It's Your First Time Cooking A Leg Of Lamb, Here's The Common Mistake To Avoid

Lamb can be the centerpiece of a delicious and versatile meal, but despite being quite simple to prepare, it also has a reputation for turning out dry and tough. Given that lamb can be a bit of an investment compared to other proteins, the idea of preparing this dish might turn off some home cooks before they ever get started.

Yet believe it or not, a lamb leg is inherently very tender — it's often mistakes made during the cooking process that can turn this tasty piece of meat into the texture of shoe leather. So what should you avoid when cooking your game?

A common strategy for preparing meat of any kind is to use a marinade. And while that's generally a safe and sound idea for both flavor and function, two main components of a marinade — salt and acid — can be a bit too aggressive for the delicate and naturally tender lamb meat. Leaving your lamb in a liquid laden with these ingredients for too long can result in an unpleasantly mushy product.

A typical marinade formula includes three parts fat like oil or yogurt, two parts acid like vinegar or citrus, and one part seasoning like herbs and spices. Each element has its purpose: Acid promotes tenderization while fat helps those tasty seasonings (which define your flavor profile) to permeate throughout. But no matter your protein, you always want to be cautious not to over-marinate. It's true that a longer bath will deliver bigger flavor; however, you run the risk of over-tenderizing (you may have run into a similar mistake if you've ever wound up with mushy salmon). This is especially a concern with leg of lamb, given its natural tenderness. This cut also comes with its own built-in marinade — its fat, which will soften and flavor the meat while rendering. 

The truth is, lamb isn't really in need of much marinating. While a marinade can help produce a perfect boneless leg of lamb, you definitely don't want to let the meat linger too long in the marinade. In this example, an hour will do the job, though you can go longer. 

The goal here is to preserve the texture of your meat because when your lamb is perfectly cooked, it is a total crowd-pleaser. Whether you season with herbs de Provence and lemon and serve with rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes or come up with your own blend of flavors, you should have no problem cooking up a tender, tasty leg of lamb if you avoid this misstep.