Leg of Lamb substitute

Best substitute

Boneless lamb shoulder

Use the same amount by weight as the leg of lamb you are replacing

Best for slow-roasted lamb

Different texture

The closest substitutes for a leg of lamb are boneless lamb shoulder (same flavour, but it must be slow-roasted until soft rather than served pink), a bone-in leg of goat (leaner and drier, so add liquid and cover it), or a beef sirloin tip or top round roast if you just need a carvable centrepiece and lamb is out of budget. Nothing that is not lamb, mutton or goat will taste like lamb, so pick your substitute based on which part of the job matters most to you: the pink carvable roast, or the flavour.

Other leg of lamb substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Half leg of lamb or lamb sirloin (rump) roast
Close match
Half the weight, same cooking method
If the problem is that a whole leg feeds eight and you are cooking for three, ask for a half leg (the shank end is cheaper, the fillet end is meatier) or a lamb sirloin roast, which is the top of the leg.
What changes
Flavour and texture are identical to a full leg because it is the same muscle. Only the timing changes: a 2 to 3 pound piece hits medium-rare in roughly 50 to 70 minutes at 350F, so start checking with a thermometer at 40 minutes.
Best for
small households, two to four servings, any leg of lamb recipe scaled down
The single best swap when price or portion size, not availability, is the problem.
3Leg of goat
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Goat is the nearest relative and often easier to find at halal, Caribbean and Latin markets.
What changes
It is noticeably leaner and slightly sweeter and more mineral than lamb, with less of lamb's waxy fat aroma, and because there is almost no fat cap it dries out fast. Do not roast it uncovered to pink. Braise it, or roast it in a covered pan with a cup of stock, until it reaches about 195F and pulls apart.
Best for
curries, braised and covered roasts, birria and stews, leaner option
Add a spoon of olive oil or butter to the pan to make up for the missing fat.
4Beef sirloin tip roast or top round
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
The right choice if you want the same experience of a big roast carved at the table for less money.
What changes
These beef cuts are lean, evenly shaped and carve into tidy pink slices exactly like a leg does, and they take the same garlic, rosemary and anchovy treatment. What changes is the flavour: straightforwardly beefy, with none of lamb's grassy, slightly barnyard tang, so mint sauce will taste odd alongside it. Roast to 130-135F and slice very thin against the grain, because beef round is chewier than lamb at the same temperature.
Best for
carvable centrepiece, cheaper holiday roast, guests who dislike lamb, roast dinner with gravy
Swap the mint for horseradish or a red wine pan sauce and the meal makes sense again.
5Bone-in pork shoulder or fresh pork leg (fresh ham)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
The cheapest way to get a large bone-in roast on the table, and it handles the same garlic-and-herb rub well.
What changes
Pork is sweeter, milder and much fattier, and it gives you crackling that lamb never will. It is not a pink roast: cook shoulder to about 195F for pull-apart meat, or a fresh leg to 145F for sliceable meat. Expect a mellow, sweet roast rather than the assertive one a leg of lamb delivers.
Best for
large groups, very tight budget, crackling, slow roasting
Ask for fresh, not cured, pork leg. A cured ham is already salted and will not behave like this.
6Leg of mutton or hogget
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight, plus 50 percent more cooking time
Meat from an older sheep, so it is the one substitute that tastes more of lamb than lamb does: deeper, sweeter, distinctly gamier, with firmer meat and yellower fat.
What changes
Best in slow-cooked and heavily spiced dishes where the extra depth is welcome. Cook it well past medium, low and slow, until the muscle relaxes. In a delicate herb-roasted preparation the strong flavour will dominate everything else on the plate.
Best for
curries and biryani, slow braises, stews, strongly spiced dishes
Very hard to buy in US supermarkets. Look at halal and Caribbean butchers.

What is Leg of Lamb?

Leg of Lamb is Leg of lamb, sold bone-in or boneless and called lamb leg or gigot, is the large hind-leg roasting joint of a young sheep, lean enough to serve pink and mild enough to carve into slices.

Cooking tips

A thermometer matters more than a timer here, because legs vary hugely in shape. Pull the roast at 130F for medium-rare, 140F for medium, then let it rest 20 minutes before carving. It will climb about 5 degrees while resting.
Bone-in and boneless legs are not interchangeable by weight when you are planning portions. Allow about three quarters of a pound of bone-in leg per person, or half a pound of boneless. A boneless rolled leg also cooks 20 to 30 minutes faster.
Score the fat cap in a diamond pattern about a quarter inch deep and push slivers of garlic and rosemary into the slits rather than just scattering herbs on top. The fat carries the flavour into the meat as it renders.
If you swapped in shoulder or goat, do not simply follow the leg recipe's temperature and time. Turn the oven down to 300-325F, cover the pan for most of the cooking, and use the fork test rather than a thermometer target of 130F.
Carve across the grain, not along it, and use the exposed bone as a handle to steady the joint. Lamb carved with the grain feels stringy even when it is cooked perfectly.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use lamb shoulder instead of leg of lamb?

Yes, and it tastes just as good, but you must change how you cook it. Leg is lean and is best pink at around 130F. Shoulder is full of connective tissue and is unpleasantly chewy at that temperature, so roast it at 300-325F for three to four hours until it shreds. Buy about 20 percent more weight than the recipe's leg, since shoulder renders off more fat.

What is the cheapest substitute for a leg of lamb?

Bone-in pork shoulder is the cheapest per pound and roasts beautifully with the same garlic and herb rub, though it tastes sweet and mild rather than lamby. If you want to stay closer to a classic carved roast, a beef sirloin tip or top round roast costs far less than lamb and slices the same way. Lamb shoulder is the cheapest option that still actually tastes of lamb.

Can I just leave the lamb out?

If the leg is the centrepiece, no. It is the dish, not a seasoning, so leaving it out means cooking something else. What you can do is redirect the recipe: keep the garlic, rosemary, lemon and potatoes and roast a large cauliflower or a tray of mushrooms and chickpeas in the same rub. The meal reads as the same meal, but do not expect it to substitute for the meat.

Is a leg of lamb the same as gigot or a lamb leg?

Yes. Gigot is the French name and lamb leg is simply the same words reversed. You may also see it sold as a half leg, a shank half or fillet half, a butterflied leg (boned and opened flat, which grills fast), or a rolled boneless leg tied with string. All are the same muscle group and take the same flavours, only the cooking time changes.

What can I use if my guests do not like the taste of lamb?

Go to beef sirloin tip or top round roast, which behaves almost identically in the oven and carves into pink slices, or a fresh pork leg for something sweeter. Goat is leaner and milder than lamb but still recognisably in the same family, so it is not the answer for someone who dislikes lamb outright. Swap mint sauce for horseradish or a wine pan sauce to match the new meat.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Leg of Lamb substitute

Other leg of lamb substitutes

2Half leg of lamb or lamb sirloin (rump) roast

3Leg of goat

4Beef sirloin tip roast or top round

5Bone-in pork shoulder or fresh pork leg (fresh ham)

6Leg of mutton or hogget