Slow cooked lamb is one of my favourite things to cook and eat. It's easy, it’s delicious, but it’s also the anticipation that I love. The kitchen is filled with the most enticing aroma, and for hours you wait in childlike excitement to finally dig into perfectly cooked, tender roast lamb. Serve with some roast potatoes, braised peas and whipped brown butter with fresh sourdough rolls and you have a real feast.

If you’ve never made a roast lamb recipe before, or have felt nervous about making it, I’m here to show you step by step how to make the perfect leg of lamb in red wine, and spoiler alert, it’s so much easier than you think. The oven does all the work, you enjoy the deliciousness.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Roast lamb with red wine is a winning flavour combination. Both elements taste better when paired together.
• It’s effortlessly easy. Honestly, how can such a show stopping dish take such little effort?
• It’s hard to stuff up. Because it is slow roasted and the meat is pulled, then covered in the red wine sauce, you won’t have to worry about the meat being dry or tough.
• The leftovers also give. Almost as exciting as the main dish are the spinoffs you can make with the leftovers. Think gyros, tacos, sandos, pilaf, ragu, soup, salad. The list is in fact endless.

Pulled lamb - how it works, why do you cook it low and slow?

Ok, time to nerd out for a bit on lamb. There’s a few ways to make roast lamb: Roasted to blushing pink - then carved/sliced, braised in a slow cooker or dutch oven, on the smoker to make smoked pulled lamb or low and slow in the oven to make pulled lamb. No slicing is needed with pulled lamb, just two trusty forks to lift off the meat from the bone and ‘pulled’ to create bite sized pieces. This is what we’re making today!

The key is low and slow, cooking for 5 hours to get proper pulled meat. Here’s why: Lamb meat has fat marbling and a high amount of collagen and which means it has connective tissue and intramuscular fat throughout the meat, that must break down so the muscle fibres can separate.

The collagen in the connective tissue turns into gelatin when cooked at 160-180°F (77-88°C) over several hours, creating the silky and tender meat that falls off the bone - yum!

The fat melts and distributes through the meat, making it juicy and rich in flavour - double yum!

Choosing your cut of lamb: Lamb leg vs lamb shoulder for pulled lamb

Both cuts are great for making pulled lamb. Shoulder is a popular choice because it has more connective tissue and fat, which helps keep the meat juicy and tender. However, it can be harder to find in some areas (like mine), so leg is a perfectly suitable alternative, which I have used in this recipe.

Ideally, you want a bone-in cut, as it roasts better and enhances flavor. That said, if only a boneless leg of lamb is available, don’t let that stop you—you can still get delicious results.

When buying lamb, if possible, choose good-quality meat from your local butcher.

Making a red wine sauce from roast lamb

This red wine sauce is made from the pan juices, aromatics, stock and of course red wine. I love to add muscatelle dried grapes in with the lamb. They add a deeper port wine flavour to the red wine sauce, and they plump up during the cooking process and become a delicious accompaniment to the lamb. It is well worth finding these, but If you can’t, fresh grapes work well too when in season.

When the roasted leg lamb is resting, you boil down the pan juices with some added ingredients to make a sauce that is rich, concentrated and delicious.

Cooking tips (see actual recipe card below)

• Prepare the lamb for cooking: Pat the meat dry with paper towel, then trim any big bits of sinewy fat. If there is a fat cap, you can score it.
• Brown the lamb: This helps build flavour in the cooking process.
• Roast low and slow: Don’t rush the cook time, it’s worth the wait.Lamb will only pull after the Cover with foil: This ensures the meat stays hydrated throughout the cook. Only for the last 30 minutes will you remove the foil and get some nice browning on the outside.
• Let it rest: Allowing the meat to rest, covered, for 30 minutes will redistribute the juices and make it more tender.

Troubleshooting: What if the lamb doesn’t pull apart easily?

This could be because the lamb wasn’t cooked long enough for the connective tissue to break down, or because the oven temp was too hot and so the muscle fibres seized up.

The way to fix this is to keep cooking until it does become tender. If the oven is too hot, lower the oven temp, and cook for another 30 mins to an hour, to allow the lamb to do its thing. If it looks dry, add some more wine or stock to rehydrate.

Other variations to try:

I love this recipe served with traditional sides, even the mint sauce, but here are some fun ways to change it up:

• Serve with mediterranean flavours like minted Greek yoghurt and spiced rice
• Serve over cous cous, scatter over mint, pomegranate and a side of pita bread

Sensational sides to serve with pulled leg of lamb with red wine sauce

Potatoes are a no-brainer to go with lamb. Here are my fave potato recipes to turn this dish into a feast: roast potatoes or Truffle Potato Gratin with Gruyere and Smoked Cheddar Potatoes and lamb wins every time.

Other dishes to make alongside this roast lamb is my Petits pois à la Française, a total crowdpleaser and perfect for bigger family events like Thanksgiving and Christmas. This Pear, Prosciutto and Rocket Salad, Purple Cabbage Slaw and Apple Cabbage Slaw with Creamy Mayo Dressing are lovely light salad accompaniments to a rich dish like this one.

Love lamb recipes?

My lamb cutlets with honey harissa vegetables is another dinner fave.