A friend was recently telling me how much he likes purchasing various cuts of lamb from Aldi. I’ve enjoyed Aldi’s lamb loin chops and ground lamb in the past, so when I spotted boneless lamb legs in the ALDI Find freezer the other week, I bought one.
Specially Selected Boneless Leg of Lamb cost $5.99 per lb. at the time of publication. My lamb leg weighed 1.46 pounds and cost $8.75. This is an ALDI Find (Special Buy), which means it’s only in stores for a short time, so if you want one, you’ll need to get it before it sells out.
The lamb legs are available with rosemary and garlic seasoning or unseasoned. I opted to get the rosemary and garlic seasoned lamb. The lamb is distributed by Thomas Foods International USA in Palo Alto, California, and it’s a product of Australia, which is where Thomas Foods is headquartered. This is the same company that provides Aldi with its Thomas Farms Free Range Lamb Loin Chops, which I’ve purchased in the past. The lamb leg package states the lamb was grass fed, has no added antibiotics or hormones, and was fed an all-vegetarian diet. It’s also certified halal.
Ingredients for the rosemary and garlic seasoned lamb are: lamb, salt, garlic, spices, onion, bell peppers, tomato powder, lemon peel, parsley, rosemary, and less than 2% of sunflower oil and natural flavoring. It would be nice if they could elaborate what “spices” go into this, and natural flavoring doesn’t have much transparency either.
Specially Selected Boneless Leg of Lamb ingredients and nutrition information. (Click to enlarge.)
One serving size is 4 oz., and with the rosemary and garlic lamb that nets you 240 calories, with 150 calories from fat, along with 17 grams of total fat (26% of your daily value), 8 grams of saturated fat (40% DV), 85 mg of cholesterol (28% DV), 260 mg of sodium (10% DV), 185 mg of potassium (5% DV), 0 grams of carbohydrates or sugars, and 21 grams of protein.
There are no cooking instructions on the package, other the directions to cook the lamb to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
I found a recipe online that I used as a guideline for time and temperature to roast my leg of lamb. I roasted it in a roasting pan with rack at 375 degrees for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and I allowed it to rest for about 15 minutes before slicing it.
The lamb came out tender and flavorful, and my husband and I liked the seasoning rub. It paired well with some instant buttery mashed potatoes to make an easy dinner, but next time I might try roasting some potatoes alongside the lamb in the oven. It is a small hunk of meat, so it doesn’t serve a lot of people, but it was about the right size for our family of four.
The Verdict:
Aldi’s Specially Selected Leg of Lamb is grass fed and comes from Australia. There are no cooking instructions, so I found an internet recipe that offered guidelines for time and temperature in the oven. The lamb turned out tender and flavorful, and it’s something I’ll probably purchase again the next time it shows up in stores.
I cooked this last week and it was fantastic! I wish I knew when it was coming again. I will be keeping my eye out for it. This was the first time I have ever seen it though.
I made this for Easter this year. It was a new product to me but since we were only two this year because of the quarantine I thought I’d try it. I cooked according to the instructions on this site. It was just so delicious. I will look for it again. This will easily feed 4 people.
Did you cook the lamb straight out of the freezer or defrost it first?
I thawed it in the refrigerator for a few days before cooking.
bought one yesterday. cooking tonight . thank you for recipe.
It tastes great braised (do not add water) in the slow cooker on high for 7 to 12 hours, mine was 3.3 pounds. It will shred apart like brisket or pulled pork. Also, having it in the slowcooker with no liquid will cause the outside to crust, as if you seared it, but you didn’t. You will get 2 to 3 cups of drippings, you can spoon it out …put in container in frig, let the fat rise to the top and then easily separate it from the broth. But while the liquid is separating, easily remove the fat cap off the meat…it should slide off, and shred the meat, then pour the broth over it and heat through. So good.
That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing.
I had a small Aldi’s boneless leg of lamb – 1.8lbs – and used my small crockpot, following your directions of no liquid.. Mine took about half the time (smaller roast and a crockpot that runs hot)… it turned out delicious and couldn’t have been easier. Thank you so much!
This is back in stores this week while supplies last!
I was shocked at the high salt content. I bought pre seasoned by mistake and didn’t notice till the night before. In my city Aldi is the only store this year that has leg of lamb. The label stated over 1000 mg sodium
I tried to rinse the salt out 6 times. Then roasted it like any boneless lamb roast. Was about as salty as country ham. Then I sliced it and tried to boil out the salt but still was lousy. Do people love salty food that much to say this thing was delish? Worst thing ever . I had to throw it out.