Why you’ll love these lamb tacos
I honestly can’t remember where I had lamb tacos first, but I remember how incredibly decadent they were. I knew eventually I would have to replicate them at home.
The mint chimichurri served with is totally optional, but we love it because it’s full of flavor and it’s really fresh and vibrant which contrasts the rich lamb.
While this recipe might seem fancy, it’s honestly super easy to make and requires barely any hands-on time. If you want to speed the recipe up, you can even cook it in a pressure cooker and dinner will be ready in no time.
→ If you like this recipe, you should try these: red wine braised chuck roast / roasted shishito peppers / oven roasted patatas bravas
Ingredient notes:
- Leg of lamb – I buy boneless leg of lamb for this recipe. If you have one with a bone, it will work just as well. It might even have a bit more flavor, but honestly, there’s so much flavor in these lamb tacos, that it won’t make a difference.
- Orange juice – Store-bought, bottled orange juice works just fine. Don’t feel like you need to squeeze your own oranges.
- Mint chimichurri – We always make a batch of this to serve with out lamb tacos, but that’s really up to you.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Frequently asked questions
You don’t have to cover leg of lamb when you’re roasting it, but for this recipe we do because we don’t want the juices to evaporate in the oven.
The cooking time for leg of lamb depends on the size of each piece. Generally, you’ll want to cook it for about 20 – 30 minutes per pound for it to be safe to consume, but, for taco meat, I prefer to cook mine until it reaches an internal temperature of about 175˚F to get that falling-apart tender texture. Since we’re keeping it covered, it should maintain it’s moisture.
There are several ways to prevent lamb from drying out. First, make sure you’re adding some sort of liquid when cooking liquid to the pan (at least a 1/2 cup). Second, searing helps seal in the juices, so don’t skip that step. Lastly, make sure not to over cook the meat.
More taco recipes
- BBQ chicken tacos with fresh pineapple salsa
- Ground chicken tacos
- Blackened fish tacos with cabbage slaw
- Corned beef and cabbage tacos
Lamb Tacos with Mint Chimichurri
Ingredients
For the Rub:
- ½ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp salt
For the tacos:
- 4 pound boneless leg of lamb
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 chipotle peppers, chopped
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce, from can of chipotles
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
To assemble:
- Tortillas, corn or flour
- Mint chimichurri
- Pickled red onions
- Fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Prep and preheat. Preheat your oven to 350˚F and trim any excess fat from your meat.
- Make the dry rub. Mix the spices and salt together in a small bowl using a fork, or a whisk. Then, pat lamb dry and rub spice mixture to coat all sides.
- Sear in the flavor. Heat a large dutch oven to medium-high. Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to coat the bottom.When oil is hot, sear the lamb on all sides until golden brown. Remove lamb and set aside.
- Make the braising liquid. Next, deglaze the pan with orange juice and scrape up all of the browned bits to get all the flavor into your liquid.Then, add the onion, chipotle pepper, garlic and lime juice.
- Braise the lamb. Return the meat to the pot and cover. Transfer it to the oven – or put everything in an oven safe covered dish – and bake for about 3 hours.After the lamb is completely cooked through, it should easily shred. Remove the meat from the pot and shred it. Then, return it to the pan and coat it with the cooking juices.
- Serve the tacos. Remove from oven and shred the lamb. Return it to the pot and stir to coat in the cooking liquids.Serve portions of lamb in warm flour tortillas with mint chimichurri and pickled onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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