Lamb Dinners for a Friday Night

This collection of Lamb Dinners for a Friday Night is perfect for the end of a week when nobody wants to think hard about dinner. Some of these are on the table in half an hour, and the rest are slow trays you leave alone.

You'll find grills and skewers, two oven roasts, and a couple of air fryer recipes for a late finish. Slide 10 is the quickest of the lot at twelve minutes, start to finish. Save this one for the next Friday you get home late.

Baked Lamb Chops - Firinda Kuzu Pirzola

You bake lamb chops in one tray with onions, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. Nothing gets seared or browned first, and the tray takes two and a quarter hours. It serves four, with the meat and all the vegetables cooked together in one go.

To learn more: Baked Lamb Chops - Firinda Kuzu Pirzola

Lamb and Rice Recipe

Ankara tava is a Turkish dish of lamb and rice that cook together slowly in one pan. The rice takes up the juices from the lamb as it goes. It feeds six and needs two and a half hours in the pan.

Get the recipe: Lamb and Rice Recipe

Lamb Shish Kebab

You marinate lamb cubes in onion juice, milk, olive oil and Turkish pepper paste, then grill them. The cooking takes twenty minutes and serves four, but the marinade wants a night in the fridge. Slide 10 needs no marinating at all and cooks in twelve minutes flat.

See the method: Lamb Shish Kebab

Urfa Kebab

Urfa kebab is a minced lamb kebab from Sanliurfa, seasoned with smoky isot pepper instead of hot chilli. It is milder than Adana kebab and takes half an hour for four. Cook them on the grill, in the oven or in a pan.

Full recipe here: Urfa Kebab

Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipe

You roast a boneless leg with garlic, rosemary, olive oil and seasoning, and nothing else. It serves eight in an hour and a half, which makes it the one for a houseful. Rest it properly before you carve, and the slices will stay juicy.

Read the recipe: Boneless Leg of Lamb Recipe

Ali Nazik

Ali Nazik is a kebab from Gaziantep, with minced lamb spooned over smoky aubergine and garlicky yoghurt. You char the aubergine first, and that is where the smoky taste comes from. Slide 7 is the slower version of the same idea, at an hour and fifty minutes.

Recipe and timings: Ali Nazik

Hünkar Beğendi - Sultan's Delight

Hunkar Begendi is a slow-cooked lamb stew that you serve over a smoky aubergine puree. The puree goes into bechamel with grated cheese, and the name means the sultan liked it. It takes an hour and fifty minutes for four, and most of that is simmering.

How to make it: Hünkar Beğendi - Sultan's Delight

Islim Kebabi

You wrap fried aubergine strips around meatballs, pin each one with a cocktail stick and bake them in tomato sauce. The recipe makes twenty and takes an hour and twenty five minutes. Assemble them the day before if you have people coming round for dinner.

Get the method: Islim Kebabi

Sac Kavurma - Turkish Lamb Sauté

Sac kavurma is diced lamb cooked fast over a high heat with onions, peppers and tomatoes. A wok or a cast iron pan does the job of the traditional metal griddle. Slide 11 is the one to make when even forty minutes is too long.

See the full recipe: Sac Kavurma - Turkish Lamb Sauté

Easy Air Fryer Lamb Rib Chops

Lamb rib chops cook in the air fryer in twelve minutes from start to finish. There is no marinating and no grill to light, and it serves two. Put them on a plate with a sharp salad and some warm bread.

Recipe here: Easy Air Fryer Lamb Rib Chops

Air Fryer Meatballs (Lamb or Beef)

You can make these meatballs with lamb or beef, and they cook in the air fryer without added oil. They take twenty five minutes and serve four people with very little washing up. Serve them with rice, in flatbread, or with tomato sauce over pasta.

Learn how: Air Fryer Meatballs (Lamb or Beef)