Perfectly cooked, juicy and tender, this Smoked Rack of Lamb Recipe is delicious and full of flavor. It's fancy yet still simple, and it tastes delicious!
Lamb is one of my favorite meats for any special occasion. When you cook it medium rare and have the perfect balance of seasoning, it is hard to find a more mouth-watering dish. Prep time is fast, cook time is short and this recipe ensures you will have a beautiful meal in no time at all.
Want to cook an entire leg of lamb? Check out one of our other favorite lamb recipes, Smoked Leg of Lamb!
Love beef too? Try our Smoked Prime Rib next.
Ingredients
Fresh Rosemary - I'm a big fan of using fresh herbs for the best flavor. Rosemary is one of our favorites. If you don't have rosemary, you could easily use other herbs like basil or sage.
Garlic - Garlic is fantastic with lamb. Use fresh garlic whenever possible but garlic powder works in a pinch.
Olive oil - Olive oil helps to coat the lamb to allow the rosemary to better adhere to the meat. For added flavor, I did bruise a bit of the rosemary with the back of my chef's knife and soak it in the olive oil in a small bowl to get more of the rosemary flavor.
Salt and Pepper - Kosher salt and black pepper are an essential part of any recipe. They bring out the flavor in all your food, so never forget to put them on!
Rack of Lamb - In a restaurant, this would be served as an entire rack to one person. When cooking it at home, you can serve smaller portions, you don't need to serve it in the quantity you might with say chicken or pork. You will need at least two to three chops for each person if you are serving this as the main course.
How to Make Smoked Rack of Lamb
Step One: Prepare the lamb rack by letting it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Rinse the rack of lamb with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. If the rack wasn't frenched from the butcher, start there. Remove any silver skin along with any chunks of excess fat.
Step Two: Finely mince a clove of garlic. Remove some rosemary leaves from the stem and finely dice them as well. Rub olive oil over the lamb and then rub the garlic and herbs all over the rack of lamb. Season all sides of the lamb with a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Step Three: Place the whole rack of lamb directly on the grill grate, bone side down, in your preheated smoker at 225°F. Smoke at 225F for approximately 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the lamb reaches your desired level of doneness.
How to Reverse Sear Rack of Lamb
Preheat your cast iron pan in a hot grill or oven. I will crank my oven to 500F and let the cast iron pan preheat in it for 30 minutes. You can also use a gas grill and put all the burners on high do the same thing. This can usually be done, while the lamb is smoking.
The key to remember is that the lamb will continue to cook in the cast iron pan when you reverse sear it. So you need to account for that as you monitor the internal temp of the lamb as it smokes. I pull the lamb out of the smoker when it is 10 degrees away from being done.
Place the cast iron pan on the smoker or the grill and place the smoked lamb in it. Sear each side for about 30 seconds to get a nice crust. Once you are done searing, it should be at your desired final temperature. Let the rack of lamb rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before serving.
Common Questions
How long will it take to smoke a rack of lamb?
This depends on what temperature you smoke the lamb at. The lower the temperature, the longer you will be able to have it absorb the smoke, but you want to be careful to not dry the lamb out. I want to keep the lamb on the smoker for about 30 minutes. I can do that with a 200F or 225F temperature depending on how thick the rack is. You will want to use a meat thermometer that you can leave in for the entire smoke to closely monitor the internal temperature of the lamb.
Rather use the air fryer? How about this Air Fryer Rack of Lamb.
What temperature should rack of lamb be cooked to?
This will depend on the level of doneness that you like. For a rare finish, cook the lamb to 115F-120F. Medium-rare will be around 125F. Medium is 130F-135F. I like my lamb medium-rare.
How to serve rack of lamb
Cutting the lamb into lamb chops is very easy. Place the lamb on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife cut down between each of the bones. This will give you nice individual chops that you can serve just like that as an appetizer, or plate them nicely as the star of the dish.
How about a shank? Try this Smoked Lamb Shank recipe!
What should I serve with Traeger Smoked Rack of Lamb?
I like to serve them on top of something that will soak up the yummy juices from the lamb. Mashed potatoes, risotto, or even quinoa work well for this. You could even serve it over mashed cauliflower if you are trying to stay low carb. I also like to serve lamb with grilled delicata squash, smoked baked potatoes, or smoked mac and cheese.
Recipe
Smoked Rack of Lamb
Equipment
- Traeger Grill or other smoker
Ingredients
- 1.25 lb rack of lamb
- 2 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Remove lamb from packaging. Rinse and pat dry. French the bones and remove any silver skin.
- Finely mince garlic clove and fresh rosemary leaves.
- Rub rack of lamb with oil and rub thoroughly with minced garlic and rosemary.
- Season all sides of the lamb with salt and pepper.
- Place rack of lamb bone side down directly on the grate in preheated smoker. Smoke lamb for approximately 30 minutes at 200°F - 225°F.
- Using a meat thermometer, closely monitor the internal temperature of the lamb and cook until the desired doneness. For medium-rare cook until internal temperature reaches 125°F. Remove from smoker and let rest for 5 minutes.
Reverse Searing Rack of Lamb
- If you wish to reverse sear the lamb after smoking it. Preheat cast iron pan in the oven at 500°F for at least 20 minutes. Remove lamb from the smoker at 115°F internal temperature.
- Set hot cast iron pan on grill and place the smoked lamb into it, searing all sides of the lamb for about 30 seconds each. Once all sides are seared and internal temperature reaches desired doneness, remove the lamb from pan and let rest for 5 minutes.
Nutrition
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Originally Published November 17, 2021. Revised and Republished June 3, 2015.
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