Garlic and Herb Greek Lamb Kebabs

Confession: I have cooked lamb a few times and then been totally unable to eat it.  Sometimes lamb is just way too… Lamb-y. There are a couple of ways to tame the “gamey” flavor of lamb. One is to buy only very lean cuts. The other is to bring in some serious flavor that can stand up to it and complement those notes. A little time in a good marinade helps even more.

Garlic, lemon and herbs go a long way toward making the most of a good piece of lamb. We love this recipe for Greek Lamb Kebabs, and I think you will, too. It’s super simple and quick to make. We even took some of this camping a couple of summers ago, and cooked it on the beach— one of our best meals ever.

Garlic and Herb Greek Lamb Kebabs

What You’ll Need

• 2 C fresh herbs– any combination of parsley, cilantro, fresh mint, or oregano, and do try to use some fresh thyme. I have also been known to throw in a handful of ground elder from my back yard.
• 5 cloves fresh garlic (more if your cloves are very small)
• 1 T quality sea salt
• 1/4 C olive oil
• juice of one lemon
• 1 t whole cumin seed
• cayenne pepper or chili flakes, optional
• 2 lbs (1 kilo) of lamb shoulder cut into 1 inch cubes
• a food chopper or blender, or an immersion blender like this would also work well. In a pinch you can use a mortar and pestal, but it will be more work and not come out creamy– but still worth it! You will also need some shish kebab skewers.

What to Do:

1. Make the marinade. Put everything but the lamb into your food chopper and blend until smooth.
2. Put your lamb in a glass storage container and coat with the marinade. Use your hands to turn the meat so it all gets coated. Let sit for at least an hour, but overnight is even better.
3. Slide the pieces of meat onto some shish kebab skewers. You can layer with veggies if you like, but I like to make them all meat.
4. Grill them over the barbecue, or broil them– which is what we usually do. I put the skewers across a small baking tray so they don’t drip all over the oven, and broil on full for about 7 minutes on each side.
5. Serve with cucumbers or cucumber yogurt salad, feta, olives, rice (we love cauliflower rice) and a green salad. So good.

Enjoy! This marinade is also good for making a roasted spatchcock chicken with– I did that last night. I usually make a double-batch and store half in a glass jar in the fridge. It will last for at least a couple of weeks, and makes the prep work for another dinner so quick.

I love making this recipe in the summertime. These flavors are so perfect in the warmer weather, and things like eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and other things that go so well together are all in season. Leftovers Greek Lamb Kebabs are fantastic chopped and added to herbal green salads for lunch or dinner the next day.

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