Marinated Lamb
Shoulder Chops
MARINATING TIME 30 Mins To 1 Day
ACTIVE TIME 30 Mins
SERVES 4
While shoulder chops, one of the cheaper lamb cuts, can be a little tough, the marinade helps keep them tender and tasty – and even 30 minutes can do wonders. These are the lamb chops I made in both 4 Levels of Lamb Chops on Epicurious and my Easter dinner video! They taste great, and they’re impressive enough for a date night or special dinner while being easy enough for any home cook. I prefer to start the marinade in the morning then cook on the cast iron pan at night.
What you need
MEAT
- 8 lamb shoulder chops
for serving
- Chopped parsley or mint
Pan Sauce
(optional)
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
Marinade
- 1 Tbsp fresh minced rosemary
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for cooking
- 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
How it’s done
Make your marinade
Whisk together all marinade ingredients.
zip it and lock it
Combine with lamb chops in a large ziploc bag. Marinate at least 30 minutes.
cook after waiting
When ready, heat cast iron pan to medium high, add a little olive oil, and cook chops roughly 3-4 minutes on first side, then 2 minutes on the other side for a medium cook. Exact cooking time will depend on how thick your lamb chop is.
wait after cooking
Rest under tinfoil 10 minutes before serving.
get saucy
Meanwhile, make pan sauce: deglaze the pan with red wine and scrape up all the good bits, add stock, bring to a boil, and reduce.
and go!
Serve chops with sauce drizzled over top. Top with chopped herbs. As seen on Epicurious in 4 Levels of Lamb Chops and in my Easter Dinner.
EXTRA NOTES
Struggling to get your meat temp right? A thermometer can be a huge help! I have the one I use in Stuff I Love. But, if a purchase isn’t on the menu right now, I find watching the sides of the piece of meat to see how cooked they are can be a huge help. Generally, knowing the middle will be a little less cooked than the sides, you can judge how cooked a piece of meat is by seeing if the color change is creeping up the sides. If you’re looking for less done, flip before the new color gets halfway up; more done, wait til it goes a little past the halfway point.
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