There is nothing better than a juicy and tender roast lamb on a Sunday, served with all of the trimmings and rich gravy. But what can you do with your leftovers?
Lamb is an expensive meat so you want to make sure that none of it goes to waste. However, a lot of people assume that lamb is not as versatile as other meats like chicken, pork or beef.
Well, there are lots of amazing recipes you can make with your leftover lamb that will make your weeknight meals more exciting and show you new and interesting ways to use this delicious meat.
We have put together a list of the 20 best recipes to use up your leftover lamb. Whether you want dishes with Italian influences, Greek flavours, Middle Eastern inspiration, Indian, Caribbean or even traditional British food- there is something on this list for everyone.
Keep reading to find your ideal leftover lamb recipe that you can make in your own kitchen to enjoy with your family.
Leftover Lamb Ragu
This tasty Italian recipe is the perfect weeknight meal that is ready in less than half an hour. No wonder it’s the first of our best leftover lamb recipes.
You can serve it with any pasta shape but it works really well with pappardelle. Fresh pasta is tastier than dried pasta and is quicker to cook which is ideal if you are in a rush.
Fresh pasta is easier to make than you probably think. However, rolling it to the right thickness can be a chore. That’s why it’s a great idea to have a pasta machine in your kitchen cupboard. For prices and all the latest models, click here.
The lamb is cooked in passata flavoured with bay leaves garlic and lamb stock, with finely diced onions, carrot and celery. Top the ragu with grated parmesan cheese to serve for a truly decadent treat.
This pasta dish makes a nice change to the usual lasagne or bolognese that can get a bit boring after a while. It also feels a bit more indulgent than beef, similar to a rabbit ragu.
Perhaps you sometimes find yourself with Leftover Pork. Here are some recipe ideas.
Leftover Lamb Curry
I love a curry, so we had to put one in our best leftover lamb recipes.
Lamb is one of the best meats to use in a curry because it is tender. Also, the slightly sweet flavour goes perfectly with the spices. Best of all, it gets softer the longer you cook it for and absorbs the juicy moisture from the curry sauce.
This curry is very easy to make and uses ingredients that are easy to get hold of. If you only have a little bit of meat leftover you can make it go further by adding chickpeas to the curry or vegetables like butternut squash and sweet potato.
Once all of the ingredients are in the casserole dish it only takes 15 minutes of simmering and the curry is ready. Serve with rice, naan bread or both if you want to have a true Indian feast. The whole family will love this curry and it will definitely become a family favourite.
Feel like letting someone else cook you an Indian feast? Here are our top Indian Restaurants in Brisbane.
Leftover Lamb Gyros With Tzatziki
Lamb is a meat that is often used in Greek cuisine. Lamb gyros is a delicious Greek meal that is very easy to make but will satisfy all of your meaty cravings. The tzatziki sauce is made from scratch, with lovely refreshing flavours which complement the meat.
This recipe also works well for leftover beef, pork or chicken. With classic Greek flavours like oregano and feta, you are certain to enjoy this recipe. It is perfect to enjoy in the warmer months, or even as an alternative to a classic burger on a summer’s day.
You can accompany it with various greek side dishes if you want to make it into more of a family feast. Our top side dishes are greek salad, calamari or whitebait fish.
Why not keep up the theme and make one of our Greek Desserts for afters?
Leftover Lamb Stew
Is there a meal more comforting than a traditional lamb stew? This classic peasant dish is the perfect example of making a little bit go a long way. Furthermore, it’s ideal for a weeknight meal. It is nourishing and flavoursome and can be on the table within 40 minutes.
You can use whatever herbs you prefer, but this recipe recommends thyme and oregano. You can also switch out the vegetables to use whatever is in your cupboard or refrigerator. Just remember to add green vegetables towards the end of the cooking time to prevent them from being overcooked.
Top Tip: Stews, casseroles and meat-based curries all freeze really well. In fact, the flavours of these types of dishes often improve after a week or 2 in the freezer.
Do you have a problem with lactose in your diet? See our Dairy-Free Desserts for some ideas.
Leftover Lamb Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s pie is usually made with minced lamb. Well this recipe uses roast lamb, which is perfect for making the most of your leftovers. This recipe is ideal to warm up the family on a cold day when you want something comforting after a long walk.
The gravy is rich and meaty and the mashed potatoes are soft and buttery – the perfect combination of flavours and textures. You can serve it with whatever vegetables you fancy, but you can’t go wrong with carrots and peas.
Shredded cabbage or broccoli also go really well with this dish. If you want to mop up that lovely gravy then put some soft bread on the table as well.
Wondering what to do with Leftover Chicken? See here for help.
Middle Eastern Lamb Pizza
You can put pretty much anything on a pizza, including your leftover lamb. This recipe takes inspiration from Middle Eastern flavours to create a delicious flatbread style pizza that will rival your favourite kebab. It’s so simple, but one of our best leftover lamb recipes.
The meat is blitzed with spring onions, tomatoes, parsley, garlic, cumin, paprika, chilli flakes and salt. The resulting meaty paste has a flavour similar to a Turkish kebab. The pizza is drizzled with yogurt before serving, and you can also serve it with a refreshing side salad.
You can play around with the ingredients to suit your preferences. Green capsicum and olives would make excellent toppings for this lamb pizza. Alternatively, some cubes of feta cheese added just before serving work well. Or throw them all on!
When I think of Middle Eastern food, I think of spices and figs. See here for our Best Fresh Fig Recipes.
Roast Lamb Burning Love
This recipe is a twist on the traditional Danish peasant dish that is usually made with bacon. The roast lamb is fried up with onions and served on a bed of mashed potatoes – very simple but very tasty.
You can serve it with mint sauce, ketchup, brown sauce, or even with some gravy. It’s quick and easy which makes it ideal for busy weeknights, and also helps you to use up your leftover potatoes and onions as well as the lamb.
Try it and we reckon it’ll become one of your best leftover lamb recipes.
And whilst we’re touching on bacon, here are some of our top Bacon Recipes.
Leftover Lamb Tagine With Apricots
This recipe turns your leftover lamb into quite an indulgent meal in just 35 minutes. Tagine usually takes a long time to cook, but as the meat is already roasted this recipe is much faster. This means you can enjoy this lovely meal without all of the fuss.
Cooking a meal in a Tagine Pot is sure to impress your family and friends. Just imagine their faces when you bring it to the table and lift the lid to reveal a succulent, spiced stew! For more information on Tagines and prices, see here.
You can serve it with couscous, flatbread, potatoes or just a side salad. There are so many different flavours that come together to make this dish – garlic, ginger, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, and honey.
The almonds and pomegranate seeds make a wonderful garnish and add the perfect final touches to this fantastic meal.
Want more dishes that include Pomegranate? See here.
Irish Dingle Pie
This recipe for Irish dingle pie uses roasted lamb, so it is perfect for using up your leftovers. You can use shredded leg of lamb or diced mutton.
Potatoes and parsnips are also used in the filling of this pie. Everything is cooked in a rich gravy with onions, carrots, meat stock (beef or lamb), parsley and thyme. And the secret ingredient? Worcestershire sauce. The pie is topped with hot water pastry which forms a wonderful crust, but you can use shortcrust pastry if you prefer.
You can also use this recipe to make pasties rather than one large pie, which are perfect for taking to work for your lunch or eating as a snack.
You don’t need to cook any additional potatoes to serve with the pie as there are potatoes inside, but you could make some mashed potatoes if you fancied it. Alternatively, you can just serve the pie with some steamed green vegetables like cabbage and broccoli.
Feel like something sweet after your pie? Check out our Banana Dessert Recipes.
Leftover Greek Lamb Moussaka
This beautiful Greek dish is made with lamb in a rich meat sauce, layered with tender eggplant and topped with creamy bechamel. The whole thing is baked in the oven until the top turns golden brown.
People often compare it to lasagne, but the flavor is very different and it feels more like a comforting casserole. Using pre-cooked lamb saves you time, but also helps you to use up your leftovers.
This dish is best served with a transitional Greek salad, and maybe a glass of red wine if you fancy it. You can use bechamel sauce from a jar if you want to make it even easier, but making it yourself does taste better.
The bechamel in this recipe uses 3 egg yolks. For more recipes that use Leftover Egg Yolks, see here.
Leftover Lamb Biryani
Biriyani is a curry that has the rice already incorporated into it. This recipe is a one pot meal which is nice and easy and uses up your leftover lamb in a very tasty way. It also works well with other leftover meats like lamb or chicken.
If you have any gravy leftover from your roast you can add it to the curry for an extra meaty flavour. You can customise this recipe by using extra vegetables. Feel free to add in whatever you fancy or whatever needs using up. This is such a versatile dish, it’s definitely one of our best leftover lamb recipes.
If you want to add a nice garnish then you can use fresh coriander (cilantro) or some flaked almonds to finish off the dish. It takes around 25 minutes to cook this recipe so you can have dinner on the table in no time.
Love rice? Here are some of our go to Rice Recipes.
Leftover Roast Lamb And Winter Vegetable Soup
If you love warm, comforting soups then you will definitely love this recipe. This hearty soup is nourishing, flavoursome and will leave you feeling very satisfied. Especially if you serve it with some warm crusty bread.
This is the ideal recipe to use if you roasted lamb on the bone, as you can make your own bone broth as the base of the soup. If not, you can use normal meat stock or buy bone broth from your local grocery store.
The soup is best made with seasonal vegetables. So if you want to make it in the summer then replace the vegetables with whatever is in season in your local area.
My family love soups, especially the nourishing goodness of Vietnamese pho. For this and more Vietnamese Recipes, click here.
Leftover Lamb Korma
A lot of people choose chicken to go in a korma, but lamb actually works really well with the creamy sauce and the mild flavours. This recipe takes only 25 minutes and is much cheaper than ordering an Indian takeout, especially if you are using up leftovers.
One of the best ways to cook a curry – or any kind of stew or soup – is in a slow cooker or crock-pot. And it’s so simple to do. You just put the ingredients in your slow cooker when you go out in the morning and you’ll come home to a delicious meal. For more information and prices, click here.
Cumin and a little touch of chilli have been added to a classic korma recipe because those flavours pair so well with the lamb. However, you can leave those ingredients out if you want a more classic korma. Serve this curry with basmati rice, or coconut rice if you want something a bit more indulgent.
Talking of coconut rice, here are some brilliant Coconut Milk Recipes.
Leftover Lamb Sliders
In this recipe, the leftover lamb is paired with a Greek-inspired sauce and feta cheese and pickled red onions. The result is an epic sandwich that will blow your mind.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can tweak it and make the sandwich your own. For example, switch the feta for a different kind of cheese, add some chopped olives, or use raw red onion instead of pickled.
These sliders are perfect for a match day meal or to share with friends – if you can manage not to eat them all yourself!
Follow your lamb sliders with a decadent Chocolate Dessert. See our recipes for inspiration.
Leftover Lamb Fajitas
Lamb isn’t a meat you would necessarily expect to find in a fajita, but it is a welcome surprise. This recipe uses lamb steaks that are cooked and sliced then added to the rest of the ingredients. But hey, you can skip that step and use your leftover lamb which will also save you time.
The lamb goes really nicely with the Mexican flavours and makes a nice change to chicken or beef. You can serve the fajitas with flour or corn tortillas, guacamole, soured cream, salsa, cheese and whatever other toppings you fancy.
Fresh lime juice really brings the flavours together and adds a lovely zesty element to the dish.
Easy to make and totally delicious, this is one of our best leftover lamb recipes.
Mexican food is great for sharing. Here are some of our favourite Mexican cantinas in Melbourne to hit with a crowd.
Leftover Lamb Pasta Sauce With Eggplant
Back to Italy for another of our best leftover lamb recipes.
This pasta dish makes a nice change from beef bolognese and is the perfect way for you to use up your leftover lamb. Lamb and eggplant are an excellent combination, as seen in the moussaka recipe.
The dish is flavoured with garlic, fresh parsley and mint, oregano, cinnamon, and even uses some cocoa powder in the tomato based sauce. Chopped olives add a lovely savoury note to the meal, along with the chopped onion which softens in the sauce.
You can use any pasta shape you like for this sauce, and you can even serve it with warm ciabatta or crusty sourdough bread.
Have you ever tried a meal delivery service? Here are some of our most-loved Hello Fresh Recipes.
Leftover Lamb Hotpot
This recipe for lamb hotpot is inspired by Lancashire hotpot, with tasty carrots and parsnips. It is packed with protein and fibre, and with rich meaty flavours. You can make this the night before if you want to, but it is easy and quick enough to make on the day.
As this hotpot is full of meat and vegetables and topped with potatoes. This means that you don’t really need to serve anything with it. If you want to, you can cook up some green vegetables to go on the side or serve it with some nice bread to mop up the gravy sauce.
Fancy a cheeky sweet treat after your hotpot? See our Baileys Cocktails Recipes.
Leftover Lamb Shakshuka
Shakshuka is a dish of baked eggs in a tomato sauce. This recipe is a twist on that meal, but with spicy lamb, olives, and jalapenos. The lamb has a Middle Eastern flavour, with paprika, cumin, cilantro, cinnamon, mint, salt and pepper.
The eggs add a different texture, extra protein, and tasty yolks that make the dish more indulgent. You can garnish this dish with whatever you fancy, but cucumbers and baba ganoush work really well. As unusual as it may seem, this dish should be eaten at breakfast time. However, you can enjoy it at any time of day.
It’s one of our most-loved best leftover lamb recipes and we happily eat it any time of day.
How about bagels for breakfast? Here are some of our most interesting Bagel Toppings.
Leftover Lamb Tacos
These lamb tacos take on Greek and Mediterranean flavours to create a really interesting fusion food that will definitely become a new favourite. The lamb is put in a food processor with onion, cloves, garlic, cumin, cinnamon and coriander (cilantro), then blitzed together.
This part is similar to the recipe for lamb pizza and is also echoes some of the flavours in the Greek gyros. The slaw is also Greek inspired – cumin , coriander oil and fresh lemon to lift the flavours and give it a zingy edge that compliments the meat.
The lamb and slaw is loaded into corn tortillas to create delicious and unusual tacos. You can top the tacos with whatever you fancy – olives, fried onions, feta cheese, tomato salsa- the options are endless.
Want a nice fresh finish to this meal? See our Mango Dessert Recipes.
Jamaican Style Curried Lamb Stew
If you want to try out a Caribbean style recipe for your leftover lamb then have a go at this Jamaican style curried lamb stew. It is delicious when served with Jamaican style rice and peas, or you can serve it with bread or potatoes.
The dish is flavoured with garlic, allspice, curry powder, ginger, cayenne pepper, wine or cider vinegar, and habanero pepper. Onions and lamb stock make up the sauce which is cooked slowly to tenderise the meat.
You can add some vegetables or beans into this dish to make the lamb go even further.
Would you like to eat more fish? See our Seafood Recipes for ideas.
This is why I decided to set up my blog, Eatability, to share the best food and drink spots in Australia with as many people as possible. Hi, my name is Dylan Cole, and I moved to Australia five years ago from England, UK.
Through this blog, I will be sharing and recommending some of my favorite places you need to visit, such as where to find the best pizza in Adelaide, and the best bakery in Brisbane. Whatever food you are fancying, I have got you covered!
- The 15 Best Sandwiches In Melbourne - April 18, 2024
- The 9 Best Vietnamese Restaurants In Melbourne - April 17, 2024
- Sydney’s Best Chocolate Shops - April 4, 2024
