Intimidated by lamb? Don't be! Grilled Rack of Lamb is so tender, flavorful, juicy, and delicious. And did I mention that it's EASY to make?! If you can grill a hamburger, you can grill a rack of lamb. I promise.
So let's do this.
Do you need a marinade for grilled lamb racks?
The first thing you need to know is that lamb marinade is KING. Really, anytime you grill a marinade is going to buy you some time / margin of error, and add great flavor.
Grilling meat is just as much an art as it is a science, so the marinade can help you make a phenomenal product if your "art of grilling" skills aren't perfectly honed yet.
And even once they are, I think you'll still be pro-marinade. I know I am!
How to grill a rack of lamb
There are a few tricks to guarantee success when grilling lamb:
- Marinate the lamb to keep it tender
- Cover the Frenched (exposed) bones with foil to prevent burning
- Don't overcook! Medium Rare to Medium at MOST.
- Cook the exterior on high direct heat, and the interior with indirect heat (I go into more detail on this below)
How to cook with indirect heat on a gas grill
This is KEY to this recipe. If you're using charcoal, carry on. You got this, because direct heat on a charcoal grill is putting the meat, you guessed it, directly over the coals. Indirect heat on a charcoal grill is moving the meat so that it is not directly over the coals.
But for a gas grill? It's a little different, although the concept is the same.
Direct heat is the same - cook the meat directly over where the flame is on the grill.
Indirect heat on a gas grill is easiest with the MOM method - which stands for Medium-Off-Medium. The idea is that you have the outer burners on, set to Medium, and the middle burners off.
For a four burner grill, the outer two would be on Medium, and the inner two would be off.
For a three burner grill, the outer two would be on Medium, and the inner single burner would be off.
How long should you grill rack of lamb?
Cook the rack over high, direct heat for 4 minutes. Flip the rack, and cook for another 4 minutes over high, direct heat. Move the lamb to indirect heat, place the lid on the grill, and cook for another 15 minutes for Medium Rare, 20 minutes for Medium.
Do you cook rack of lamb fat side up or down?
Start cooking the lamb with the fatty/meaty side down, then flip it later. Scroll up a few pictures and you'll see an example. You can tell which side is the fatty/meaty side because you will not be able to see the bones through the meat. The underside of the rib rack shows most of the bones through the chops.
What to serve will grilled rack of lamb:
Grilled Rack of Lamb
Ingredients
- 6 - 8 bone rack of lamb
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice juice from ½ lemon
- 4 - 5 cloves garlic
- 8 - 10 leaves fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Combine ½ cup olive oil, juice from ½ lemon, 4 - 5 cloves garlic, 8 - 10 leaves fresh mint, 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 2 teaspoons salt in a food processor until well blended.
- Place the rack of lamb in a resealable bag. Pour in the marinade and rub all over the lamb to coat it. Seal the bag and let marinate, refrigerated, for at least for 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Set a gas grill to high heat or prepare a coal grill. The rack of lamb has two sides - one where you see mostly bones and another where you see mostly meet. Grill lamb over direct high heat with the lid open and with the "mostly meat" side down for 4 minutes. Flip and cook the other side over direct heat for another 4 minutes.
- Move lamb to indirect heat (see notes for how to cook on indirect heat on a gas grill). Put the lid on the grill. Cook for another 15 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 125° for medium rare.
Notes
Use this to help you remember how to grill on indirect heat: M-O-M - Medium Off Medium. So on a four burner grill, the outer two burners are on medium and the middle two are off. The meat goes over the off burners in the center of the grill.
this is the best taste since 2012 my kids ate soooo much of it. p.s. thank you so much for the recipe.
All I can say it was soooo yummy. The flavor was on point! Simply easy. Saving this and passing it on to anyone who will listen 😂
Found the part about grilling a fatty piece of meat over direct high heat with lid open suspect to start with and soon had lamb a la inferno. I was able to take the lamb off the grill, close the lid until the fire stopped. I then lowered the heat, and grilled some damn good lamb despite this recipe.
I had the same experience as Iva - my lamb exploded into flamed nearly burnt the house down . I will never do this one again .
I keep my bbq outside just in case for this reason
I wiped the lamb off so it wasn’t so oily when I put on the BBQ. Worked really well. It was a lovely dinner.
Confusing cook on high and when you switch to middle do you put outside burners on medium?
When I cook on a 4 burner grill, I use two on right side then turn down to medium and put the lamb on the left side and close the lid
Yes, after grilling them on high lid open and 4 min each side, turn off your middle burners and turn down your outside burners to medium. Put your rack in the middle.
I have made this recipe several times for family and friends, even people that don't like lamb. They changed their minds lol good stuff.
Fantastic recipe. Definitely needs a lengthy marinade 12+hrs. Delicious.