Leg of lamb substitutes

The same animal and the same flavour, so seasoning and marinades carry over untouched. The difference is connective tissue: shoulder is threaded with collagen that only melts above about 175F, so a shoulder cooked to a leg's medium-rare 130F is chewy and springy rather than tender. Roast it low, at 300-325F, for three to four hours until it shreds under a fork. The result is richer, fattier and softer than a leg, and you spoon it onto plates rather than carving neat slices.

Best for

slow-roasted lamb, Sunday roast, shredded lamb for flatbreads, lamb curry, budget centrepiece

Buy about 20 percent more than the leg weight, because shoulder loses more fat and water. Do not try to serve it pink.

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. 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.

Goat is the nearest relative and often easier to find at halal, Caribbean and Latin markets. 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.

The right choice if you want the same experience of a big roast carved at the table for less money. 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.

The cheapest way to get a large bone-in roast on the table, and it handles the same garlic-and-herb rub well. 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.

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. 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.