Grilled Lamb Souvlaki
If you want to know why the Greeks eat so much lamb, just try this recipe. It is perfect for dinner parties and large groups, and provided you have the time to let the meat marinate this a delicious and easy dish to make.
I have three versions of this recipe. One for the oven, one for those furtunate enough to have a rotiserie and this one for the grill. You can’t go wrong with any of these variations.
Ready
- 1 boneless leg of lamb
- 4-6 lemons, juiced (approximately 1 cup)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3-4 Tbsp Greek oregano
- Salt
- Pepper
Tzatziki Sauce
- 1 cup goats milk yogurt (or a plain yogurt of your choice)
- ½ cup grated cucumber
- 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed (to taste)
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Salt
- Pepper
Serve with
- Pita Bread
- Fresh tomato, cubed
- Raw onion, diced
Set
- Large bowl or plastic bag (big enough to hold a leg of lamb)
- Tongs
- Meat thermometer
- Grater
- Bowl
- Metal skewars (optional)
Go
- Cut lamb into bite sized peices - aproximetely 1” x 1”. (If you are not using skewars take care to cut the peices large enough not to fall through your grill and onto the fire.)
- Squeeze 4-5 lemons into a bowl.
- Add olive oil, crushed garlic, Greek oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Place lamb into a large ziplock bag (if it does not fit you can always use a bowl), pour in the lemon garlic mixture and let marinate for at least one to two hours.
Prepare Tzatziki sauce while Lamb is marinating
- Grate cucumber into a clean bowl.
- Add yougurt, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix, taste and adjust.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
After lamb has marinated
- Preheat grill.
- Place Lamb on metal skewrs if you have them. If not tongs will suffice.
- Cook lamb at high heat until internal temperature reads 155 F on meat thermometer.
- Remove from grill and let stand at least fifteen minutes.
- Serve with Tzatziki sauce and pita bread.
What you should know
Metal skewars make the grilling step much easier. Wood skewars will burn. No skewars - don’t worry. Just be prepared to turn all the peices as they cook.
I am still experimenting but as best I can tell there is no such thing as too much lemon!
This was delicious and easy. I set up the marinade and the sauce and my husband manned the grill. This was the perfect husband and wife meal for cooking together. We both had the onions. Yum.
Had this for dinner last night. It is a wonderful dish. I was nervous about the the onions but decided the romance could wait.
Fantastic stuff.