This lamb shoulder is steamed until fall-off-the-bone tender, then finished under the grill with butter, garlic, rosemary, and cumin for a beautiful crust.
I use a pressure cooker (or Instant Pot) to cut the cooking time down to about 1½–2 hours, but I also explain how to do it with a regular steamer if you prefer.
The lamb is served Moroccan-style on a large platter with vegetables, olives, and fries underneath so all that flavor drips straight where it belongs.
Almost healthy.
Definitely delicious.
This pulled lamb shoulder skips the tagine spices entirely, leaning instead on garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves rubbed under butter before a long, slow roast. The low heat over hours is what turns a tough cut into meat that pulls apart with two forks.
Smearing butter under the skin before roasting keeps the meat basted from the inside as it cooks, while the whole garlic cloves and onions soften into something worth spooning over the meat once it’s done. It pairs well with a side of garden salad to cut through the richness.
This pulled lamb shoulder skips the usual Moroccan spice blend for something simpler — whole garlic cloves, rosemary, bay leaves, and butter, roasted low and slow until the meat pulls apart with a fork. It’s proof that lamb doesn’t always need a heavy hand with spices to taste incredible.
The long, slow roast is what does the real work here, rendering the fat and turning tough shoulder meat completely tender without much intervention beyond basting occasionally. If you want the fuller Moroccan spice treatment instead, my lamb tagine with prunes and apricots takes the same cut in a completely different direction.
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