This tasty lamb salad has all the Mediterranean vibes, as it is bursting with olives, feta and sun-dried tomatoes all brought together with a simple balsamic dressing. All on a crisp bed of greens and topped with perfectly grilled lamb chops. A great salad to serve on a big platter for when entertaining guests.
This is a delicious and affordable salad that is perfect for summer and entertaining. Lamb is such a strong flavour, that a little bit goes a long way making it a great value meat - especially when it comes to a salad where it is the star of the show.
Salads aren't just for summer though, as the lamb is served warm. Perfect for bridging the gap between summer eating and autumn comfort food.
If you are looking for some more salad recipes, then why not try our Roasted Winter Salad, Chopped Blue Cheese Salad or Roasted Vegetable Couscous Salad.
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Why you will love it
- A new way to enjoy lamb - If you are looking for a new way to eat lamb, or you haven't cooked with it much then this is an easy recipe to try. It's also a great leftover lamb recipe.
- Quick - This lamb salad is ready in only 30 minutes, which shows that lamb doesn't have to be cooked low and slow.
- Easy to adapt - You can change up this lamb salad recipe with different salad items - use whatever your favourites are.
- High protein salad - Lamb is a delicious source of protein, making this a high protein salad.
Ingredients needed
- Lamb chops - We used lamb chops for this lamb salad as they look really pretty on a bed of lettuce. However, this is a great way to use up leftovers from our Slow Cooker Lamb Shoulder. We have some more leftover lamb recipes coming soon.
- Couscous - Giant couscous (pearl or Israeli couscous) makes this salad lovely and filling. You could use something else like rice or pasta if you prefer.
- Salad leaves - Feel free to use your favourite salad greens here. We used a mixture of spinach, rocket and watercress. But something crunchy like romaine would be nice.
- Fresh herbs - We used rosemary because it pairs beautifully with lamb, but also some fresh mint and parsley to lighten it up.
- Oil and vinegar - This is a base of the lamb salad dressing.
- Garlic - Freshly crushed is best. Make sure it is crushed in to almost a paste to ensure even distribution in the marinate.
- Olives - This adds to the Greek lamb salad vibes, use your favourite olives. Chilli stuffed olives would add a nice extra kick.
- Tomatoes - We used fresh cherry tomatoes and then some sun-dried tomatoes for extra flavour.
- Strawberries - Fruit in salad just adds another level of flavour. The sweetness of the strawberries really bring out the other flavours. You can leave these out if you prefer.
- Cheese - A little bit of creamy feta adds so much flavour. You could use grilled halloumi instead.
- Pine nuts - These add a nice extra crunch. You could swap them for some flaked almonds or pistachios.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
How to make lamb salad - Step by step
One: Put the lamb chops, 40g of the herbs, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tablespoon each of oil and balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper into a large dish. Mix well so the lamb is coated and put in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Two: Make the salad dressing by combining the remaining oil, vinegar, garlic and herbs.
Three: Cook the couscous according to the instructions. When cooked, rinse in cold water and set aside.
Four: Dry heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Place the marinated lamb chops in the pan and cook for 3 minutes each side.
Five: Place the salad leaves on a large platter and pour the dressing over. Evenly sprinkle the couscous over the leaves. Add the cherry tomatoes, olives and sliced strawberries.
Six: Add the cooked lamb chops. Finish off by adding the sun-dried tomatoes, crumbled feta and pine nuts.
How to cook lamb
There are many different ways you can cook lamb and serve it with this salad, but we grilled some lamb chops to perfection to serve on top of this salad as I think it makes a really beautiful salad, which is perfect for serving up on a big platter for guests to help themselves. That way little bits of lamb don't get lost in the salad.
To cook the lamb chops, we marinated them in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic, garlic and a mixture of fresh herbs and then cooked them on a griddle pan for 3 minutes each side.
This salad is also a good way to use up leftover lamb from a roast dinner - just shred it up and mix it in to this delicious salad.
Salad dressing
We went with a balsamic-based dressing. If you have never had lamb and balsamic together, you are missing out. The sweetness of the balsamic vinegar really compliments the lamb.
We mixed that with a good glug of excellent quality olive oil, some salt and pepper and then a whole load of fresh herbs. This dressing is quite mint heavy, as mint and lamb are the perfect match.
If you want to serve it with some extra sauce on top, then why not try our our Homemade Tzatziki recipe.
Variations
We used giant couscous in this salad to make it a bit more filling, but you could use any grain like rice, quinoa or pearl barley or even roast some new potatoes to mix through the salad. Roasted sweet potato and butternut squash work well too.
You can also swap any of the salad ingredients for your favourite ones, or whatever you have left in your salad draw that needs using up. You don't want anything too overpowering, as the lamb should really be the star of the show here, but anything that would compliment it. A salad should have a good mixture of textures and plenty of crunch.
Some of our favourite toppings for this salad other times we have made it include chopped walnuts, grilled halloumi, pomegranate, apricots, grilled peaches, chickpeas (try our roasted chickpeas)and sunflower seeds.
FAQS
If you have leftovers of this lamb salad, then it will store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. It is best not to dress the salad until just before you are going to eat it, as it will get soggy.
It of course wouldn't be a lamb salad without the lamb. But if you wanted to try something a little different, you could use boneless and skinless chicken thighs instead of lamb.
Lamb is not only a rich source of protein, but it is also a great source of many vitamins and minerals, such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12. You could make this even leaner by cooking the lamb under the grill too.
More lamb recipes
If you’ve tried this lamb salad recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
Warm Lamb Salad
Ingredients
- 800 g lamb chops
- 60 g couscous
- 100 g mixed salad leaves - (we used spinach, rocket and watercress)
- 50 g mixed fresh herbs - finely chopped (we used rosemary, parsley and mint)
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 5 garlic cloves - crushed
- 1 pinch sea salt and black pepper
- 50 g olives
- 70 g sun-dried tomatoes
- 30 g feta cheese - crumbled
- 20 g toasted pine nuts
- 4 strawberries - hulled and sliced
- 10 cherry tomatoes - halved
- tzatziki - (to serve)
- hummus - (to serve)
- pitta bread - (to serve)
Instructions
- Put the lamb chops, 40g of the herbs, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoon each of oil and balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper into a large dish. Mix well so the lamb is coated and put in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the salad dressing by combining the remaining oil, vinegar, garlic and herbs.
- Cook the couscous according to the instructions. When cooked, rinse in cold water and set aside.
- Dry heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Place the marinated lamb chops in the pan and cook for 3 minutes each side.
- Place the salad leaves on a large platter and pour the dressing over.
- Evenly sprinkle the couscous over the leaves.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, olives and sliced strawberries.
- Add the cooked lamb.
- Finish off by adding the sun-dried tomatoes, crumbled feta and pine nuts.
Notes
- After the lamb has finished cooking, deglaze the pan with some red wine vinegar. Allow to reduce and then use this as an extra dressing.
- You can also swap any of the salad ingredients for your favourite ones, or whatever you have left in your salad draw that needs using up.
- Use good quality oil and balsamic for the dressing as you can really taste the difference.
- We used lamb chops but you can use diced lamb or even leftover roast lamb.
Shivani Raja
You’ve styled this salad so beautifully!
Diana
I LOVE Mediterranean flavours and this salad sounds so good! Love the hummus dip too!