This succulent, melt-in-your-mouth Instant Pot lamb shoulder roast only takes just a little over an hour instead of 4-5 hours of slow cooking in the oven. Great for Easter, Thanksgiving or your weekly Sunday roast dinner.
One of our favourite things about the Instant Pot is that you can make time-consuming dishes such as slow-roasted meats in a fraction of the time. Roasting lamb shoulder in the oven until soft and tender can take 4-5 hours, but if you first cook it in the Instant Pot, you can cut that time to 1 hour of total cooking time.
In this Instant Pot lamb roast recipe, we are taking inspiration from Greek cuisine. The meat is flavoured with fresh thyme, garlic and honey and cooked for 40 minutes in the Instant Pot (with 10 minutes Natural Pressure Release) followed by a quick 10-minute finish in a hot oven.
We served it topped with fresh parsley, lemon rind and pomegranate to cut through the richness of the meat and to make it look a little more festive. It’s great for a family gathering, especially Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas.
How To Make Instant Pot Lamb Roast
STEP 1. For this recipe, we are using lamb shoulder without a joint/bone. This cut often comes rolled and tied with a butcher’s string, and in this case, we want to remove the string carefully in order to season and flavour the lamb meat liberally with the herbs, garlic, honey, salt and pepper.
STEP 2. We then used the same string to roll and secure the meat back together. If you’re using a different cut of lamb – say meat from the leg of lamb or lamb shoulder with a joint in it – you could make a few cuts in the meat and stuff those with the herbs and garlic instead.
Beef brisket or roasting cuts of beef could also be used instead of lamb, as could be something like pork shoulder or a whole chicken. This Greek combination of herbs, garlic and honey works with white and red meat alike.
STEP 3. To cook the meat, we added a little garlic and thyme to a cup of water in the Instant Pot and then placed the lamb roast inside the water. You can also place it on top of a trivet or in a heatproof dish (depends on the cut or shape you are using).
STEP 4. Once the meat is cooked in the Instant Pot, it is then transferred to the oven for 10 minutes to brown up slightly. Super simple! Full recipe and ingredients can be found below. We hope you enjoy this dish!
What To Do With Leftover Lamb Roast Lamb?
Oftentimes, you will have a bit of leftover roast lamb. It can be saved for lunch the next day and incorporated into other dishes. You can use add it Instant Pot rice pilaf. Throw diced lamb with onions, garlic and tinned tomatoes for a hearty Instant pot pasta dish. Or, use it in fried rice, breakfast hash, sandwiches and wraps, or to top salads.
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Instant Pot Lamb Shoulder Roast
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs. lamb shoulder without a joint, rolled or unrolled (1 kg)
- 4 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced
- A handful of fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
In the pot
- 1 cup water
- 3 cloves of garlic
- A few thyme sprigs
For serve
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon of lemon zest or finely sliced rind
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds optional
- 2-3 lemon wedges
Instructions
- If the lamb shoulder comes rolled and tied with a string, remove the string carefully (or cut it if you have extra butcher’s string to tie the meat back later on). Unroll the meat and season with a teaspoon of salt, some pepper, and then spread the thyme sprigs and leaves and garlic slices all over. Drizzle with the honey.
- Now, carefully roll the meat back together to secure all the seasonings and herbs inside. Use the same butcher’s strings (or fresh ones) to tie the roll back together. It doesn’t need to look pretty or tight as we will unroll it again once it’s cooked. The string is only required to keep the flavors inside the roast meat.
- Add a cup of water to the Instant Pot and add a few garlic cloves and a few thyme sprigs. Place the rolled piece of meat in the water. Place and lock the lid, making sure the pressure valve is pointing to Sealing.
- Press Manual function, HIGH pressure and adjust the time to 40 minutes. After 3 beeps, the Instant Pot will begin building up the pressure and start the cooking process. Once the timer goes off, the Instant Pot will switch to Keeping Warm setting and it will start to release the pressure naturally. At this stage, you won’t be able to open the lid. Allow 10 minutes for this natural pressure release (NPR) and in the meantime, preheat the oven to 430 F / 220 C.
- After 10 minutes of NPR, release the rest of the pressure manually by turning the pressure valve to Venting. Watch out for the steam jet! Once the pressure is completely released, open the lid and using kitchen tongs or gloves, carefully remove the meat to a roasting try. Please note, the meat is quite soft at this stage so it’s a little fragile. If it breaks apart, don’t panic! Simply transfer all the pieces to the roasting tray.
- Cut and remove the butcher’s string and allow the meat to unroll naturally. It should hold its shape slightly now that it’s cooked, anyway. Place the tray in the oven on the middle shelf for 10-15 minutes until the meat is slightly browned.
- While the lamb roast is in the oven, prepare the garnishes for the finishing touches. We used some pomegranate seeds as they go well with lamb and look lovely, but you could also sprinkle some blueberries, olives, or sun-dried tomatoes instead.
- Serve the dish topped with fresh parsley, lemon rind or zest, and any other garnishes you like. A side of lemon wedges is recommended to drizzle the lamb on the plates.
Nutrition
SAVE THIS LAMB ROAST RECIPE TO PINTEREST
Jaime
Is lamb always cooked in liquid? Can a plain lamb shoulder be cooked just on a trivet, with water in the bottom of pot?
Maureen
I want to make roast lamb shoulder . Can I brown it 1st with the saute button . How long to cook on pressure
Instant Pot Eats
Hey Mauree,
Yes, you definitely can brown it first for a minute or two on each side. Make sure to deglaze the pot with stock or water and to scrape off any bits stuck to the bottom. Sauteeing will seal in some juices and give you extra browning on the outside but it won't cook the meat much. Once you brown it, the pressure cooking time is about the same as in this recipe. You can also check out this lamb shoulder recipe on our site: https://instantpoteats.com/instant-pot-lamb-souvlaki-wraps/
Malcolm Inch
Can you not use the air fry to finish it off instead of the oven ?
Less dishes to worry about
Thanks
Instant Pot Eats
Absolutely! We first made the recipe before air fryers were a thing so we did it in the oven. If you have an air fryer lid, go for it!!! It will work brilliantly.
Irvin
I am planning on doing this recipe with bone-in and cutting slits in it to put the marinade in. Is there any advantage to marinating it hours or a day prior to cooking?
Instant Pot Eats
You can rub the marinade all over and put it in the marinade in the slits. Letting it marinate for a bit will make it a bit more flavorful but is not essential.
Irvin
Thanks! How long do you in recommend letting it rest before serving?
Judy
Hi, I have a 3.25 bone in lamb shoulder, can I use this recipe without taking out the bone? should I lengthen the cooking time? Thank you in advance!!
instantpoteats
Yes, you don't need to take out the bone. I'd increase the cooking time by 10 minutes. With the marinade, you can just rub it all over the meat, and you can even make a few cuts in the meat and stuff those with garlic and the marinade. Hope it works out!
Irvin
Would you you still tie it up?
Kimberlee Bell
I have the 3qt Instant Pot. I had a 1Kg lamb shoulder, and found the cooking time way too long. I do 1 pork tenderloin for 7 minutes and this was about double the size, so I was suspect about the time. Overdone. I think 14-20 minutes would have been about right.
instantpoteats
Pork tenderloin cooks much faster than the lamb shoulder, hence the time is longer. Not sure why it came overdone for you, was there enough fat on the meat? Ours was falling apart using the times and method described. Maybe the size of the IP? Sorry, wish I could be more helpful.
Stephen
Wonderful, tender and flavorful. I ammended a few things from the recipe, but overall kept it the same. I browned the roast on the sauté setting before pressure coooking it and deglazed it with half cup wine and half cup water instead of just one cup water. My roast was also about 1 lb heavier, but I cooked it the same amount of time and it turned out great. When the roast was in the oven for browning I then turned the pressure cooker to sauté and thickened the juices to make a gravy.