Besides the complete and total disaster that was Thanksgiving dinner of 2007, in which we tried to roast a twelve-pound turkey on a cookie sheet, I don’t recall ever cooking many meats in my kitchen besides chicken, beef or pork. I mean, those are pretty all-encompassing meats… you can do a lot with them. But, as I’ve grown up, my palate has also done a little growing up, and I decided it was about time to leave my comfort zone and introduce a new meat to our dinner table. So, I went on a quest to the store looking for something, but not sure what. I guess it was just my luck that, yesterday only, a package of four lamb chops was on sale for four dollars. Bingo!
I had never cooked lamb, so I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t get it right the first time. Much to my surprise, though, it couldn’t have been easier! The lamb was perfectly pink and tender after only six minutes of pan-searing, and the garlic-rosemary butter sauce drizzled over the meat made it ever more moist and mouthwateringly “mmm.”
Similar to when you’re pan-searing beef, you should always pat the lamb dry to soak up excess moisture and get that nice brown color. I served it with some roasted potatoes and sautéed zucchini. Otherwise, the photo pretty much speaks for itself – Look at what you can do with a few chops, some basic ingredients, and just six minutes!
Lamb Chops with Garlic-Rosemary Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 lamb loin chops
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 tablespoons crushed rosemary, divided
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Pat lamb dry and season with salt, pepper and 1 tbsp. crushed rosemary. In a large skillet or cast iron pot, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking, and sear lamb 3 minutes. Turn lamb over and sear 2 minutes more for medium-rare. Transfer lamb to 4 plates.
- Add garlic, 2 tbsp. rosemary, lemon juice, and stock to skillet and deglaze over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits for 2 minutes. Whisk in butter. Pour sauce over lamb, or serve on the side in small individual bowls.
- Serve with roasted potatoes and a sautéed vegetable, such as asparagus or zucchini.
- Enjoy!
This looks really good and flavorful!
Thank you, Cherine! How funny, you posted about lamb on the same day!
They look spectacular!! wow!!
Thanks, Dennis!
Not to be Li’l Miss Fussypants, but your picture above has lamb loin chops but the recipe lists lamb shoulder chops. To think about this in more familiar beef-y terms, you made a T-bone and the recipe listed a London Broil. I know some people get all scared when they can’t follow a recipe exactly. Personally, I think lamb loin chops are way yummier!
Thanks for catching that, Taimi! The recipe has been corrected to note that they were loin chops.
Lamb chops can never go wrong! Lamb is my absolute favorite meat. Mm.
Looks delicious ! We are big lamb lovers here so will give this a try.
I made this recipe the other night with our own Maine raised lamb and they were delicious!! Easy and so good… a perfect recipe. Thank you!
Made them absolutely gorgeous flavor
Thank you for the easy and tasty recipe. I added cream to the sauce to counter some of the tartness for my husband’s taste buds. We were quite pleased with the dish. I will definitely cook this again.
I’ve made a lot of lamb chops, but this recipe was the easiest and tastiest yet! This will be my go-to lamb chop recipe!
Congratulations for “leaving your comfort zone”! With food it’s a very good thing to do – as a kid I was very “picky” but as I grew up I’ve broadened my tastes enormously, with very few “wrong” decisions! Do you cook much fish? I’ve been doing a lot of that lately (even more during lockdown – we’ve got a brilliant fishmonger in Bromley, my local town – not just European fish, but snapper, parrot fish, …) and the internet is such a great place to find inspiration! This recipe is going on my database for future reference! (Lamb plus rosemary is such a classic combination – lamb has long been my wife’s favourite and I think it’s mine too now, but I get the impression that it’s not eaten so much in the USA. It is quite fatty, true – but chucks out far less methane than a cow!
Thank you for this recipe. It looks delicious and I will be trying it today. Do you use fresh or dry rosemary?
For this recipe, I used crushed dried rosemary. Fresh will also work fine. Happy cooking!
I’ve been using this recipe exclusively when cooking lamb chops! The best ever! Thank you