What Does Lamb Taste Like? The Secret About Lamb!

Human dining experiences are constantly changing and updating as we continue to create more fantastic dishes from many kinds of meat. From basic meat that we use every day like chicken, beef, pork, etc., now we have chances to eat such exotic meat, but still retain the high-quality and tasty flavor, such as lamb.

We sure that you may have heard of eating lamb before, but you may have taken a step back because you are afraid of how it tastes. Don’t worry because today, we will answer the question “What does lamb taste like?” that you have been waiting for! 

After this article, let’s start recognizing lamb as one of your favorite meats instead of using lamb substitute!

What Does Lamb Taste Like? 

Does lamb taste good? To describe the taste of lamb, let’s say it is a combination between beef and game if you wonder, “Does lamb taste like beef?”. 

If you haven’t heard of the game before, it refers to wild animals’ red meat flavor, which may be hard for you to imagine what it tastes like if you are not into hunting activities. 

Overall, lamb meat is extremely tender compared to the mainly-used meats and poultries, even more tender than beef. However, it includes a strong gamey flavor inspired by the game meat that can make you indigestible if you haven’t been familiar. 

The flavor and aroma of lamb are uniquely different from all the meat you have tasted before, so it can be a cool dining experience if you are willing to try. 

Since you haven’t tasted lamb before and while the question “What does lamb taste like?” is still lingering, we recommend you choose a restaurant that you believe in having good lamb dishes to try out. 

Due to lamb’s unique characteristics, it won’t be easy for you to cook lamb on your own while you haven’t had a taste of it beforehand. So, to have the best experience of trying lamb, let’s have dinner at your trusted restaurant and order one signature lamb dish. 

If that restaurant includes a lamb signature dish, you can be sure about the dish’s quality they are about to give you as they won’t mess it up. When the waiter asks you how cooked you want the lamb to be, ask for a medium-well. 

This cooking temperature allows the lamb to be cooked to the perfect condition, and you will learn the most characteristics about lamb’s taste. You will understand more when the dish comes out of the window. 

Your dish is now ready, and let’s have the first bite together to see what lamb tastes like. A medium-well lamb meat taste will make you feel the effortless smoothness and tenderness of the lamb through the knife’s cutting. 

The taste of lamb is quite similar to beef if we consider lamb meat vs beef, but much more gamey and smokey, making it scrumptiously stand out to be one of the most high-quality dishes in the restaurant. 

Lamb compared to beef is even more tender and juicier because of the medium well cooking temperature. Only medium well-cooked lamb will help you taste the juiciness of lamb, rather than perfectly cooked lamb or undercooked lamb. This special juiciness will fade the gamey flavor and make the dish easier to swallow.

If you ask, “Why does lamb taste gamey?” It is because of the characteristics of lambs themselves. Compared to cows, sheep often walk around the field longer, so as a matter of fact, the sheep muscles tend to be more out-grow with more flood regularly flowing, making the meat firm and tender. 

There is a good chance that people who love to work out or go to the gym should consume more lamb other than beef to stimulate their muscle’ growing, give your body more protein and healthy nutritional values. 

Moreover, there is a special kind of acid in sheep called branched-chain fatty acid. These fatty acids are the main reason for lamb’s gamey tone and flavor while creating a tender texture for the meat. 

As you eat lamb, its flavor will linger on your tongue for as long as possible, and these fatty acids also cause that special factor. They surely don’t want you to forget the flavor of lamb soon, we guess. 

However, like any other meat, the taste of lamb depends on numerous factors, from what kind of sheep were slaughtered or if the sheep are well-raised for meat consumption or not. 

For example, if the sheep were raised without doing many outside activities, their meat would be less firm than the sheep who regularly exercise. 

Or, if the lamb is not fresh enough, the flavor won’t be too strong, the texture won’t be too stiff, and you may not enjoy the full delicacy of lamb. 

What Are the Best Cuts of Lamb?

You can determine the best cuts of the lamb depending on your lamb flavor preference. 

If the signature gamey flavor of lamb makes you adore this kind of meat, then feel free to purchase lamb’s shoulder, shank, and leg as these parts are most rich in fat content, which leads to the lingering exotically gamey lamb’s flavor. 

Among lamb chop tastes, lamb legs are the easiest to cook with, with the least budget needed while providing the intense flavor as you wish. If you want to cut off the gamey tone, you can render the lamb’s fat like you would do when you render duck fat.

On the other hand, if you want to enjoy the tenderness of lamb, consider using non-fat content areas like leaner cuts, including rack, loin, or rib. Cooking these parts will produce less fat and more sweet, compatible with your eating preference. 

How To Season Lamb?

To start learning how to season lamb, let’s start with the simplest seasoning technique using garlic and herbs.

After rinsing your lamb underwater to make sure it is from bacteria, you can start on how to season lamb following these steps:

• Step 1: Use salt and pepper and start basic seasoning with both sides of lamb to absorb flavor effectively.
• Step 2: Prepare a small bowl with seasonings, including rosemary, parsley, and thyme. Don’t forget to put garlic and two spoons of olive oil in the same bowl and start mixing the whole portion.
• Step 3: Use your hands (with gloves) and rub the seasoning mixture on two faces of the lamb. Let the meat stay for half an hour at room temperature for the seasonings to absorb fully.

That’s the easiest way to season lamb. Once you finish putting flavor to it, you can heat it in the oven or fry it on the pan, depending on your cooking preference, to create a stunning lamb dish. 

What Are The Benefits Of Eating Lamb?

Although lamb can be difficult to digest for some of you, it is a meat that includes tons of health benefits for humans. Not only contains a lot of minerals and vitamins, but lamb also provides an excellent component of the diet: lots of proteins and lots of healthy fats. 

Due to its special features in ingredients like no other meat, we have listed down the benefits of eating lamb:

• Boost and maintain the body’s muscle

As lamb has a great amount of protein and healthy fat, it supports the body-building process in humans, especially building muscle. The nutrition goes straight to the body’s tissue, nourishing and maintaining its elasticity and flexibility. With that being said, lamb is extremely beneficial for sport-loving people recovering from injuries and post-surgery patients. 

• Anemia prevention

Iron deficiency is one of the main reasons for causing anemia in humans. The best way to prevent iron deficiency is by eating red meat containing natural iron, and what would be the better source of iron other than lamb? Lamb contains heme-iron as one special mineral in its ingredients, so digesting lamb often will reduce the risk of getting anemia disease. 

How To Buy a Leg of Lamb? 

As we mentioned before, a lamb’s leg is the most accessible and most delicious part of a lamb, the same as you think of veal tenderloin when purchasing veal. 

You can cook a leg of a lamb by yourself, but first, you must go through the basic points, starting with buying a leg of a lamb to find out “What does leg of lamb taste like?”. 

Leg of lamb consists of three more different kinds: butterflied, bone-in and boneless. The bone-in leg is more expensive than the two because of the excess weight from the bone; proper cooking tastes more phenomenal with the bone’s excess juice. 

The other two: Butterfield and boneless, are easy to cook but also have some disadvantages. The bone will be removed for boneless legs, and what you get is a netting piece of meat. Although it may look neat, you must open the net and cut the meat for yourself to do the seasoning step. 

On the other hand, the butterflied leg is not tied, so it will be easier for you to cut in the roast and seasoning before you take it to cook. Depending on your preference, you should choose the proper lamb leg to make your lamb dish delicious in and out.  

The Final Word

And that’s a wrap on answering the question “What does lamb taste like?” Lamb is such intriguing meat that any meat lover will be curious to experience its unique taste. 

After reading this article, let’s visit your favorite restaurant, order a lamb dish, or create your lamb dish signature. Enjoy your lamb, and we will catch up with you soon!