One of my favorite recipes ever is Ina Garten’s Dijon Balsamic Rack of Lamb. Ina Garten got it right with this blend of ingredients. It’s an absolutely perfect rack of lamb. Rack of lamb is an impressive, restaurant-quality dinner to make at home, and it’s much easier to make than you think!
My dearly loved Grandma used to make roasted lamb. She and Grandpa lived on a ranch, which was an amazingly fun place to visit as a kid. After a day of swimming with goldfish in the horse trough, dodging the psychotic rooster, and taking rides with Grandpa around the ranch in his hot pink Jeep… we would open the door to the house and become overwhelmed by the scent of lamb roast that had been slow-roasting most of the day. It tasted as good as it smelled too. My Mom also made lamb chops all the time for dinner. So as a result, lamb has always been a favorite special treat.
Ingredients Needed:
- Flavor Enhancers: Kosher Salt, Fresh Rosemary and Fresh Garlic
- Dijon Mustard: Get the good stuff (not generic). I recommend Grey Poupon or Maille. They’ll have a lot more flavor than generic Dijon.
- Balsamic Vinegar: Again, get the good stuff (in other words, not a cheap bottle of balsamic).
- Lamb: You’ll be using two whole racks of lamb. Look for racks that are marbled with some fat on them, and have been “Frenched.” Your butcher can do that for you if they’re not already done (it means that the meat, fat and gristle have been scraped away from the top rib bones).
How to make Dijon Balsamic Rack of Lamb:
In Ina’s recipe, you just spoon the quickie-marinade (that has been made in a food processor) over the top of the rack of lamb and let it sit at room temp. for about an hour. Then it’s popped into the oven for a quick roasting. Roasted to medium-rare (130 degrees F) is perfect for this recipe. So good!
Recipe Tips:
- Lamb racks will vary in size. Their fat content and thickness can have an affect on cooking time. So exact cooking time is tough to share.
- Don’t skip letting the lamb come to room temperature. This will allow it to cook more evenly.
- It’s helpful to have an instant read thermometer, so you can cook your lamb to your temperature preference.
- rare = 120 degrees F.
- medium rare = 130 degrees F. (most common for lamb)
- medium = 140 degrees F.
- medium-well to well done = 145 to 150 degrees F.
Temperatures shared are “take out of the oven” temps. Be sure to let your lamb rest for at least 10 minutes. This will seal in the juices, and the temperature will rise slightly. You can tent the lamb with foil, if you’d like.
Another delicious glaze for rack of lamb:
Combine 1/2 cup dry white wine, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2 teaspoons honey + salt/pepper. Continue with the recipe here to cook two racks of lamb.
What side dishes go well with lamb?
What I Love About This Recipe:
- Lamb is one of my favorite proteins because it has so much flavor!
- I love that you can prep this dijon balsamic rack of lamb ahead of time and let it marinate.
- It’s a fancy dinner, but it’s super simple to make.
Favorite Lamb Recipes:
Dijon Balsamic Rack of Lamb
Ingredients
- 1½ tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 whole racks of lamb, Frenched
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the salt, rosemary, and garlic until they're as finely minced as possible. Add the mustard and balsamic vinegar and process for 1 minute.
- Place the lamb in a roasting pan with the ribs curving down, and coat the tops with the mustard mixture. Allow to stand for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Roast lamb for exactly 20 minutes for rare (or 25 minutes for medium rare). Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, then cut into individual ribs and serve.
Notes
- “Frenching” refers to scraping the meat off the tips of the bones. Ask your butcher to leave ⅛ inch of fat on the meat.
- Check lamb with an instant thermometer. Rare will be 125 degrees; medium-rare is 130 degrees.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe is delicious.
This really turned out wonderfully delicious! I was surprised it was so easy :). I didn’t use a processor or Kosher salt. I minced ingredients and used regular sea salt. I made the marinade and refrigerated it for 8 hrs, which blended flavors, then coated the lamb.