How Long to Cook Half Leg of Lamb in Oven

One pan recipe for slow roasted goat leg glazed with pomegranate syrup and served with baked potatoes. Tender and succulent meat that will impress your guests!

Slow roasted lamb (or goat) in the oven is widely favored in Greece, especially during Easter. The 40 days before Easter (Lent) many Lenten recipes like this taramasalata dip, this Greek brown lentil soup and these Baked giant beans (Gigandes Plaki) are very popular!

There are a lot of Mediterranean recipes, some pretty simple and forward and others more complicated and complex. In my island, Crete, maybe the most delicious of all is also the simplest ones. In this lamb (or goat) recipe, good quality meat gets rubbed with salt and pepper and is then barbecued (or baked in a wood-fired oven – YUM!) until done. That's it! No other spices, no sauces, no butter, no olive oil, no nothing!

Salt and pepper are enough to make a dish you'll remember for the rest of your life! BUT, (yeah… it seems there's always a "but"!) the meat needs to be really good quality, meaning young, grass-fed and free-range if possible!

I don't usually eat lamb or goat because of this reason. If the meat is not good enough, I find it has a strong taste/smell I cannot get accustomed to. I think this has something to do with the way the animals are raised and fed.

An animal that's raised inside a stable, with no sun, with high levels of anxiety and low-quality food will taste a lot different from another one that's raised in the fields, under the sun, happy, eating grass, herbs and other stuff.

So, when I happen to find a good piece of meat I don't pass on the opportunity to cook something special! Sometimes, I'll just stick with the Cretan tradition mentioned above and pop it in the oven with only some salt, pepper and a small drizzle of olive oil.

Others times, when I want something more festive, I'll follow this recipe which uses a pomegranate syrup glaze. Pomegranate syrup, also known as pomegranate molasses, is just pomegranate juice that has been boiled down and concentrated into a thick sauce. It's sweet and tangy and can be used in meat dishes and in salads as part of the dressing.

What temperature should goat meat be cooked to?

You don't need an oven thermometer for this recipe and you don't have to worry about the internal temperature of the meat. The slow roasting method cooks the meat perfectly and makes it fall-off-the-bone tender.

But if you just want to know, then for goat, the meat temperature should be about 150°F to 160 °F (65 °C – 70 °C).

How do you make goat meat tender?

First, you have to choose a young animal. Remember that the older the animal is, the more tough the meat will be.

Then, you should opt for a slow-roasting method which melts the collagen of the meat and turns it into gelatin, something that makes it tastier and much more tender. For this recipe, 356°F (180°C) may seem too high, but this is how it's done for many years in most Greek homes and it works.

Some note/tips:

Long baking time will make the meat tender, succulent, and fall-off-the-bone! Just remember that lamb needs a little more time to cook than goat because it is higher in fat.
Search for good quality meat!
Instead of pomegranate syrup, you can use maple syrup, honey or grape syrup.
Don't forget that goat/lamb meat loves rosemary and garlic!
Since you're already using garlic, wrap some whole bulbs aluminum foil and bake them in the pan to get caramelized, roasted garlic. When done, open the foil, cut the bottom of the bulb and squeeze into a jar. Top will olive oil and store in the fridge or freezer. For more information, check this article from the kitchn.

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Greek roasted goat (or lamb) leg 2

One pan recipe for slow roasted goat leg glazed with pomegranate syrup and served with baked potatoes. Tender and succulent meat that will impress your guests!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean

Keyword: goat, lamb, leg, one-pan, roast

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 788 kcal

For the meat:

3 pounds (1.3 Kg) goat leg with the bone (you can also use lamb)
2-3 cloves of garlic cut into little sticks
3-4 sprigs of rosemary
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 cups olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 cup white wine
2 pounds baby potatoes or potatoes peeled and cut into wedges

For the glaze:

3 tablespoons pomegranate syrup, or grape syrup, maple syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
Pomegranate arils for decoration, optional

Preheat your oven to 356°F (180°C)
Rub the meat with salt and pepper. Make small incisions throughout the meat and put inside one stick of garlic and some rosemary.
Place the meat and potatoes in a pan, add the wine and lemon juice, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the oregano. Wrap well with foil and bake for 2 hours.
Combine all the ingredients for the glaze in a bowl, and mix well. Remove foil and brush the meat with half of the glaze.

Return to the oven and bake uncovered for at least 30 more minutes or until the surface of the meat is deep brown and you can see the tissue separating from the bone.
When the meat is almost done, brush once more with the rest of the glaze and bake for additional 5 minutes (this is the time to throw in some pomegranate arils). Take out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Eat!