Lamb Chops (Easy Pan Seared Recipe)
Lamb Chops may seem like a fancy dish, but it’s quite easy to cook right at home and in no time at all. These flavorful lamb chops are simply seasoned and seared with butter, garlic, and aromatic fresh thyme.
Lamb is one of those dishes that can be a restaurant-worthy entrée and perfect for special occasion dinner. When made correctly, they taste like something that could only come from the upscale kitchen.
I can teach you how to make lamb chops better than your favorite restaurants. As long as you follow a few easy steps and tips, you’ll have the most tender, juicy, and mouthwatering lamb chops every time.
I do recommend keeping the ingredients simple. You want to compliment the lamb, not overpower it with bold flavors.
Featured Comment
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This was an easy but very delicious meal. Made it for my son after his hard work painting the porch. I’ve never made lamb chops before but I’ll definitely make them again. ~ Gloria”
Types of Lamb Chops
The two most common types of lamb chops that you will find are lamb loin chops and lamb rib chops:
- The rib chops are cut from the rib rack and are also called “lamb lollipops” because of the long rib bone attached. It’s very tender, and therefore, tends to be a bit more expensive. The lollipops also do tend to have less meat on them.
- The loin chop will look like a miniature T-bone steaks. Loin chops are also very tender and rich but they are meatier than the rib chops.
How to Make Lamb Chops
- Before starting to cook, take the meat out of the refrigerator and the wrapping and leave them to warm up for about 30-45 minutes.
- Once warmed up a bit, pat them dry with a paper towel and season them with salt and pepper.
- Preheat the skillet first and add olive oil. Sear the chops on a skillet for about 3-5 minutes and flip.
- After flipping, add the butter, minced garlic, and thyme to the skillet. Let it melt and gently swish the pan to combine. Use a spoon to drizzle the meat with the flavorful butter. Cook another 3-5 minutes.
- Once the thickest piece has reached the ideal internal temperature, remove them from the skillet and loosely tent them with foil. Let them rest for about 10 minutes.
- PRO TIP: For the best flavor, combine the juices that drained off the meat as it rested with the flavorful butter in the pan, and pour that over the lamb chops while serving.
To What Temperature To Cook Lamb Chops
- Lamb is a very tender cut of meat, so you want to be careful with the temperature.
- When it’s overdone, it will be tough, dried-out, and will taste much more gamey. With that being said, under-cooking the lamb will make the meat unpleasantly chewy.
- One of the most important notes you should remember is that lamb rib chops and loin chops are better cooked to different temperatures!
- Lamb rib chops (the ones that look like lollipops) are best when cooked to about 130°F.
- Loin chops (the ones that look like T-bones) are better when cooked to a higher temperature, about 140°F.
- Note that USDA recommends that lamb is cooked to 145°F, which in lamb chops is about medium-well.
Recipe FAQs
Lamb chops are pretty small, so you want to aim at 2 or 3 chops per person. If you serve hearty, filling sides along with it, you can keep the amount of chops pretty low. If you serve light sides like vegetables, you may have to go up to 4 chops per person.
Rare – 125°F
Medium-rare – 130°F
Medium – 135°F-140°F
Medium-well – 145°F
To measure the internal temperature, use an instant read thermometer and measure the center of the thickest part. Measure close to the bone but NOT touching the bone!
Lamb is a very tender meat that has a distinctive rich and gamey flavor. The fat in lamb is evenly distributed through the meat, which helps with the tenderness and rich flavor.
More Restaurant-Style Recipes To Try
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Lamb Chops Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lb lamb chops that are 1-1.25 inches in thickness
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2-3 large garlic cloves
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- coarse salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
Prepare lamb chops:
- Take the chops out of the refrigerator about 30-45 minutes before cooking to let them warm up.
- Prepare the other ingredients so it's ready to go.
- Preheat the cast iron skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add olive oil.
- Pat each lamb chop with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
Cookie lamb chops:
- Place lamb chops into the preheated skillet and let them sear for 3-5 minutes.
- Flip each chop over and cook another 3-5 minutes. While lamb chops are cooking add butter, garlic, and thyme. Once butter is melted, carefully shimmy the skillet to spread it all around.
- Use a spoon to baste each lamb chop with hot garlic butter.
- Take the internal temperature of the largest lamb chop and if it's reached your desired temperature, take them out of the skillet. Take the skillet off heat as well.
- Place lamb chops into a serving dish and loosely tent them with a sheet of foil. Let them rest for about 10 minutes.
- Combine juices that drained off while the lamb was resting with the flavorful butter in the pan and spoon this buttery mixture over the lamb chops when serving.
Internal Temperature:
- Note that USDA recommend that lamb is cooked to 145°, that will be about medium-well temperature in lamb chops.
- Lamb rib chops (ones that look like lollipops) are better cooked to 130°. Loin chops (ones that look like T-bone) are better cooked a little more, about 135-140°.
- If you prefer other temperature: rare would be around 125°, medium-rare is around 130°, medium around 135-140°, and medium well is around 145°.
Video
Notes
- How many per person? Lamb chops are pretty small, so you want to aim at 2 or 3 chops per person. If you serve hearty, filling sides along with it, you can keep the amount of chops pretty low. If you serve light sides like vegetables, you may have to go up to 4 chops per person.
- Lamb Chops to get: You can use either lamb loin or lamb rib chop, so long as they’re about 1-1.25 inches in thickness.
- Use unsalted butter: since you’re seasoning the meat, make sure to use unsalted butter so you don’t over-salt.
Nutrition
Originally published Will Cook For Smiles in November 2021.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Awesome recipe! Black iron aged skillet is a must! Thanks
I am so glad you liked the recipe, Sandy!
This was an easy but very delicious meal. Made it for my son after his hard work painting the porch. I’ve never made lamb chops before but I’ll definitely make them again.
I’m so happy to hear the lamb chops were a hit, especially for such a well-deserved meal after a hard day’s work! 😊
My husband loves lamb and he loved this recipe. Wow! Was his response.
I am so glad he liked the recipe!
Minimal prep time, minimal ingredients, quick to cook and sooooo delicious!
So glad you liked it, Nikki!
I am so glad you liked it!
Thanks for inspiring me!💖
The recipe was perfect!
I am so glad you liked it, Sandy!
This Recipe is great! Thanks for posting!
These lamb chops were very tender and flavorful. I really enjoyed them!
I am so happy to hear that, Nancy!
Delicious! I’ll make these again. I love lamb & this was so easy .
I am so happy to hear that, Jill!
Wonderful flavor and instructions on how to make these lamb chops!
Thank you, Karen!
Love this recipe! So easy and so yummy!
These were truly awesome. My steak loving husband said these were better than filet mignon. This recipe is a keeper.
Wow, that is awesome! I am so glad you both liked the recipe!