You may not think of eating lamb ribs on a regular Tuesday night, but once you try this recipe I think you’ll be pulling out your cast iron skillet any chance you get! 😉
There are always those gems in life that once you realize they exist, you wonder to yourself how you had ever lived without them before. Like my husband…and rack of lamb.
When my husband and I were engaged to be married we went to a really nice restaurant where I ordered lamb for the first time in my life. I was 22 years old at the time. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed and felt like it resembled the look and smell of dog food.
A couple years later my husband spots a beautiful New Zealand rack of lamb at our local Whole Foods and asked me to figure out how to cook it. Well, I did, and I’ve been perfecting my recipe ever since!
This rack of lamb recipe is quite simple yet really packs a punch in the flavor department.
I understand charring meat can have some negative health impacts, but for this particular recipe a nice char makes all the difference in getting the perfect taste. Plus, if you throw in some fermented side dishes or a swig of kombucha throughout the day or with your meal you will help mitigate some of those effects. (Which I highly recommend doing regardless).
Also, my husband prefers all of his meat cooked well-done in general, so this is part of the reason I ended up with charred lamb ribs at my first attempt and from then on.
When I look up other rack of lamb recipes and cooking guides, a trend I quickly noticed is the level of doneness of the meat: rare to medium.
In our house, only medium-well to well-done is desired so my recipe method and cooking time reflect that intention. Of course you can sear and cook in the oven for less time in order to achieve more of a traditional level of doneness.
Our favorite way to eat lamb ribs is to cook up some jasmine or basmati rice as well as saute some bok choy with salt, pepper, and garlic and pour over the pan drippings from the skillet. You will not be disappointed!
Let me know in the comments below if you try out this recipe or have any questions! Enjoy and Shalom!
Cast Iron Skillet seared Rack of Lamb
Ingredients
- 2 Racks Rack of Lamb (i.e. lamb ribs) 12-16 ribs (6-8 ribs per rack)
- 2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard (or yellow mustard) Divided – 1 T per rack
- 1 Tsp Salt Divided – 1/2 t per rack
- 1 Tsp Pepper Divided – 1/2 t per rack
- 2 Tsp Garlic powder Divided – 1 t per rack
- 2 Tsp Thyme (dried) Divided – 1 t per rack
- 1/4 cup Olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil Used for searing
Instructions
- Make sure to take rack of lamb out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cooking. Seasoning process can occur before (when cold) or after (room temp.) lamb is ready to be cooked.Â
- To season, first remove the layer of white fat along the top of the rack using a sharp knife.
- Add a tablespoon of dijon mustard to each rack of lamb and rub all over meat.
- Add thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to all sides and rub into meat in order to evenly distribute seasoning.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet that is large enough to hold both racks to medium-high heat with roughly 1/4 cup of olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil. [note: I have used olive oil for this with success, however olive oil is not a healthy choice at high temperatures as it oxidizes at a relatively low temperature so use caution]. At this time, also preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
- When cast iron skillet and oil are hot, add in both racks to begin searing on all sides. To achieve a good char, each side will typically take 5-7 minutes. You may need to interlace the lamb bones sticking out on each rack in order to fit both racks in the skillet. You can sear each rack separately but in order to have both racks ready at the same time I would advise to sear and cook both racks within the same skillet.
- When all sides are nicely charred, transfer the cast iron skillet containing the racks of lamb into the hot oven and cook for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a cutting board to rest until cool enough to handle in order to cut through.
- Using a very sharp knife or a serrated knife, cut between each set of ribs to separate into individual pieces that will contain meat and one bone in each.
- Turn cast iron skillet back onto medium high heat on the stove and return individual lamb ribs back into the pan to sear on the newly exposed sides. I do this in 2 batches because all of the individual pieces cannot fit into the pan at the same time. I sear these sides to add those char flavors all around the lamb ribs and too ensure I have more of a medium-well to well-done level of doneness without drying them out too much by cooking longer in the oven. This searing part should only take about 1-2 minutes per side or less.
- Now you are done! Don't forget to use those delicious pan drippings over your rice or other sides to really round out this powerhouse flavor. Enjoy & shalom!