How to cook lamb shoulder

This flavourful, ample cut consists of nicely marbled meat that has a pronounced sweetness. Because the shoulder muscles do more work than the leg muscles, they're less tender and thus take well to long, slow roasting or braising.

The cut

This is a tasty roast, but it's very hard to carve with the bone in. To make carving easier, butchers will bone it and sell it as a boneless rolled shoulder, or they'll slice the roast into blade chops and then tie them together as a pre-sliced shoulder roast or pre-carved shoulder roast. A pre-sliced roast is convenient, but it tends to dry out in the oven.

How to cook

Best cooking methods – Slow, Simmer, Roast

Use a sharp cook’s knife to make 6-9 small but deep cuts in the lamb, through to the bone. Sit in a shallow-sided baking dish. Massage oil and seasoning into the cuts. Cover loosely with foil.

Roast in the preheated oven for 2½-3 hours (or until the meat begins to fall from the bone), removing the foil in the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Remove from the oven and allow to sit covered for 20 minutes, reserving the juices. Carve the lamb into chunky pieces, place it on a serving plate with your choice sides, and drizzle over the reserved juices.

When slow cooking, season and brown the lamb shoulder in a preheated stovetop-proof casserole dish over medium-high heat. Stir in browned vegetables or fruits for flavour with a dash more oil. Simmer on top of the stove for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Alternatively, bake at 160ºC for 1-1½ hours.