Tasty, easy, lick-your-fingers lamb…so simple! This Oven Roasted Lamb Ribs recipe has only 6 ingredients, and is in the oven baking in just minutes. Put all the ingredients in a bowl or plastic bag, mix or shake it all around, toss out the bag, then bake. Not even a bowl to wash if you use a bag! Mix the sauce ingredients together in your serving bowl (sorry – bowl needed here) and DONE!
I saw Nigella Lawson on TV recently and was inspired by her lamb ribs with cumin & nigella seeds, and so my recipe for roasted lamb ribs was born.
A word of warning, this does NOT look like diet food when you put it in the oven. Lamb ribs/riblets can be a very fatty cut, but most of the fat renders out as they bake. I also bake the lamb ribs on a rack so that the rendered fat drains away. Another plus to this recipe is cost – this cut of lamb is relatively inexpensive (at least here in Australia).
The fat is an essential part of this lamb ribs recipe, it keeps the lamb moist and flavourful with a slightly crispy outer texture when it’s done oven baking. A simply delightful combination in my opinion. I like to make the sauce just after I put the lamb in the oven, this gives the flavours time to mix and develop while the lamb is roasting.
Ingredients for baked lamb ribs
- Lamb ribs
- Dried oregano
- Ground cumin
- Lemon zest
- Fine salt
- Olive oil
How to cook lamb ribs
- Combine dried oregano, ground cumin, lemon zest, salt and olive oil in a bowl or large plastic bag.
- Add lamb ribs to bowl or bag, and mix well to coat.
- Place a cake cooling rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet (to create a trivet) then place lamb ribs (not overlapping) on to rack and bake for 1.5 hours, or until cooked to your liking.
My top tips for cooking lamb ribs in the oven
- The amount of lamb ribs I use for 4 adult serves is around 1.5kg or 3.3 pounds. I know this probably seems like a lot on paper (??) but you will lose quite a lot of this as the fat renders out, plus they have bones. Also keep in mind that lamb ribs can vary quite a lot in meat/fat/bone ratio – this may influence the amount you buy and also if you cook them for the full 1.5 hours or not.
- I use low fat greek yoghurt for the dressing (watching my fat intake, ha!) but feel free to use full fat.
- My rimmed baking sheet is about 2.5 cm or 1″ deep – this is plenty. I place two cake racks (right side up) overlapping inside the pan to provide my “trivet” or baking rack for the lamb ribs to bake on. The cake racks only have about 1cm or 0.5″ legs, but this is enough to let the fat drain away.
Other lamb recipes you make like
Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder – so tender and moist, a real family favourite.
Red Wine and Garlic Lamb Shanks – fall-off-the-bone lamb shanks!
Lamb Sausage Pasta with Basil & Tomato – I use lamb sausages to make this cheat’s meatball pasta.
Pesto Lamb Prosciutto Cutlets – tender lamb cutlets, coated in basil pesto and wrapped in prosciutto.
I won’t lie to you, as far as the fat intake goes this should not be a meal eaten every day…I prefer to see this lamb ribs recipe as like eating roast pork with crackling – one of life’s necessary indulgences – how very Nigella!
Lee-Ann ♥
Oven Roasted Lamb Ribs
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg /3.3 pounds lamb ribs - approx. (see notes)
- 3 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- zest of 1 lemon finely grated
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Yoghurt Mint & Garlic Sauce
- 60 g danish feta - finely crumbled
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves - sliced
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 200 g low fat greek yoghurt
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 150c.
- Place a baking rack/cake rack over a rimmed baking sheet (see notes).
- Place first 6 ingredients in a large bowl or a plastic bag and mix to coat thoroughly.
- Evenly space ribs in a single layer on baking rack, bake for 1½ hours or until tender and cooked through - check after 1¼ hours depending on the size of your ribs (see notes).
- To make sauce, combine last 4 ingredients in your serving bowl and set aside to let flavours develop.
- Serve ribs immediately with the yoghurt sauce.
Hi Lee-Ann, I made these for dinner tonight, enjoyed the flavours and a nice simple recipe. I’ve posted the recipe to the low carb FB group that I administer. Wanted to let you know that we are not fat phobic, and neither do you need to be. It’s been known for decades that it is not dietary fat that makes you fat, and that calories-in/calories-out is a myth. Also that natural fats eg the fat from your grass fed lamb ain’t gonna kill you. What causes heart disease, and creates hunger and obesity is high carb diets driving hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance. I won’t go on (‘tho clearly I could). This is a great site if you want to know more: https://lowcarbdownunder.com.au/ The other thing is: fat equals flavour! as Kylie Kwong used to say. A lot of us low carbers are also foodies who love to cook and eat rich yummy food. And because meat and healthy fats are satisfying, we just don’t feel deprived if we don’t have pasta, or grains, or sweets etc. I’d happily eat nice fatty lamb every day! I didn’t use the rack as you suggested, just put the ribs in a baking dish in the oven. Many of us low carbers adapt high carb recipes to suit our preferences. Anyway, many thanks for this recipe and I’ll have a bit of a look at your other lamb and pork recipes. Cheers.
Glad you enjoyed it Liz!
Im just gonna say yum! Thanks for sharing 🙂 lamb ribs have long been a flavourite(see what i did there) of mine.
@__jjsharbs
Hehe! I like what you did there! Thanks for letting me know Justin L 🙂
Amen, Liz! Natural animal fats are so healthful. I’m trying to ditch the carbs now myself.
I’ve got some of these roasting in my oven right now. I just googled to see what the proper temperature and time should be, and this recipe tells me I guessed right, hah! Thanks!
If you consume more calories than you expend, I’m afraid you will gain weight. I agree that high carb load stresses your pancreas, but that is a different argument to being able to stay the same weight despite a positive calorie balance. Nice rib recipe btw 😋
I’m with you, Liz! No trivet for me, just baked in the tray! Delicious, thank you Lee-Ann!
My pleasure, Deborah x
Thank you for the recipe. It sounds amazing and I will try it out tonight! The comment by Liz F is completely accurate and has now been backed by science. It makes me sad when great recipe creators are so afraid of dietary fats when these fats are actually nutritious and the path to a healthier body. I hope this will become mainstream understanding one day. Thanks again for sharing this lovely recipe!
Thanks Joy x
Hi I’m trying these Lamb ribs tonight also… I don’t cook a lot of Lamb but a friend of ours in our small Village in Salmon Arm BC Canada has lambs and my husband loves lamb so I though I’d give it a try… Just googled Easy Lamb Spare Ribs and choose your easy simple recipe. Thanks so much.. It sounds like they will be good!… Greetings from Canada… Hope you are all well there in Australia… I currently have a grandchild visiting there in Adelaide with a 1 year work Visa… Just before the Covid outbreak… Now not able to make the most of her visit there because of travel restrictions, and work limitations.. But God looks out over all so I trust this too will pass and she will be able to enjoy her stay there..
Hi Zina!
I hope things improve soon so your grandchild can make the most of our wonderful country, it would be a shame to miss it.
Also hoping things are going ok in your part of the world, Canada is on my bucket list to visit on day – it looks so picturesque and friendly too.
Thanks for reaching out, I hope you enjoy the lamb!
L x
Hi, just used your recipe and must say it was delicious, again I didn’t use a trivet to drain the fat – carbs are the enemy not fats 🙂
how long do lamb ribs marinate ?
Hi Elle!
No need to marinate the ribs – once they are coated in the herbs etc you can just pop them straight in the oven.
L x
I love this recipe, have cooked these a few times & have some in the oven cooking right now!
Lamb ribs are relatively new to the supermarkets here in the UK and so are quite expensive with not much actual meat on them, but I managed to persuade my local butcher to cut some for me & they are absolutely delicious. I do keep mine in the bag in the fridge overnight to develop the flavours. Well done on a great recipe!
Thanks Jacqui, glad you enjoy them!
Hi, should I pre-cut the ribs before cooking or after? Thanks
I actually buy the ribs pre-cut Laura.
I received a bag full of lamb ribs cut into individual ribs, not what I wanted as I plan to cook them low and slow. That said, should I trim off some of the hard fat from the ribs prior to cooking?
That would be fine Jason, a lot of the fat will melt away too. L x
If you have a smoker, WOW WHAT WONDERFUL FLAVOR WITH THE DRESSING!!
I only put the dry ingredients on the lamb ribs at the start, I smoke the ribs at 90-100 Celsius for approximately two hours or until meat is easing off the bone! (usually 1 hour 40min).
I run smoke (homemade wood chips usually apple,cherry or peach from my previous years pruning) for an hour only, then start to baste with oil, lemon juice and zest for the rest of the cook to glaze them up.
I usually sprinkle some toasted pine nuts over the yogurt dressing YUM
nice served along side charred asparagus, zucchini, capsicum and cherry tomatoes.
I get my lamb local annually directly from the farms here in Victoria, sensational, works out a lot cheaper if you have the storage 👍 and fat is flavor ! Flavor (fat) is sensational in moderation!!