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This grilled rack of lamb and mint chimichurri sauce recipe might convert everyone to love lamb. Mild grilled lamb flavors paired with a refreshing herby and minty sauce. Serve this recipe as an appetizer at your next party and you won’t regret it.
A great alternative to a chucky chimichurri is a deliciously smooth and creamy mint sauce to dip the lamb chops.
Table of Contents
- What does lamb taste like?
- Ingredient list for the grilled rack of lamb and mint chimichurri sauce
- Step 1: How to prepare a rack of lamb
- Recipe Tip
- Step 2: How to make homemade mint chimichurri sauce
- Step 3: How to grill the perfect rack of lamb
- Step 4: How to rest lamb after cooking
- Products featured in the video
- Frequently Asked Questions:
- Similar Grilled Lamb Recipe:
- Grilled Rack of Lamb and Mint Chimichurri Sauce Recipe
What does lamb taste like?
Lamb is definitely an acquired taste. Earthy and grassy in flavor, lamb has a gamey taste to it. It’s fat contributes to the flavor but also makes this cut of meat very tender. When properly prepared, this protein is rich and elegant.
Fresh, vibrant and sweet flavors pair well with lamb. They counteract the powerful flavor of the meat making it delicious and enjoyable by all.
Medium rare or 130 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal cook temperature for lamb. Over cooking it will result in tough, dried out meat.
There are so many ways to enjoy lamb. Make quick and easy lamb skewers, perfectly crusted rack of lamb in crushed pistachio nuts or smokey and hearty leg of lamb.
The ingredient list for the grilled rack of lamb is simple. There are a few substitutes you can swap for to make this recipe easier and less expensive to make.
Ingredient list for the grilled rack of lamb and mint chimichurri sauce
- Rack of Lamb: If you can, have your butcher trim and french (remove excess meat, fat and cartilage) the rack of lamb so you don’t have to do it at home.
- Seasoning: I used my steak seasoning, however a nice blend of salt and pepper will work just as well. Adjust sodium levels to your liking. Add a tablespoon of dried oregano to the mix to give it a nice herby flavor.
- Herbs: roughly chopping cilantro and parsley, I find, create the best balance in flavor and texture for a chimichurri. You can purchase pre-chopped herbs, but these tend to be more expensive and too finely chopped.
- Garlic. This is always a topic of discussion in my recipes. I’m a big fan or jar minced garlic. For such a pungent ingredient, readymade is more convenient. However, using fresh garlic will give the recipe a stronger garlicky flavor and is usually cheaper.
- Mint: Put in as much or as little mint leaves are you like. For this recipe, I highly recommend fresh mint leaves and not the paste. Pasty mint will make it taste too much like toothpaste.
Step 1: How to prepare a rack of lamb
First, you will need to french the rack of lamb which is just a fancy way of saying to clean up the bones. This is for presentation purposes only. It’s very simple to achieve this elegant look.
With a trimming knife, slide down the side of the bone until you reach the loin. Next, cut across until you reach the adjacent rib and repeat that the downward cut on the other side. Once the ribs are fully visible, trim off any access fat on the front of the ribs and by the loin.
Next, score the fat cap in a checkered pattern.
Recipe Tip
Scoring the fat has multiple benefits to it:
- Flavor absorption: allow spices, sauce or marinades to penetrate deeper into the meat.
- Prevents deformation: keeps the original shape of the cut as the fat shrinks.
- Crispy edges: creates crispy edges also known as pork crackling. Adds texture to the pulled pork.
- Helps cook faster: speeds up the cooking process.
Drizzle olive oil over the entire rack of lamb and season with Dad’s Steak seasoning. It has the perfect balance of buttery and herby notes that work well with lamb. Dried oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper or any steak seasoning are great alternatives if you don’t have the specific rub.
Dad’s Seasonings
Must have grillin seasonings!
Step 2: How to make homemade mint chimichurri sauce
This homemade mint chimichurri sauce has all the base ingredients of a chimichurri with some freshly chopped mint leaves. It’s refreshing, vibrant and savory.
Start off with finely chopping an entire batch of parsley and cilantro. I have seen this done with parsley only, with cilantro only or both. In my personal opinion, an equal mix of both makes it just right.
Next, finely chop up a few mint leaves, add a tablespoon of freshly minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, red wine vinegar, lemon zest, freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil. Mix these ingredients together with a spoon, not a food processor and you are done! The chunkiness adds texture and a burst of freshness.
For a more tangy and zesty chimichurri try out this recipe or make a sweet red chimichurri using my recipes.
Step 3: How to grill the perfect rack of lamb
Preheat the grill to a high heat and set for dual zone cooking. I used my weber kettle grill and moved the hot charcoal to one side of the grill creating a setting for both heats.
Sear the seasoned rack of lamb on the direct side first. Flip every 30-45 seconds to get an even char around without burning the meat.
Next, move the seared rack of lamb to the indirect side and cook until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees.
Step 4: How to rest lamb after cooking
Once the grilled rack of lamb reaches the desired internal temperature, remove it from the grill and let if rest for 10 minutes. Depending on the temperature inside, you can lightly cover with foil or just let it rest on a plate or cutting board.
During this time, the meat will continue to rise in temperature to get to an ideal 130 degrees. But more importantly, the juices will redistribute throughout the meat making each bite tender and juicy.
Slice the rack of lamb into individual lamb chops and add the mint chimichurri sauce over the top. Add a small side dish with extra sauce, dip and enjoy!
Products featured in the video
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Cook time on a rack of lamb will depend on the size and cook temperature of the meat you want. Ideal doneness of lamb meat is medium rare which is 130 degrees. Grilled rack of lamb to a medium rare will take 15-20 minutes
Lamb is very tender and lean. People say it’s bold and rich in flavor. If seasoned and cooked properly, lamb is a great protein to add to your meals.
In the US, sheep farming is much smaller than in other parts of the world like Australia, New Zealand or England. Cow, pork and poultry are mass farmed and produced locally making them more accessible. Lamb is limited and takes more time to mature therefore more costly.
Similar Grilled Lamb Recipe:
If you tried this Grilled Rack of Lamb with a Mint Chimichurri Sauce or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the📝 comments. I love hearing from you!
Grilled Rack of Lamb and Mint Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
Grilled Rack of Lamb Ingredients
- 1 Rack of lamb
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Dad's Steak Seasoning
Mint Chimichurri Ingredients
- 6 Mint leaves
- 1/2 cup Parsley
- 1/2 cup Cilantro
- 1 Lemon
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp Minced garlic
- 1 tbsp Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Olive oil
Instructions
- Start by scraping the bones clean on the rack of lamb. This is for presentation purposes only and will look great when done.
- Score the fat cap in a checkered pattern.
- To make the mint chimichurri, chop the parsley, cilantro and mint by hand. This will give the chimi a much better texture. Add to a bowl and add the salt, crushed red pepper, garlic, zest and juice from 1 lemon, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Mix well.
- Sear the seasoned rack of lamb on the direct side first. Flip every 30-45 seconds to get an even char around without burning the meat.
- Next, move the seared rack of lamb to the indirect side and cook until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees.
- Remove it from the grill and let if rest for 10 minutes.
- Slice the rack of lamb into individual lamb chops and add the mint chimichurri sauce over the top. Add a small side dish with extra sauce, dip and enjoy!
Notes
- It’s for presentation purposes only. Makes the dish look elegant and polished. Same the meat and make stock for a delicious gravy.
- Scoring meat keeps it from deforming once cooked as the fat melts and shrinks in size. It also allows more seasoning to be absorbed into the meat.
- The ideal temperature for lamb is medium rare. Remove the rack of lamb at 125 degrees. Resting the meat for 10-15 minutes will not only bring up the temperature to 130 -135 degrees but also redistribute the juices throughout the meat keeping it tender.
- I have made chimichurri a ton of times and chunky herbs is the way to go, It gives an additional burst of freshness with each taste, it’s lighter compared to a paste and looks much better.
Hands down, my favorite way of grilling lamb. The chops are gone as soon as they hit the table. Give these a try! I hope you love them as much as we do.
This was the best lamb recipe I’ve ever had!