Roast lamb with mint sauce

Name: Roast lamb with mint sauce
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 105 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 6 people
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 2 kg Lamb, bone-in leg; 4 clove Garlic, cut into slivers; 4 piece Rosemary, sprigs, broken into small tufts; 3 tbsp Olive oil, 1 tbsp for the lamb, the rest for the vegetables; 2 tsp Salt; 1 tsp Black pepper; 1.2 kg Floury potatoes, peeled, halved or quartered; 800 g Pumpkin, skin on, cut into large wedges; 1 bunch Mint, leaves only, about 25 g picked; 2 tbsp Sugar; 3 tbsp Water, boiling; 100 ml Vinegar, malt or white wine vinegar; 1 pinch Salt; 2 tbsp Wheat flour; 400 ml Lamb stock or Beef stock; 400 g Peas, frozen

A leg of lamb studded with garlic and rosemary, roasted over potatoes and pumpkin, served with sharp mint sauce, peas and gravy.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.

Start cooking

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 1 hr 45 min
Rest: 20 min
Total: 2 hr 30 min
Difficulty: Easy
Spice: No chilli
Cost: Treat yourself$28+ USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

Image coming soon

About

This is the Australian Sunday roast. A bone-in leg of lamb is studded with garlic and rosemary, rubbed with oil and salt, and roasted until pink near the bone. Potatoes and big wedges of pumpkin roast in the same tray. Mint sauce is the thin, sharp English kind: chopped mint, sugar and boiling water, then vinegar. It is not mint jelly. Peas and a pan gravy finish the plate. The timing is simple: a hot start, then about 20 minutes per 500 g at 180°C, then a proper rest while the vegetables crisp.

What you'll need

16 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 16 ready

6 servings

Roast
Mint sauce
Gravy
To serve

Ingredients

Servings

Roast

Lamb, bone-in leg2 kg
Garlic, cut into slivers4 clove
Rosemary, sprigs, broken into small tufts4
Olive oil, 1 tbsp for the lamb, the rest for the vegetables44 ml
Salt9.9 ml
Black pepper4.9 ml
Floury potatoes, peeled, halved or quartered1.2 kg
Pumpkin, skin on, cut into large wedges800 g

Mint sauce

Mint, leaves only, about 25 g picked1 bunch
Sugar30 ml
Water, boiling44 ml
Vinegar, malt or white wine vinegar100 ml
Salt1 pinch

Gravy

Wheat flour30 ml
Choose one
Lamb stock400 ml

To serve

Peas, frozen400 g

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Take the lamb out of the fridge an hour ahead and heat the oven to 220°C. Make about 15 small, deep cuts all over the leg with a thin knife and push a sliver of garlic and a tuft of rosemary into each. Rub with 1 tbsp of the oil, the salt and the pepper.
15 min220°C
Step 2
Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 8 minutes, drain, and shake them in the colander to rough up the edges. Toss the potatoes and pumpkin with the remaining oil.
12 min
Step 3
Put the lamb in a large roasting tray and roast for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C. Add the potatoes and pumpkin around it and roast for another 60 to 70 minutes, turning the vegetables once. Take the lamb out when the thickest part reads 57°C for pink or 62°C for medium; it climbs 3 to 5 degrees as it rests.
85 min180°C
Tip: Without a thermometer, about 20 minutes per 500 g in total gives pink near the bone.
Step 4
While it roasts, make the mint sauce. Chop the mint leaves finely with the sugar, which stops them bruising black. Put it in a jug, pour over the boiling water and stir to dissolve, then add the vinegar and the pinch of salt. Leave it at least 30 minutes.
10 min
Step 5
Move the lamb to a board, cover it loosely with foil and rest it for 20 minutes. Turn the oven up to 220°C and give the vegetables that time to crisp.
20 min220°C
Step 6
Lift the vegetables into a warm dish. For the gravy, pour all but 2 tbsp of fat from the tray, set it on the hob over medium heat, stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Whisk in the stock, scraping the tray, and simmer until it coats a spoon; add the resting juices. Boil the peas for 3 minutes. Carve the lamb across the grain and serve with everything.
10 min

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 1896 kcal
Protein: 109.7 g
Carbs: 179.3 g
Fat: 78.8 g
Saturated fat: 31.4 g
Fibre: 10.5 g
Sugar: 13 g
Sodium: 1231 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Wheat

Dairy-free
Nut-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.

Substitutions

Leg of lamb → Lamb shoulder
Fattier and better slow: roast covered at 160°C for 3 to 4 hours, uncover for the last half hour, and pull rather than carve.

Tips

A boned and rolled leg cooks faster: allow about 15 minutes per 500 g after the hot start and check with a thermometer.
Mint sauce keeps a week in a jar in the fridge and is better on the second day.
Cold leftover lamb with a smear of mint sauce makes the Monday sandwich.

History & culture

Lamb is the roast most Australian households think of first, for Sunday dinner, Easter, Mother's Day and plenty of Christmases. The meat industry's long-running summer advertising campaigns have pushed it as the thing to eat on Australia Day. Roast pumpkin is the local touch that surprises visitors. The leftovers go into Monday's sandwiches.

Sheep arrived with the First Fleet in 1788, and wool carried much of the colonial economy through the 1800s. For most of that century the meat people ate was mutton, cheap and constant on outback stations. Lamb took over the Sunday table in the twentieth century as farming changed and refrigeration improved. Mint sauce came with the British, unchanged.

Traditional — Families split on gravy, mint sauce, or both. Older recipes cook the lamb well done all through; the timing here gives pink. Roast sweet potato sometimes joins the pumpkin.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Roast lamb with mint sauce take?

2 hr 30 min all in — 25 min prep, 1 hr 45 min cook, 20 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 6 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Easy.

How spicy is it?

No chilli.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Nut-free.

9 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Treat yourself — about $28+ USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Oven, Baking tray, Saucepan, Chef's knife, Cutting board.

How much salt do I put in?

The recipe lists Salt at 2 tsp.

How much sugar?

2 tbsp of Sugar.

How much vinegar?

100 ml (malt or white wine vinegar) of Vinegar.

What can I use instead?

Leg of lamb → Lamb shoulder. Fattier and better slow: roast covered at 160°C for 3 to 4 hours, uncover for the last half hour, and pull rather than carve.

Any tips from this recipe?

A boned and rolled leg cooks faster: allow about 15 minutes per 500 g after the hot start and check with a thermometer. Mint sauce keeps a week in a jar in the fridge and is better on the second day. Cold leftover lamb with a smear of mint sauce makes the Monday sandwich.

Can I prepare this ahead?

Cold leftover lamb with a smear of mint sauce makes the Monday sandwich. Take the lamb out of the fridge an hour ahead and heat the oven to 220°C. Make about 15 small, deep cuts all over the leg with a thin knife and push a sliver of garlic and a tuft of rosemary into each. Rub with 1 tbsp of the oil, the salt and the pepper.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.