Looking for a leftover lamb recipe after a Sunday roast? This Moroccan-inspired easy lamb tagine is one of the easiest ways to use up leftover lamb. Ready in about 30 minutes, it combines warming spices, chickpeas and sweet apricots to create a comforting one-pan meal.
The sweetness of the apricots balances beautifully with the warming Moroccan spices, while chickpeas add substance and texture. Best of all, this is a one-pan dish that comes together quickly, making it ideal for an easy midweek dinner.
Jump to:
Why This Leftover Lamb Recipe Works
- A quick and easy leftover lamb recipe ready in about 30 minutes.
- Uses simple store-cupboard ingredients like chickpeas, spices and apricots.
- A great way to use up leftover roast lamb from a Sunday roast.
- Perfect served with couscous, rice or flatbreads.
Turn leftover lamb into a new and delicious meal that tastes like it has simmered for hours, even though it comes together in around 30 minutes. It's also a great way to reduce food waste and the added ingredients are budget-friendly.
You can of course also cook this tagine recipe with lamb mince.
What is a Tagine
A tagine is a North African slow-cooked stew traditionally prepared in a clay pot of the same name. The dish typically combines meat, vegetables, fruit and aromatic spices such as cumin, cinnamon and coriander.
While traditional tagines cook tender cuts of meat slowly, this leftover lamb version cooks much faster because the lamb has already been roasted.
You don't need a traditional tagine dish for this recipe, just a large frying pan or Dutch oven.
Ingredients
This recipe uses everyday store-cupboard ingredients to keep things simple.
- Leftover lamb: Diced or minced.
- Chickpeas: For texture and protein.
- Dried apricots: For natural sweetness and to balance the savoury spices.
- Onion: To build flavour.
- Moroccan spices: Such as cumin, cinnamon and ground coriander.
- Stock (lamb or vegetable): To form the sauce.
How to make Leftover Lamb Tagine
I've paired this lamb tagine recipe with couscous as it's quick and easy to make. For more ideas, see serving suggestions below.
If you haven't yet cooked your lamb, just fry it up at step 1.
Step 1: Base
Add the oil to a large pan with a lid and fry the onion and mince over a medium heat until browned.
Step 2: Spices
Add the cumin, turmeric and ground coriander and fry for 2 - 3 minutes.
Step 3: Stock
Add the lamb stock, bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes.
Step 4: Couscous
Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl, add the lemon zest and juice together with the stock. Cover the bowl with a tight-fitting lid or upturned plate and leave it for 5 minutes. Uncover the bowl and fluff the couscous up with a fork, and stir through the mint.
Step 5: Simmer
Add the drained chickpeas and apricots to the tagine and simmer for 5 minutes then serve with the couscous.
Top Tip
Because leftover lamb has already been cooked, avoid simmering it for too long as it can become dry. If your lamb pieces are large, dice them into small chunks so they heat through quickly and absorb the tagine spices more effectively.
Would you like to SAVE this Post?
I'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I respect your privacy and you can opt out at any time.
What to Serve with Leftover Lamb Tagine
This leftover roast lamb recipe is delicious served with something that will soak up the rich sauce. Good options include:
- Couscous: A traditional pairing for tagine. Try this colourful Moroccan Couscous as an alternative
- Fluffy rice
- Flatbreads or warm pitta: This 3 ingredients flatbread is ideal.
- A simple salad with lemon dressing.
A spoonful of Greek Yoghurt or tzatziki on the side also works very well, balancing the spices with a cool, creamy contrast.
How to Cook Leftover Lamb
Leftover roast lamb is incredibly versatile. The key is to avoid overcooking it as it can become dry.
Some useful tips:
- Dice the lamb into small bite-sized pieces or mince it so it reheats quickly.
- Add the lamb early enough to absorb the flavour of the spices but simmer gently.
- If you have only small amounts of lamb, bulk the dish out with extra chickpeas or vegetables.
This tagine works equally well with leftover leg of lamb, shoulder or lamb roast, or you can cook it using lamb mince.
What to Do With Leftover Lamb. More Recipe Ideas.
Leftover lamb is perfect for quick meals because the meat has already been cooked. The best leftover lamb recipes gently reheat the meat while adding fresh flavours. These are the most popular recipe ideas.
- Lamb shepherd's pie: Substitute lamb mince in this easy shepherd's pie recipe.
- Lamb wraps or flatbread: A simple flatbread with leftover lamb and tzatziki.
- Lamb pasta: Add leftover lamb to this simple tomato pasta sauce.
- Lamb curry: Substitute the prawns for diced lamb in this simple Balti curry recipe.
- Lamb meatballs: use leftover lamb mince in this meatballs in tomato sauce recipe.
Using leftovers creatively is one of the easiest ways to reduce food waste and save money.
Storage
Cooked lamb will keep safely in the fridge for 3-4 days if stored in an airtight container. If you won't use it within that time, it can be frozen for up to 3 months. Remember, you should only reheat meat once.
Sustainability and Fairtrade
Not only is this recipe a great way to reduce food waste, many of the ingredients can be bought Fairtrade. The turmeric, ground cumin, dried apricots and chickpeas are all available as Fairtrade as well as the couscous and lemons. Fairtrade is a global movement working to make a difference in the lives of some of the world's poorest farmers. The Fairtrade movement also works hard to tackle climate change and promote sustainable farming practices. Check out my most popular Fairtrade recipes.
A Lower Carbon Tagine
If you love tagine, but want a lower carbon version, check out this Chicken Mince Tagine. Chicken has about 25% of the carbon footprint of lamb, making it a more sustainable alternative. For more tips on how to eat a sustainable diet, go to How to Eat and Cook Sustainably.
FAQs
Yes. If you don't have apricots, you can substitute raisins, dates or even chopped figs. The sweetness balances the spices and gives the dish its characteristic flavour.
Absolutely and adding vegetables is a great way to stretch the meal further. Choose carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes or tomatoes.
Tagines, curries and shepherd's pie are some of the best ways to use leftover lamb. Because the lamb is already cooked, recipes that reheat the meat gently while adding flavour, like this lamb tagine with apricots and chickpeas, work particularly well.
Yes. Shredded leftover lamb works just as well as diced lamb in this tagine. Simply pull the lamb apart with two forks and add it to the pan as instructed in the recipe. Because shredded lamb has more surface area, it absorbs the spices and sauce particularly well.
📖 Recipe
Easy Leftover Lamb Tagine Recipe
Would you like to SAVE this Post?
I'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I respect your privacy and you can opt out at any time.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil Fairtrade available
- 1 onion Peeled and chopped
- 500 g lamb mince Leftover roast lamb or lamb mince
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin Fairtrade available
- 1 teaspoon ground tumeric Fairtrade available
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander Fairtrade available
- 300 ml lamb stock Or vegetable stock
- 75 g dried apricots Chopped, Fairtrade available
- 240 g chickpeas Drained weight
Lemon and Mint Couscous
- 250 g couscous Fairtrade available
- 2 lemons Juice and zest of. Fairtrade available
- 450 ml vegetable stock
- 4 tablespoon fresh mint Chopped
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pan with a lid and fry the onion and mince over a medium heat until browned.2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 onion, 500 g lamb mince
- Add the cumin, tumeric and ground coriander and fry for 2 - 3 minutes.1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground tumeric, 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- Add the lamb stock, bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes.300 ml lamb stock
- Put the couscous in a heat proof bowl, add the lemon zest and juice together with the stock. Cover the bowl with a tight fitting lid or upturned plate and leave it for 5 minutes. Uncover the bowl and fluff the couscous up with a fork and stir through the mint.250 g couscous, 2 lemons, 450 ml vegetable stock, 4 tablespoon fresh mint
- Add the drained chickpeas and apricots to the tagine and simmer for 5 minutes then serve with the couscous75 g dried apricots, 240 g chickpeas
Notes
Nutritional Info
The nutritional info is based solely on the lamb tagine (without couscous) as choice of side dishes will vary.Ingredient Notes
This recipe uses everyday store cupboard ingredients to keep things simple.- Leftover lamb: Diced or minced.
- Chickpeas: For texture and protein.
- Dried apricots: For natural sweetness.
- Onion: To build flavour.
- Moroccan spices: such as cumin, cinnamon and ground coriander.
- Stock (lamb or vegetable): To form the sauce.
Storage
You can keep this dish in the fridge for 2 -3 days. The actual tagine can be frozen for 3 - 4 months.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
Comments
No Comments