Air Fryer Lamb Roast

If you love lamb like we do, you have to try the air fryer lamb roast dinner. It’s a super easy recipe and cooked perfectly in the air fryer. It’s stuffed with garlic slivers and rub with spices to create a tender, juicy leg of lamb. And it’s a naturally low carb dinner!

You might also like these baby back ribs in the air fryer.

My family really likes lamb but we don’t eat it very often. The other day I was at Costco and found a nice roast and took a chance on my air fryer to cook it. Boy was I pleasantly surprised.

This delicious air fryer lamb roast came out juicy on the inside and browned nicely on the outside. The salty rub and garlic gave it so much flavor and the air fryer was really an easy way to cook it. I will definitely be doing it again.

It’s a naturally low carb meal which is great for those on a keto diet. While I also made roast potatoes and carrots to the air fryer for my side dishes you could use turnips as a substitute for the potatoes if you are watching your carbs. 

What type of lamb roast to use in the air fryer.

As you see below I used a boneless leg of lamb. This is a common type of roast and usually comes in a netting to keep the roast together.

The first time I made this recipe I cut off the netting and cooked it. It didn’t take as much time to cook but it also cooked unevenly so today I kept it on and had better results.

My roast was 3 pounds, if you have a smaller one, just make sure to check it for doneness half way through cooking. Also if you have a bone in leg of lamb it might take longer to cook.

How I season leg of lamb.

I personally love the flavor of garlic and rosemary with lamb. So for this dish, I mixed salt, black pepper, rosemary and thyme together in a small bowl and then rubbed the dry spice mixture all over the roast.

Next I cut a few cloves of garlic into thin slivers and stuffed them into the roast. You just need a sharp knife to cut slits into the roast and then shove the sliver into it. I found the netting helped me this time to more evenly place the garlic because you can use the squares as a guide.

You do this throughout the whole roast. If you want you can place the roast into a large baggie and refrigerate overnight. However I did this right before I put it into the air fryer.

A great tool for cooking meat!

I recently made this recipe again and used my husband’s Meater Plus wireless meat thermometer. It worked SO good for this recipe that I came back to tell you about it.

You just download an app. Place the probe into the roast and it asks for the type of meat and how you like it. It gives you guidelines for how long to cook it. Then place the meat in the air fryer (oven, smoker, grill, etc).

Now you can watch how the meat is cooking and when it comes to the temperature. It basically takes all the guest work out. I’ll write more about this in an up coming post.

How to make a lamb roast in the air fryer.

Step 1: Take the roast out of the refrigerator and let sit for 15 minutes or so.Preheat the air fryer by turning it on to 360°F for 5 minutes while you prepare the roast.

Step 2: Mix all the herbs and spices in a small bowl. Continue to prepare the lamb leg as mentioned above by stuffing it with garlic slivers and rubbing the spices all over.

Step 3: For the vegetables I used potatoes and carrots.  They take about 30 minutes to roast so I a first put them in the beginning as you can see below and had to take them out half way. So now I suggest tossing them with a tablespoon of olive oil and scatter around the roast halfway through (about 30 minutes in.)

Step 4: Once the air fryer is preheat, spray the basket with nonstick cooking spray. Place the prepared roast into the basket.

Step 5: Cook the lamb at 360°F for at least 15-20 minutes per pound. Note cooking time will vary due to the shape and thickness of the roast and how rare you like it.

My roast was 3 pounds and took 60 minutes for a medium rare roast. I used a meat thermometer and periodically checked using the chart below. It was perfect for us. (Remember to add the vegetables 30 minutes before the roast should be done.)

NOTE: Please see the cooking time chart below to figure out how long it will take to cook this lamb roast. You want to let it sit for about 10 minutes and it will continue to cook and the temperature will rise about 5 degrees.

See cooking tips below about cooking times and degree of doneness. (Please scroll down to view and print the recipe card.)

Cooking tips for your air fryer lamb roast.

• It’s important to both preheat the air fryer and to let the roast sit out for at least 15 minutes before hand. Both will affect how fast your roast cooks.
• When taking the internal temperature of the lamb with the meat thermometer, here are guidelines for the degree of doneness. (source) NOTE: You want to measure the temperature at the thickest part of the roast.
  • Rare: 125°F
  • Medium-Rare: 130°F to 135°F
  • Medium: 135°F to 140°F  
  • Well-Done: 155°F to 165°F
• As a rule of thumb figure about 15-20 minutes of cooking time per pound roughly. However you will have to check internal temperature it periodically because cooking times will vary depending on your air fryer, the shape and size of the roast and how well you like it done.
• If adding vegetables, place them around the roast 30 minutes before the roast should be done.
• If you want you can garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs or fresh thyme springs and place them around the platter. 

What to low carb side dishes to serve with this.

We ate this with roasted potatoes and carrots which are not low carb but I was making this for my whole family. Some good keto side dishes would be this cauliflower au gratin or this scalloped turnips dish.

I also like this asiago cauliflower rice and these green beans with bacon. All of these delicious recipes are really easy and low carb.

Other ways to cook a lamb roast.

I’ve now cooked lamb in the slow cooker, Instant Pot and air fryer. I think this my be my favorite way but the slow cooker is nice if you have all day. Here are my other recipes:

• slow cooker lamb should
• slow cooker gyro lamb roast
• Instant Pot leg of lamb

My husband LOVED this air fryer leg of lamb roast. It was rare in the middle and medium on the ends and that worked great for our differing tastes.

I hope you enjoy another way to cook lamb. It really was tasty!

Continue to Content

Air Fryer Lamb Roast Recipe

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Cooking a leg of lamb roast in the air fryer is easy and tasty. The spices and garlic add so much flavor and the air fryer will cook roast lamb that will be tender and juicy.

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Ingredients

• 3 pound leg of lamb roast, bones
• 4 cloves garlic, slivered
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon rosemary, dried
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon thyme, dried

Instructions

1. Take the roast out of the refrigerator and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Preheat the air fryer by turning it on to 360°F for 5 minutes while you prepare the roast.
2. Mix all the salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme in a small bowl and slice the garlic cloves into slivers. Cut slits into the roast and stuff with the garlic slivers. Do this all throughout the roast. Then rub the spices all over.
3. Once the air fryer is preheated, spray the basket with nonstick cooking spray. Place the leg of lamb into the basket.
4. If you are adding vegetables like potatoes and carrots – they take about 30 minutes to roast so you can either put them in at the beginning for the first 30 minutes and take them out. Or add them to the roast 30 minutes before the roast should be done. First mix them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil before adding to the basket.
5. Cook the lamb at 360°F for at least 15-20 minutes per pound. Note cooking time will vary due to the size of the lamb roast and how rare you like it. My roast was 3 pounds and took 60 minutes for a medium rare roast. It was perfect for us.
6. When the roast reaches the degree of doneness you want, take it out of the air fryer and let rest for 10 minutes. See Notes below for the degree of doneness chart and more tips.
   

Notes

• It’s important to both preheat the air fryer and to let the roast sit out for at least 15 minutes before hand. Both will affect how fast your lamb cooks.
• When you let the roast rest for 10 minutes after it's done cooking and the temperature will continue to rise about 5 degrees.
• When taking the internal temperature of the lamb with the meat thermometer, here are guidelines for the degree of doneness. (source) NOTE: You want to measure the temperature at the thickest part of the roast.
  
  Rare: 125°F
  Medium-Rare: 130°F to 135°F
  Medium: 135°F to 140°F
  Well-Done: 155°F to 165°F
  
• As a rule of thumb figure about 15-20 minutes of cooking time per pound roughly. However you will have to check internal temperature it periodically because cooking times will vary depending on the make of your air fryer, the size of the lamb roast and how well you like it done.
• If adding vegetables, place them around the roast 30 minutes before the roast should be done.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 443Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 158mgSodium: 644mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 44g