Tender lamb leg steaks dusted with a mildy-spicy chili rub and pan seared is a delicious recipe you can use for lots of chops. Everyone should have a good meat rub in their repertoire, and this simple chili rub is one of my favorites.
You can use the rub on all kinds of things. It’s good on slow-cooking cuts of lamb like shoulder or a whole brisket, as well as quick-cooking cuts like the steaks cut crosswise from the leg I use here, or even a rack of lamb or a shoulder chop.
Shepherd’s Song lamb leg steaks. Goat works too!
What to serve with lamb leg steaks? A perfect green salad
This is a great dish to serve with a simple salad of fresh greens. I like to use a contrast of flavor and texture, so I used a few different greens I’ve been growing including orache, strawberry spinach, wild chard and nasturtium leaves, but feel free to use whatever you have available. I love using wild greens when I can, especially tender tips of purslane / verdolagas and lambs quarters / wild spinach.
The method of dressing the salad simply with good oil and vinegar separately while dressing and mixing is one of my secrets to amazing salads. Bottled dressing is too heavy for me, and once you try dressing a salad my way I think you’ll agree.
Ruby orache is a beautiful purple and great tossed in a simple salad.Chef Alan Bergo, The Forager Chef
This recipe is by James Beard award-winning Chef Alan Bergo, the Forager Chef. A chef from Minnesota, Alan is a culinary industry veteran, former chef of acclaimed Lucia’s Restaurant, and the Salt Cellar. Author of The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora, he’s one of the most respected voices in the world of foraging and wild food. He’s best known as the founder of Forager Chef, his website focused on wild ingredients that reaches millions of readers each year. Learn more about Chef Alan and his hunt for mushrooms, wild and obscure foods at foragerchef.com.
Looking to buy lamb or goat online? Shepherd Song Farm: Grass to table. We raise lambs & goats traditionally, humanely and sustainably. 100% Grass Fed, Pasture Raised, Never Confined, no Hormones, Grains or Animal Byproducts. Born, raised and processed in the U.S.A. Good for you and good for the environment.
Lamb or goat leg steaks with a mildy spicy chili rub and a fresh salad of garden greens makes for a nice, easy meal.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword lamb leg steak recipe, Lamb leg steaks
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 1servings
Calories 273kcal
Cost 15
Equipment
1 heavy pan like a cast iron skillet
Ingredients
Chili Rub (makes enough to season about 4 steaks)
¼cupAncho chili powder
3Tonion powder
1tablespoongarlic powder
1teaspoonground cinnamon
1teaspoonfresh ground black pepper
1/2teaspooncayenne pepper
Lamb leg steaks
Kosher salt, to taste
2 tablespoons high heat cooking oil, such as grapeseed
2lbslamb or goat leg steaks or shoulder chops roughly 2 steaks
Garden Salad (optional)
3oz Fresh salad greens, such as nasturtium leaves and other tender baby greens
a few leaves of torn fresh mint, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil or similar, to taste
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Balsamic vinegar, to taste
Instructions
Chili rub
For the chili rub, combine all ingredients and mix in a bowl until well-blended. From here the rub can be stored in a pantry until you need it. It can be scaled to make bigger batches.
Leg steaks
Season the leg steaks with salt and allow to rest overnight, or for at least an hour. Bring them to room temperature before cooking.
To cook the leg steaks, heat the oil in a heavy pan such as cast iron. Dust the steaks with the rub using roughly 1.5 tablespoons per steak, tap off any excess, and brown in the pan on medium-high heat. Cook to an internal temperature of 145 F.
Be careful not to get the heat too high which could burn the crust. If the pan threatens to get dark you can finish the steaks by cooking for a few minutes in a 325F oven.
Put the cooked steaks on a cutting board and rest for a few minutes before plating
Salad
Immerse the greens in cold water for 5-10 minutes to refresh them. Spin the greens dry or wrap gently in paper towels.
Mix the greens in a bowl, add a few torn mint leaves to taste, then season very lightly with a dash of oil and vinegar to taste. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, mix to combine.
Taste the mixture for seasoning and adjust as needed until it tastes good to you. Be careful to not add too much oil which can wilt the greens. It should be lightly seasoned and refreshing.
Put one lamb steak on each of two entree plates. Garnish with some of the salad greens and serve immediately.
Notes
Cooking lamb steaks from the leg with this rub is great, but it will also work on lamb loin chops, Barnsley lamb chops, loins, and rib chops.
The bone marrow is edible and you can eat it if you like. It's good spread on toast.
Bring the lamb steaks to room temperature before cooking for the best result.