Roast Lamb is New Zealand's Sunday roast — a leg of NZ lamb (the country's most famous export), rubbed with garlic, rosemary, and mustard, roasted until pink and tender, served with roasted kūmara, potatoes, mint peas, and gravy. It is the British heritage meal adapted with NZ lamb (the best in the world) and NZ kūmara.
The Sunday Roast Lamb is the cornerstone of NZ's British culinary heritage, adapted to local ingredients. New Zealand is one of the world's largest lamb producers (and the largest exporter); NZ lamb is grass-fed, free-range, and considered among the best in the world. The roast is a leg (bone-in or boned), rubbed with garlic and rosemary (Mediterranean herbs that thrive in NZ), roasted until medium-rare (NZ style — the British well-done approach has evolved). The accompaniments are distinctly NZ: roasted kūmara (not just potatoes), mint peas, and gravy from the pan juices. It is the meal of every NZ Sunday family gathering.
A slice of pink, juicy, rosemary-scented lamb, alongside golden roasted potatoes and orange kūmara, bright-green mint peas, and a pool of dark savory gravy. The lamb is tender, mildly gamey, with the clean taste of grass-feeding. It is the most traditional NZ family meal, eaten on Sunday, with the whole table.
The leg should be at room temperature before roasting (for even cooking). It is rubbed with garlic, rosemary, mustard, and oil, then roasted at a high temperature (220°C) for 20 minutes (to sear the outside), then reduced (180°C) for the remainder (about 15 minutes per 500 g for medium-rare). The meat must rest 15 minutes before carving (the juices redistribute). The gravy is made from the pan juices, deglazed with wine or stock and thickened with flour. Kūmara is roasted alongside (it takes the same time as potatoes).
Variations
Some bone the leg and stuff it; some add mint sauce; the doneness varies (NZ style is pinker than British); some add pumpkin.
On the Palate
Where Roast Lamb NZ sits in the New Zealand flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
10 steps · 30 min active + 2 hours 30 min waiting
- 160 min
Take a 2 kg leg of lamb; bring to room temperature 1 hour.
- 25 min
Make a paste: 4 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tbsp chopped rosemary, 1 tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper.
- 33 min
Rub the paste all over the lamb.
- 45 min
Preheat oven to 220°C.
- 55 min
Place the lamb in a roasting pan; surround with 4 chunked potatoes and 2 chunked kūmara.
- 620 min
Roast at 220°C for 20 minutes; reduce to 180°C.
Watch outBlast the lamb at 220°C for the first 20 minutes to sear a browned crust before dropping the heat — that early high heat is what builds the roast's color and flavor.
- 760 min
Roast another 60 minutes (for medium-rare), or until the internal temperature reaches 60°C.
Watch outTrust a thermometer to 60°C at the thickest part for medium-rare — the color of the juices lies, but the reading doesn't.
- 815 min
Rest the lamb 15 minutes, loosely tented.
Watch outRest a full 15 minutes before carving — cut too soon and the juices run out onto the board instead of staying in the meat.
- 95 min
Make gravy: drain the fat from the pan; add 1 cup stock and 1 tbsp flour; whisk; simmer until thick.
- 103 min
Carve the lamb; serve with the roasted vegetables, mint peas, and gravy.
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