Perfect for your Easter dinner table, a joint of lamb cooked in the slow cooker is so succulent and melt in the mouth. What better than slow cooked leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary!
If you are busy with family and friends visiting on Easter Sunday, you can leave your lamb to cook while you hunt for chocolate eggs in the garden, and it won’t need your attention – it’s a win win situation!
Lamb is also of course a great roast dinner for a normal week too, and ideal in the Spring when the British lamb is in the shops.
Ingredients
- lamb joint – leg of lamb (half or whole) or lamb shoulder. If you are cooking a whole leg make sure it fits your slow cooker – as a guide I tend to cook a 2 kg leg of lamb in a large 5.7 litre slow cooker, this fits well but it depends on the length of the leg joint.
- garlic – you’ll use a few cloves of garlic, sliced if large.
- rosemary – fresh gives better flavour than dried so try to use fresh if you can, a rosemary bush in the garden is so useful for this.
- mint sauce – if you love mint sauce then keep a jar of your favourite mint sauce or jelly in the fridge for your lamb, it lasts for ages.
- red onion – good as a base to put your meat on, also adds flavour if you want to make gravy from the meat juices afterwards.
- salt and pepper – always season your meat to your taste.
Method
See the one minute video I’ve added in the post to show you how to make this slow cooker lamb with garlic and rosemary, or check out these step by step instructions.
You’ll find the quantities in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step 1. Slice the red onion and put it in the base of the slow cooker pot. Put the lamb leg (whole or half) on top and make incisions using a sharp knife.
Step 2. Slice the cloves of garlic (if large) and push them into the holes. Pull the rosemary apart into small sprigs and push these into the holes too. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 3. Spread the mint sauce (if using) over the top of the lamb with a teaspoon.
Put the lid on and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Check the lamb is cooked through using a meat thermometer – check that it has reached between 60°C and 70°C / 140 to 158 °F. Don’t forget! Timings vary depending on the size of the piece of lamb you are cooking and the power of your slow cooker itself, so use these timings as a guide.
Step 4. Once the cooking time is up, transfer the lamb to a plate, remove the rosemary from the holes, and carve.
If you like, make gravy from the juices. See how to do this in my slow cooker whole chicken recipe.
Variations
We have slow cooker lamb with garlic and rosemary regularly for Sunday dinner so I have a few variations to show you. It’s a firm favourite in our house!
Here we have half a lamb shoulder with red onion, garlic and rosemary. Just prepared as you can see in the photo, there is no liquid added at all.
A leg of lamb is another great option if you have a large slow cooker, as you can even fit in a whole one if you choose carefully, and feed a crowd at Easter or New Year.
This next version is a leg of lamb, with slashes cut into it and garlic and sprigs of rosemary pushed into the slashes, with loads of mint sauce smeared over it (in a 5.7 litre slow cooker).
After cooking, the lamb has browned in the slow cooker and comes away from the bone cleanly, and you can see the wonderful rich juices produced by the meat.
This is delicious if you want to make your own gravy by adding a little flour and cooking it off in a pan.
In this version below, I have not used mint sauce but done the same with the garlic and rosemary. This is a half leg of lamb and it was cooked for about 4 hours on high.
I use high to cook meat if I am only putting it on at lunch time, ready for the evening. If cooking all day, you would generally use the low setting.
After cooking the meat is so tender, and falls off the bone. The garlic and rosemary can be removed now and their flavours have cooked through the lamb during the long slow cooking.
The meat has turned golden brown and you would almost not believe this is from a slow cooker! Just remove the rosemary stalks, squeeze the cooked garlic over the meat then serve.
For more slow cooker roast recipes make sure you take a look at my guide to slow cooker roasts.
More lamb recipes
For some other lamb recipes to try, how about:
- Slow cooker lamb casserole
- Slow cooker lamb curry
- Slow cooker lamb moussaka
- Slow cooker pastitsio
- 7-hour spiced pulled leg of lamb from Foodie Quine
- Shetland lamb casserole with creamy herbed polenta from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Related
Recipe
Slow Cooker Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 kg leg of lamb (or lamb shoulder)
- salt and pepper
- 4-5 cloves (4 cloves) of garlic
- rosemary a few sprigs
- 1 red onion
- 3 tsp mint sauce
Equipment
Video
Instructions
- If using red onion, slice it up and put it in the bottom of the slow cooker pot.1 red onion
- Place the lamb in the slow cooker, make slashes in the meat and push the cloves of garlic and sprigs of rosemary into the holes.1 kg leg of lamb (or lamb shoulder) , 4-5 cloves / 4 cloves of garlic, rosemary
- Season with salt and pepper.salt and pepper
- If using mint sauce, spoon it over the lamb.3 tsp mint sauce
- Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8 hours.
- Discard the rosemary stalks and squeeze the cooked garlic over the meat then serve.
Notes
Jan Pallas says
Sounds great but recipe doesn’t indicate how many servings
bakingqueen74 says
Hi Jan. Normally you will get the serving information on the piece of meat you buy – for example a half leg of lamb of around 1 kg usually serves around 4 people. A whole leg of lamb around 2.5 kg will serve around 8 people. It also depends on your appetite of course so I would recommend considering your family’s needs and looking at the serving information on the piece of lamb you have bought.
Corinne McAuley says
Is your recipe and time in the slow cooker for a boneless lamb shoulder. What about the weight of the piece of meat? I have a 4.5 lb. Boneless lamb shoulder. Would it still take 8 hours on low?
bakingqueen74 says
Hi Corinne, the recipe is for a shoulder or leg of lamb with bone in. The standard cooking time is 7-8 hours on low so yes this would be the same for boneless shoulder.
Andrea says
Tried this with a leg of lamb to practice for Easter, we really enjoyed it so will definitely be making this recipe again on Easter Sunday. Thanks very much!
bakingqueen74 says
Brilliant, thanks for leaving your review
Katie Bryson (@cookingkt) says
Such a great idea to use your slow cooker for some lovely tender lamb this Easter. Luckily we’re going out for lunch on Sunday or i’d SO be using your recipe!
lovelyappetite says
This looks so tender I could eat it right now! Yum!!!
Helen Costello (@CasaCostello) says
Such simple ingredients that make a stunning meal. I’m a recent convert to Lamb but my its good! Pomegranate & lamb is one of my faves too x
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed says
Love the look of your lamb Lucy, it looks delicious, the perfect way to celebrate Easter.
bakingqueen74 says
Thank you Sarah, I have got my eye on your lamb shank recipe!
Sammie says
It had never occurred to me to use our slow cooker for the slow roasted lamb shoulder we had on Sunday. That said our slow cooker is 20 years old and you can’t put anything in cold! Time for an update I think. I’ve been cooking lamb in the Easter build up, but yours Lucy, in a slow cooker, so much easier. Thank you for giving me inspiration to update our slow cooker. Sammie.
bakingqueen74 says
Thank you Sammie, the newer slow cookers are great you must try one!