Greek Salad with Lamb is a fresh, satisfying and easy dinner, and served with crispy potatoes you’ll have a dinner everyone will enjoy.
Greek Salad with Lamb was on fairly regular rotation in our house when I was growing up, and I have vivid memories of carefully constructing perfect forkfuls of soft potato, crispy lettuce, juicy lamb and tasty tomatoes. It’s such a delicious dinner and one I hope you’ll be thinking about long after you’ve eaten it too.
What flavours work well with lamb?
We’re going to marinate our lamb with a mix of garlic (of course), with rosemary, oregano, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. Rosemary and oregano are a lovely pairing with lamb, they are woody, savoury and warming and really bring out those beautiful lamb flavours.
What goes well with lamb?
Crispy potatoes and Greek salad are the perfect combination of textures and flavours to serve with lamb. The salty and acidic flavours of tomatoes, olives and feta in the Greek salad bring out the flavour of the lamb, and then the crispy lettuce gives you a nice moment of repose from the intensity of those flavours. Crispy potatoes soak up the juices in the salad and are crunchy and pillow mouthfuls that are so satisfying to bite into. We’ll use baby potatoes (otherwise called new potatoes) which are nice and small so they cook quickly and have lots of surface area to crisp up.
What is a traditional Greek salad made of?
We’ll make our Greek salad by layering cos lettuce, cucumber, baby tomatoes, pitted kalamata olives and feta cheese, and serving with a dressing of finely chopped rosemary, lemon juice, dried oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Top tip
Use a fork to push down your potatoes. You might find that you push through some of them - that’s a-okay! This’ll just give you more surface area to work with. Also make sure you let your lamb get to room temperature before you cook it, otherwise it may not cook through evenly. If you get a chance, take it out of the fridge well before it is time to cook, or you can also submerge it (in its plastic packaging) in tepid water.
Substitutions
- Alternative proteins - Chicken and steak work just as well as lamb here. If you can't find lamb backstrap you can also use lamb cutlets.
- Vegetarian - Marinate and fry up chickpeas instead of lamb.
- Gluten Free - This recipe is gluten free.
- Dairy Free - Either skip the feta or swap for dairy free feta or dairy free parmesan.
Kid-Friendly Variations
- Serve slices of lamb with potatoes, cucumber rounds and tomatoes.
- Skip the dressing.
Equipment
You will need an oven, a baking tray, a microwave proof bowl, a microwave, a frying pan or grill pan, a stovetop.
If you like Lamb recipes, try our
Recipe
Greek Salad with Lamb
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking tray
- Microwave proof bowl
- Microwave
- Frying pan or grill pan
- Stovetop
Ingredients
- 500 g lamb backstrap
- 500 g baby potatoes
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoon olive oil ¼ cup total for the recipe
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon olive oil ¼ cup total for the recipe
- 1 baby cos lettuce
- 1 Lebanese cucumber
- 200 g mixed baby tomatoes
- ⅓ cup pitted kalamata olives
- 100 g feta cheese
- Salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220 C (425 F) fan-forced grill and get out a tray. Remove lamb from the fridge. Set aside.500 g lamb backstrap
- Place potatoes in a microwave proof bowl, cover with water and microwave for 8 minutes.500 g baby potatoes
- Juice lemon into a jug. Add dried oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix.1 lemon, 2 teaspoon dried oregano, 2 tablespoon olive oil, Salt, Black pepper
- Pour half into a bowl for the marinade. Peel and mince garlic and finely chop rosemary, and add to the bowl along with the lamb. Set aside at room temperature.500 g lamb backstrap, 2 cloves garlic, 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Once potatoes are cooked in the microwave, drain then place on the baking tray. Press down gently with a fork, then drizzle with olive oil and salt (opt.), and then place in the oven for 20 minutes until crisp and golden.2 tablespoon olive oil, Salt
- Heat a frying or grill pan on high, add lamb and cook for 4 minutes, then turn and cook for another 3 minutes. If you have a thick piece of backstrap, increase this cooking time by a minute or two. Once cooked, rest until ready to serve.
- Remove the base of the lettuce, then rinse and slice into three, lengthwise. Chop cucumber into moons. Slice tomatoes in half. For kids, place cucumber slices and tomatoes on their plates now. For adults, add to a salad bowl, and scatter over olives and crumble over feta.1 baby cos lettuce, 1 Lebanese cucumber, 200 g mixed baby tomatoes, ⅓ cup pitted kalamata olives, 100 g feta cheese
- Slice lamb.Serve kids plain cucumber, tomato, potatoes and lamb. Serve adults lamb with dressed salad and potatoes on the side.
Leave a Reply