Grilled Moroccan Lamb Salad. A warm lamb salad with Moroccan spices and a citrus sumac yoghurt dressing. A delicious, easy to prepare dish, any time of year. Let us show you how to perfect the marinating and cooking of the lamb cutlets and wow your friends and family with this beautiful dish.
You will love this salad, as it's a great recipe to whip up all year round. Warm, with classic Moroccan flavours; a comforting blend of spices, as well as fresh and zingy notes. Making it perfect salad for both a winter dinner and summer BBQ's. Simple to prepare and most elements can be prepped ahead (our favourite kind of dish)! If you love the sound of this salad, you will also love our Orange and fennel salad!
Ingredients
The marinade:
- Lamb - you can either buy a lamb rack and cut into cutlets or purchase cutlets. You can also substitute the cutlets with lamb chops.
- Garlic
- Sea salt
- Peppercorns
- Cumin seeds - available in most supermarkets
- A bunch of fresh mint leaves
- Lemon - the zest and juice
- Paprika (ground)
- Extra virgin olive oil - the best quality one you can afford.
Sumac yoghurt dressing:
- Natural yoghurt - unsweetened
- Ground sumac - a dried berry that can be found in most supermarkets
- Salt
- Juice of half a lemon.
For the salad:
- Spinach - we used baby spinach but you can also use normal spinach chopped up as well.
- Potatoes - standard white or a baby potato will work for this recipe.
- Tomatoes - we used cherry tomatoes, but substitute with whatever available to you and cut to size.
- Red onion.
- The seeds of half a pomegranate - you can buy whole pomegranates or just the seeds.
- A few more spices: Black mustard seeds, turmeric powder, fennel seeds.
- And fresh mint tips.
Moroccan Lamb Marinade
This marinade is delicious and super versatile, you can use it with most cuts of lambs. Classic flavour pairings and simple to prepare, its a great recipe to have to hand. Grab your mortar and pestle (or mini chopper) and add the salt, peppercorns, cumin seeds and pound to a powder. Add in the garlic, paprika, mint leaves, zest and lemon juice. Smash those in, then add in your olive oil and stir into a paste.
Place your lamb into a dish and smother with the marinade. Cover and allow to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, the longer the better for a more intense flavour.
You might also love...
Cooking the perfect lamb cutlets.
A griddle pan or the BBQ are perfect for cooking lamb cutlets. Though a standard frying pan will work well too. The key to the perfect cook is to get your pan or BBQ to a high heat first. Then place your lamb on the pan and leave to sear. Allow the meat to maintain contact with the pan, dont move it around!
Grill on each side until you have good colour and the lamb is cooked to a nice medium rare. Approximately 3-4 mins each side, depending on the thickness of your cut. Once your lamb is cooked, allow to rest.
For perfect delicious lamb, aim to rest it for at least as long as it was cooked!
Lamb Salad Dressing
Our sumac yoghurt dressing bring a beautiful zing to this dish.
Sumac is a well used spice in Middle Eastern food. It comes from dried ground berries from the wild sumac flower, which grows well in subtropical and temperate regions through out the world. This beautiful spice is a wine red, with a tangy, hint of citrus flavour. Used as a traditional herbal medicine for centuries, it is a rich source of antioxidants. This less known spice is definitely worth a try for its flavour and potential health benefits too!
Perfect with yoghurt, as a dressing and can be used instead of lemon or zest. Sumac also works well with fish, chicken and vegetables.
To Prepare Ahead
A great dish for prepping ahead. With a little prep, this can either be thrown together after work for a delicious dinner or finished as your friends and family are ready to eat at your next BBQ.
To prep ahead simply have your lamb already marinating in the fridge, the dressing ready and chilled in the fridge and all your salad ingredients prepped. To serve simply cook your potatoes, onion and spice mix, then cook the lamb, rest and assemble all your ingredients. And enjoy!
Grilled Moroccan lamb salad with sumac yoghurt dressing, is a fragrant, delicious dish that will look beautiful on any table. And is sure to wow your family and friends.
Love this dish? Please leave us a review below. And come join us on social, tag us in your delicious photos Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. Hungry for more deliciousness? Subscribe to our newsletter, to receive our latest e-recipe book and never miss another ATK recipe!
Our goal is to share simple, tasty dishes created by Chef Shane and partner, Sara. Using Shane's understanding of flavours and knowledge of food, to teach and inspire you to create delicious food everyday and gain a new level of confidence in the kitchen. Sara understands what it's like preparing weekly dinners for a busy family of five and likes to create dishes that are easy, full of flavour and that the whole family will enjoy.
Happy cooking!
Recipe
Moroccan Lamb Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Lamb rack Cut into cutlets. (See note 1)
The Marinade
- 5 cloves Garlic Peeled
- 1 teaspoon Sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- Bunch Mint leaves Fresh
- 1 Lemon Zest and juice
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- 4 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
The Dressing
- 300 g Natural yoghurt Unsweetened
- 3 teaspoon Ground sumac
- Pinch of salt
- ½ Lemon Juice only
The Salad
- Bunch Baby spinach Or chopped normal spinach.
- 2 ea Large potatoes Peeled
- ½ Red onion Peeled
- ¼ teaspoon Black mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp Fennel seeds
- 15 Cherry tomatoes Cut into halves
- ½ Pomegranate Seeds
- Mint tips
Instructions
Marinating your lamb
- Grab your mortar and pestle (or mini chopper) and add the salt, peppercorns, cumin seeds and pound to a powder. Add in the garlic, paprika, mint leaves, zest and lemon juice, smash those up, then add in your olive oil. Stir into a paste
- Place your lamb cutlets into a dish and smother with the marinade, allow to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, the longer the better. Keep in the fridge.
Sumac Yoghurt Dressing
- Simply grab a small bowl and mix together the yoghurt, sumac, lemon juice and salt until well combined. Keep in fridge until needed.
Prepping Your Salad
- Firstly cut your peeled potato into 1 cm cubes. Cut your red onion into wedges, chef's tip: keep the core in so the wedges don't fall apart.
- Heat a fry pan with a little canola oil, add your potato cubes and onion wedges and sauté until a little golden.Add the mustard seeds, fennel seeds and turmeric and continue to cook on a low heat until the potatoes are soft. Add your spincah to wilt
- Remove the potatoes and onions and spinach from the pan and allow to cool
Cook The Lamb
- Heat your griddle pan (BBQ or frying pan) to a high heat, grab your lamb cutlets and grill on each side until you have good colour and the lamb is cooked to a nice medium rare. Approximately 3-4 mins each side, depending on the thickness of your cut. Allow to rest. (See note 2)
To Assemble
- Grab your serving platter and arrange the potatoes, onion and spinach, add your cherry tomatoes, place your lamb cutlets on top. Then add splashes of the sumac yoghurt dressing and sprinkle over your mint tips and pomegranate seeds.
- Serve straight away and enjoy!
Jacqueline Meldrum
That marinade sounds so tasty. I am printing it to try.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
This looks like the perfect summer salad and I love the sumac dressing.
Dannii
My husband loves lamb and this looks amazing. The flavours sound incredible.
Mahy
I can't say NO to a good lamb recipe, and this is just one of those. Fantastic result, and sooo delicious-looking!