavorful none the less. I had a 4.5 bone in leg, same herb amount, put in the slow cooker on low setting for 8 hours and it was perfect. I did add a 1/3 cup of water 2 hours in, but I would skip it next time- so much liquid came off the meat. Maybe a tiny bit dry off the bone, but once shredded and added back to cooking liquid for 10 min, it was perfect.

This is a truly delicious recipe. Fenugreek is an essential note. My major challenge with this recipe is how to know when it’s done cooking. I had a 5lb boneless cut. I cooked at 325 degrees (based on the printed recipe in Jerusalem) for 5 hours. Very tender but it dried out. I basted each hour with the accumulated fat (there was a lot) but I didn’t add much water - mistake I think bc I couldn’t make a pan sauce to help with dryness. I served with a lot of condiments - tahini etc. Delicious!

Pretty disappointing dish. I made this exactly according to the instructions, (bone-in lamb, same weight and temp as instructed, basted hourly with liquid at base, and covered with foil), and it turned out unbelievably dry and overcooked. I would suggest cutting the cooking time by at least an hour and maybe reducing temperature as well. But even then, I doubt it would be worth the trouble. Find a different recipe instead.

Just made this with a boneless leg of lamb. Basted every 15 minutes until I covered it with foil, slow roasted at 325° for almost 4 hours.Meat was fall-apart tender, and there was enough fat to keep the meat moist. Another Ottolenghi success.Btw I bought fenugreek from the Indian grocer - $2.99 bought me enough to last a lifetime of curry dishes!

Any cut of beef to recommendation to swap this recipe with ?

Would this be better with lamb shoulder? Shoulder seems to get more tender with long roasting times while leg always seems to dry out.

We add 2-3 leeks and 2-3 fennel bulbs, sliced thickly and laid on the bottom of the roasting pan under the lamb just before we put the lamb in the ovenWe use two x 3 pounds of boneless legs of lamb to serve 7-9 people.Total cook time is 3 hours. We add water after 30 minutes and add more water at 60 minutes. At 30 mins - add 1 hot boiling waterAt 1 hour - cover with foil, and add more boiling water, At 2 hours - baste it3 hours - ready and can baste it again too.Amazing!

Made the same amount of marinade for a 3lb boneless leg; marinated overnight in the fridge, brought to room temp and then roasted at 325 for 90 minutes until 125 degrees. It came up to 140 degrees sitting out of the oven. Juicy and so flavorful!

I mixed the spices with about 1/2 cup of plain whole Greek yogurt and then smeared this over the lamb. Excellent!!!

Good, but I won't make it again. Marinated in fridge for 24 hours. I had a 8 bone-in leg, and it reached internal temp of 170 within 4 hours. Turned down heat after that. Tender and tasty, but not memorable.

Absolutely amazing! I just reduced the cooking time, but everything else was perfect! 150 celsius (fan) for 3 hours - 2.5kg leg of lamb bone-in :)

I make a twist on this by cubing boneless leg of lamb then marinading in the spice/herb mixture. Thread on skewers and grill. I also freeze the cubes in the marinade and they are just just as delicious. Very handy to have for a quick no-prep meal

So, for storage, any reason NOT to preserve it in the defatted juice?

There are so many ingredients in the list that do not appear in the recipe instructions! Garlic, fresh ginger, chopped cilantro, lemon juice, and peanut oil.

Made this for Easter Sunday, delicious, big hit. Served it with Israeli couscous tabouleh, shizrahi salad, stuffed grape leaves, Tzatziki and warm pita. Great meal