Lamb Kleftiko - Traditional Greek Dish

Lamb Kleftiko is a traditional Greek dish that has been popular for many years. Made with slow-cooked lamb, potatoes and vegetables in a clay pot.

This blog post will provide you with information about the history of Lamb Kleftiko, how to make it at home in an oven.

Kleftiko History

Kleftiko is a traditional dish from the Greek island of Crete, where lamb has been popular for centuries.

Named after the 'kleftes', which translates to 'thieves', a gang living in the mountains as anti-Ottoman insurgents.

They were known to cook stolen lamb under a hot stone to avoid detection during their raids on villages in Greece and its surrounding islands.

Cypriot Kleftiko is a dish that has been passed down from generation to generation and continues to be popular today despite its shady past.

Oven Roasted Lamb Kleftiko

Instead of cooking in a clay pot and using the hot stone method, we'll oven roast a leg of lamb with potatoes and vegetables in the oven for a much easier, more convenient way to make this traditional Greek dish.

How to make Lamb Kleftiko

We give you all the information you need to make this lamb kleftiko in the oven at home.

Watch the above video to see how the tender lamb is when it falls off the bone.

Don't want to watch the video? Jump straight to the recipe here: 

Lamb Kleftiko Recipe, how to cook this classic Greek lamb dish.

Preparation

The first step is to preheat the oven to 150°C fan / 170°C / Gas Mark 3 / 325°F.

Take a large roasting tin and line it with parchment paper; we find it best to create a cross overlapping the roasting tin; the excess paper will create a parcel over all the ingredients once added.

Ingredients:

Potatoes, Onions and Peppers

The potatoes are peeled and sliced into large chunks, and the red onions and pepper chopped into big pieces.

Greek Marinade - Olive Oil, Garlic, Lemon, Honey and Oregano

Make a marinade use half to rub over the lamb and the other half over the vegetables.

This greek marinade I made out of olive oil, pureed garlic cloves, lemon juice, honey and oregano. Add the already squeezed lemon halves to the roasting tin.

Lamb leg, shoulder or shank (with bone-in)

We have used a 2kg whole leg of lamb with bone-in for this kleftiko recipe; see notes for adjusted cooking times if using half a leg of lamb or shoulder or smaller lamb shanks.

Sit the marinated lamb on top of the vegetables and potatoes.

White Wine & Seasoning

Pour white wine on top of the vegetables and into the lemon shells. Wine helps add flavour and steam the kleftiko during cooking for melt in the mouth lamb.

You can use red wine, stock or water instead of wine.

Fold the excess parchment paper over the top to create a parcel. Finally, cover with foil over the parchment and roasting tray to keep it in place.

Fresh rosemary will be added towards the end of cooking, as explained below.

Optional Extra

Add cubes of feta cheese and/or kalamata olives to the kleftiko towards the end of cooking for extra greek flavours.

Kleftiko Cooking time 

Use one of the below cooking times charts for how long to slow roast the kleftiko, depending on the joint of lamb used and size.

I recommend always using boned lamb; you can use shanks, leg of lamb or lamb shoulder following the below cooking time to the weight of boned lamb joint used.

Oven temperture

Lamb roasting joints are best when slow-cooked for several hours at low temperatures. Roast the boned lamb low and slow in a preheated oven set to 150°C fan / 170°C / Gas Mark 3 / 325°F to create meat that is so soft it falls off the bone and melts in your mouth, it will not need carving.

Leg of lamb or shoulder

As seen in the pictures and on the recipe card, you can use a whole leg of lamb or half a leg of lamb. A lamb shoulder will take the same cooking time as the same weight leg.

Leg of Lamb or Lamb Shoulder (bone-in) weight kg and (lb)	Oven cooking time 150°C fan / 170°C / Gas Mark 3 / 325°F	Final cooking time after basting - uncovered	Total cooking time
1 kg -1.5 kg (2.2 lb - 3.4 lb)	3 hours 0 minutes	30 minutes	3 ½ hours
1.6 kg - 1.9 kg (3.5 lb - 4.1 lb)	3 hour 30 minutes	30 minutes	4 hours
2 kg - 2.5kg (4.4 lb - 5.5 lb)	4 hour 30 minutes	30 minutes	5 hours

Lamb shank

A slightly quicker way to prepare this lamb kleftiko is to buy lamb shanks, you can cook a few shanks together spaced out in the roasting tin.

I would recommend searing the shanks in a pan before adding them to the roasting tray.

Lamb Shanks (bone-on) weight per shank kg and (lb)	Oven cooking time 150°C fan / 170°C / Gas Mark 3 / 325°F	Final cooking time after basting - uncovered	Total cooking time
300 g -650 g each (2.2 lb - 3.4 lb)	2 hours 0 minutes	30 minutes	2 ½ hours
700 g - 1 kg each (3.5 lb - 4.1 lb)	2 hour 30 minutes	30 minutes	3 hours

As shown in cooking times above thirty minutes before the end of cooking, remove the foil and cut away excess parchment.

Use a few sprigs of fresh rosemary to baste the cooking juices over the lamb. Scatter the rosemary over the lamb and vegetables and cook for the final 30 minutes.   

Add feta cheese and or olives if using now too.

Check to see if the lamb easily falling off the bone with two forks, if it isn't return to the oven for another 30 minutes.

Lamb Resting time

Once cooked, it is best to let the lamb rest; cover the roasting tin loosely with foil and allow to rest in the roasting tin for at least 30 minutes.

Resting lamb helps retain all the delicious juices in the meat and makes it easier to pull apart using two forks.

Kleftiko Serving Suggestions

Lamb kleftiko is a meal combining vegetables, lamb and potatoes in one dish.

To make it serve more people side with a Greek salad and or freshly baked bread to soak up those delicious cooking juices.

Kleftiko is at its best when still hot, so invite everyone around your table to enjoy it!

📖 Step by Step Recipe

Storage and Reheating

Lamb kleftiko can be stored in the fridge after cooking, perfect for leftovers the next day. Just reheat in the oven or microwave and enjoy!

Oven

To reheat leftover lamb kleftiko place in an oven dish and cover with foil. Heat at 150c fan/f for 20 minutes or until hot (time depends on how much is reheated)

Microwave

If reheating in a microwave, I find it best to add gravy to the lamb to prevent it from drying out. Remove lamb from the bone and heat with the warm gravy in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

You can also serve leftovers cold for lunch if you prefer.

Lamb kleftiko is a delicious greek dish to share with loved ones, so try it yourself!

The result will have you coming back for more. Make sure to leave us a comment to let us know how you like this greek recipe.

More lamb recipe ideas

Looking for other ways to cook lamb? Check out our Persian Lamb Shanks, Slow Cooked Leg of Lamb, Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder or our Croatian Lamb Peka recipes.