Grilled Lamb Loin Chops

While lamb loin chops are delicious on their own, adding salt to lamb chops imparts lots of flavor. 

The best way to salt lamb chops is to add the salt around 40 to 50 minutes before you cook them. This way, the salt has time to break down the proteins in the meat and to draw the moisture to the surface. You’ll end up with an extra tender lamb loin chop with a much more concentrated flavor.

Of course, this recipe calls for using a marinade, but salting lamb chops is a good alternative if you can’t get hold of the ingredients for the marinade.

I’ve heard some people say that marinating lamb isn’t a great idea. It’s simply not true!

As you’ll see from this recipe, marinating lamb gives it an amazing flavor, not to mention a melt-in-the-mouth texture that’s absolutely to die for!

Leaving meat – whether it’s lamb, beef, chicken or any other type – to marinate for an extended period of time takes the flavor and tenderness to another level. It works on a molecular level – there’s real science behind this! 

The proteins in the meat are broken down, so that when the meat cooks, the meat keeps its moisture and the taste of the marinade goes deep into the meat.

For this recipe, I’ve chosen chermoula as the marinade. If you’ve never heard of it, you’re in for a treat! It’s an incredible North African spicy marinade with a flavor that’s perfectly in harmony with lamb. You’re going to love it!

In fact, find out all about it by checking out my chermoula recipe.

For smaller cuts of meat, marinating for around 4–5 hours is a good amount of time. Larger cuts, like lamb shoulder or lamb leg can be marinated for 24 for optimal taste and texture. 

You can marinate lamb for up to 2 days. I wouldn’t marinate it for much longer than this however, as the taste and texture will be affected.

When we say ‘lamb chops’ we often talk about lamb rib chops. This cut of lamb is fattier than lamb loin chops and, obviously, contains a rib bone.

Lamb loin chops are cut from the waist of the lamb. They are leaner, tend to be thicker and meatier, and are often less expensive.

It all depends on how you like your meat. The best way to check when your grilled lamb chops are done is to use a meat thermometer. Generally it should take about 3–4 minutes per side.

For rare, cook until the grilled lamb chops are 60ºC (140ºF). For medium rare, cook until the grilled lamb chops are 60–65ºC (140–149ºF). For medium grilled lamb chops cook to 65–70ºC (150–158ºF).  For well done, cook your grilled lamb loin chops to 70ºC (158ºF).

Lamb is absolutely good for you! It’s often thought of as being bad for you, which leads to many people shunning this criminally underrated meat.

Okay, let’s get the bad out of the way. It is high in saturated fat. This is probably the reason it’s been given such a bad reputation. 

However, saturated fats are fine in moderation. In fact, some research casts doubt on just how harmful saturated fats actually are.

When you take into account all the positive health benefits, it’s clear that this delicious meat certainly is not bad for you. It’s absolutely packed with essential vitamins and minerals, all of which are very important for a healthy, balanced diet.

When it comes to protein-rich foods, it doesn’t get much better than lamb. A 100g serving of lamb contains 25g of protein. That’s 50% of your daily recommended intake, from just 100g!

Protein is huge when it comes to bone and muscle development, as well as the overall health of your immune system.

Speaking of the immune system, vitamin B12, iron and zinc are massively important and lamb contains all three. These are three big factors when it comes to having good defences against illness – something that really needs to be considered when we talk about food that is healthy and food that isn’t. 

Another thing that makes this grilled lamb chops recipe healthy is the spice mix. Chermoula contains cumin, paprika and coriander, all three of which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Incorporating spices into your diet is a great way to sure up the immune system and help to prevent certain diseases.