Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy

Recipe video above. I love a roast lamb leg! My top tip is to use a meat thermometer. There's no way to guarantee perfect blushing pink roast lamb without one, even if it's a cheap one!Rubbed with rosemary garlic and accompanied with a killer gravy for lamb. Serve with peas, buttered steamed carrots and crunchy roast potatoes (either classic or ultra crunchy duck fat potatoes).

Recipe by Nagi | RecipeTin Eats on March 24, 2023

Prep time: PT5M

Cook time: PT100M

Total time: PT15M

Rating

4.96 stars (75 reviews)

Keywords

Roast Lamb Leg

Ingredients

2.75 - 3 kg / 5.5 - 6 lb lamb leg (, bone-in (Note 1))
1 1/2 tsp cooking salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves (, finely chopped)
3 garlic cloves (, finely minced)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 whole heads of garlic (, halved horizontally (Note 2))
Few sprigs rosemary ((optional))
4 tbsp flour (, plain/all purpose)
2 1/2 cups beef broth / stock (, low sodium (Note 3))

Cuisine

Aussie
British
New Zealand

Steps

Take lamb out of fridge at least 1 hour before roasting. (Note 4)
Preheat oven to 240°C/475°F (220°C fan) with oven shelf in the middle.
Rub - Mix rosemary, garlic and olive oil.
Prepare lamb - Place lamb leg in a roasting pan. Coat with the rub using your hands, the sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Place garlic and rosemary sprigs underneath the lamb, garlic cut face up.
Roast lamb leg for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan) and roast for a further 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 53°C/127°F for medium rare (Note 5 other doneness). Check first at 45 minutes - everyone's oven is different!
Rest - Remove lamb from oven. Transfer lamb to plate, loosely cover with foil and rest for 20 minutes to 1 hour (it will still be warm enough for serving!). The internal temperature will rise to 62°C/144°F (medium rare). Make gravy while lamb is resting - below.
Serve lamb with gravy, duck fat or classic crunchy roast potatoes, peas and steamed carrots tossed with butter and parsley.
Gravy for roast lamb leg
- Drippings in pan - Discard rosemary sprigs. You should have around 4 - 5 tbsp of fat (drippings). If less, add butter. If much more, discard a bit.
- Add flour - Place roasting pan on stove over medium heat. When the fat starts to bubble, then add flour. Mix flour in and cook for 1 minute.
- Stock - Pour in half the beef stock and mix to dissolve sludge in, then add remaining beef stock and mix.
- Garlic squidging - Use a potato masher (if you're really keen like me) to mush the garlic to squeeze out the flavour (also helps flour caught in garlic to dissolve).
- Taste - Check salt and pepper (I don't add more).
- Thicken - Simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring, until it starts to thicken. Take it off the stove BEFORE the gravy is the thickness you want because it will keep thickening.
- Strain into a bowl, mushing garlic to squeeze all the liquid out. Then pour into gravy jug and serve with lamb!

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 275 g
Calories: 450 kcal
Carbohydrates: 3.3 g
Protein: 54.6 g
Fat: 22.7 g
Saturated Fat: 6.1 g
Cholesterol: 169 mg
Sodium: 381 mg
Unsaturated Fat: 16.6 g

Reviews

Lindy Gibbon on 2026-04-01 (5 stars):
Love how easy this recipe is and the gravy is sublime. I like to marinade my lamb leg overnight and sometimes add slivers of anchovy and garlic into the flesh with a teaspoon each of ground cumin and coriander for a more Moroccan vibe. Having this on Sunday with all my family here for the long weekend. Our sides of choice dauphinois potatoes and ratatouille, roasted carrots, parsnips, cauliflower. Followed up with a ginger rhubarb crumble and custard. Yummers. Happy Easter xx
logan on 2026-03-17 (5 stars):
it was very good thanks
Terry on 2026-03-02 (4 stars):
This was a simple recipe that I could follow. I think I have to take into account the shape of the leg of lamb as well. Mine was a 6lb boneless leg of lamb but it was an oblong shape and parts of the lamb was cooked medium rare and medium. I love this recipe.
Lulu Chong on 2025-12-25 (5 stars):
A perfect Christmas Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy! Very easy recipe with video demonstrating each steps. My family loved it!
Megan Cooper on 2025-12-21 (5 stars):
Just so well explained. Delicious success!
Richard Nicholls on 2025-11-01 (5 stars):
Growing up in Australia in the 60s and 70s included a traditional Sunday lamb roast that was all rather bland. Not anymore! This is an outstanding version of roast lamb and the gravy topped everything off perfectly (including when poured over the traditional vege sides). This is simply magic. This recipe could achieve world peace.
Jan Hux on 2025-10-29 (5 stars):
Fabulous recipe. I made it the first time without doing the gravy but when I saw all the lovely brown bits in the pan I regretted that. So simple and so delicious. I appreciated the reassurance that it could stand for half an hour - gave me lots of time to make the gravy and get the sides organized. Thanks!
Kelly on 2025-10-20 (5 stars):
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Lamb was perfect, gravy was like velvet. Excellent instructions! Thanks so much.
Angela on 2025-08-16 (5 stars):
Hello, Made this tonight for dinner and it was so delicious! The lamb was perfect and the gravy was very yummy! Thank you! Love your website, use it quite often! Have a lovely day!
Andy on 2025-06-22 (4 stars):
Lamb and gravy tasted very good. Only problem was different temperatures of the leg of lamb. Middle had lowest temperature and ends were more well done. Not sure what to do about that situation.
Hannah on 2025-06-16 (5 stars):
My first roast of any kind. Was pretty scary but followed this recipe and it turned out beautifully.
Cathy on 2025-04-26 (5 stars):
I live on the NSW Mid North Coast and our village has 2 local butchers and I find their lamb superior to the Supermarkets these days. Overall less fat and more meat, so my husband and I we get two baked dinners and lamb sandwiches, as well.
Donald L. Coates on 2025-04-23 (5 stars):
We decided to try a leg of lamb for the first time (married 50+ years) to celebrate Easter. I've learned to not try a new recipe without checking with you first. We followed your advice as written, served with asparagus and mashed potatoes. I made sure there was plenty of gravy! We have delicious leftovers, some of which will be cubed to make a yummy Shephard's Pie, following your guidance. Thank you for not making me appear to be as stupid as I look. 😍
Julie Gaye on 2025-04-18 (5 stars):
I cooked this roast lamb with gravy, Nagi wonderful recipe - medium as, medium rare is a little bit underdone for my family, and it came out simply perfect, so the oven timing and temp were just right! There were still juices upon slicing, and the brown skin flavour was simply full of flavour and delicious. 10/10
Tique B on 2025-02-22 (5 stars):
Winner winner lamb dinner- I’ve cooked lamb for many years and thought I was pretty good but you direction’s elevated the dish to a whole new level. Cooked at a higher heat but for a shorter time. Again thank you for your generosity in sharing your experience
Anne Marie on 2025-02-14 (5 stars):
This lamb turned out perfectly once again. I love the rub crust and not having to faff around with prodding in rosemary and garlic slivers! :) I had some of the gravy in my freezer from last time so put the lamb on a rack in a deep roasting tin. If you do this, be very, very careful when removing your lamb from the tin. Tonight, I served some sliced leftovers with Nagi's heavenly cauliflower cheese and tomato salad. It was sublime, Mmm ... Thanks Nagi x
Katie on 2024-12-29 (5 stars):
Wonderful! I didn't change a thing.