Fall-Apart Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Lamb
on Oct 25, 2019, Updated Mar 10, 2025
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If you like pulled pork and you like lamb, then this slow cooker BBQ recipe is the best of both worlds.
You might wonder for a moment if slow-cooking lamb in a crock pot makes sense. The answer is a resounding YES. The lamb shoulder is cooked low and slow until it is fall-apart tender, much the same as other slow-cooked meat like pork or chicken. The juices from the lamb blend in with the sauce in the crock pot to create an almost gravy-like sauce that keeps the meat amazingly moist and flavorful.
And don’t think for a minute the unique and highly beloved flavor of the lamb would be overshadowed by the barbecue sauce. The first time I made this, a tableful of teenage boys who walked into my house at the right time had third helpings of pulled lamb sandwiches. Lamb is a seriously flavor-forward meat, rich and savory, and in this recipe, we give it a BBQ twist.
Barbecue sauce and lamb and a crock pot — this is a match made in heaven. If your family, like mine, are massive lamb fans, then this might be your new favorite pulled meat. This works so well as a sandwich, but you could also serve it atop herb mashed potatoes, polenta, or rice.
Table of Contents
If you like pulled pork and you like lamb, then this Fall Apart Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Lamb is the best of both worlds.
Ingredients
- Onion and garlic cloves – For the flavorful, aromatic notes.
- Ketchup and tomato paste – The combination of these offers a deeply rich, slightly sweet, acidic, and silky base.
- Dijon mustard – For a bit of spiciness.
- Worcestershire sauce – For umami.
- Balsamic vinegar – Tanginess and sweetness.
- Honey – For a touch of sweetness.
- Chili powder – Offers an almost smoky spiciness.
- Salt and pepper – To taste.
- Vegetable or canola oil – For searing the meat.
- Lamb – Lamb shoulder without the bone in is easier to pull.
American Lamb
The majority of sheep in the U.S. graze pastures for most of their lives. Some lambs are exclusively grass-fed, and others are finished on wholesome grain. And since sheep are grazers, they help naturally control weeds and help clear undergrowth in forests and wooded areas.
I had no idea that sheep improve the land by recycling vital nutrients back into the soil, minimizing erosion, and encouraging native plant growth. These are good things to consider when thinking about your red meat consumption.
Slow Cooker BBQ sauce
Homemade barbecue sauce is so happily and stupidly easy; it’s a mystery why more people don’t make it. Having said THAT (one of my favorite phrases on the planet), I am all in favor of grabbing a bottle of prepared sauce, and there are so many good ones out there. Just read the label: avoid high fructose corn syrup and any ridiculously long list of unrecognizable ingredients.
If you want to take a super shortcut, use 3 cups of your favorite bottled barbecue sauce. But if you have a handful of extra minutes, make the BBQ sauce for the lamb below. And, because we are in slow cooker mode, not only is the lamb made in the slow cooker, but the barbecue sauce is as well!
Variations
- Add a bay leaf and/or some fresh rosemary sprigs to the BBQ sauce for an herbaceous note.
- Try making little pulled lamb sandwiches with homemade biscuits. Pile on a bit of coleslaw if you like!
How to Make Pulled BBQ Lamb in the Slow Cooker
- Make the BBQ sauce: In the slow cooker, combine the onions, garlic, ketchup, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, balsamic vinegar, and honey. Season with salt and pepper, stir well, and cook on high for 1 hour.
- Brown the lamb: Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and sear the lamb on all sides.
- Cook the lamb: Tuck the lamb into the sauce already heating in the slow cooker, and spoon some over the top. Reset the cooking time to 4 hours on high.
- Pull the lamb and enjoy: Remove the lamb and use two forks to pull the lamb into small bite-sized pieces. Spoon some of the sauce over the shredded lamb. Serve the pulled lamb in a sandwich with Sriracha Mayo or over the starch of your choice.
Kitchen Smarts
I like to end up with a combo of smaller bits and larger chunks of lamb when I pull it, but you may like a more consistent texture throughout. You can make the pieces as small or as large as you like, depending on preference and how you plan to serve the lamb.
Storage
Pulled slow-cooked lamb keeps really well in an airtight container in the fridge, and I would even suggest making extra to use for the week. Store leftover lamb in a sealed container for up to 1 week. Reheat it in the crock pot or in a pot over low heat with its liquid.
What to Serve with Slow Cooker Pulled Lamb Shoulder
More Great Lamb Recipes
- Spanish Lamb Burgers with Romesco Sauce and Caramelized Onions
- Lemon-Garlic Semi-Boneless Leg of Lamb
- Instant Pot Mediterranean Lamb Stew
- Lamb Satay
- Lamb Stew with White Wine, Orange, and Fennel
- Moroccan-Inspired Lamb Kebabs
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Fall-Apart Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Lamb
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ large onion (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 cups ketchup
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
- 1 (4-pound) boned, rolled and tied leg of American Lamb
To Serve (Optional)
- 10 long buns sliced in half almost all the way through
- ½ cup Sriracha Mayo
Instructions
- In the slow cooker, combine the onions, garlic, ketchup, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, balsamic vinegar, and honey. Season with salt and pepper, stir well, and cook on high for 1 hour.
- Towards the end of the hour, heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Sear the lamb on all sides, turning it and allowing it to rest on the edge of the pan as needed. It’s ok if you can’t get the ends browned, but you want a nice sear on as much of the exterior as you can get. This should take about 10 minutes total.
- Tuck the lamb into the sauce already heating in the slow cooker, and spoon some over the top. Reset the cooking time to 4 hours on high.
- After 4 hours, remove the lamb to a shallow dish and, using two forks, pull the lamb into small bite-sized pieces. You can make them as small or as large as you like, depending on preference and how you plan to serve the lamb.
- Spoon some of the sauce over the lamb. If you want to serve it in sandwiches, pile it onto the buns, and spoon some of the Sriracha Mayo on top. You’ll likely have some leftovers, which is a very good thing.
Notes
- If you want to take a super shortcut, use 3 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce. But if you have a handful of extra minutes, make the balsamic barbecue sauce in this recipe. And, because we are in slow cooker mode, not only is the lamb made in the slow cooker, but the barbecue sauce is as well!
- Pulled slow-cooked lamb keeps really well in an airtight container in the fridge, and I would even suggest making extra to use for the week. Store leftover lamb in a sealed container for up to 1 week. Reheat it in the crock pot or in a pot over low heat with its liquid.
How to do in pressure cooker?
I’ve never tried that, but if you do, please let me know how it turns out!
My slow cooker only fits 3kg of meat (half of recipe amount) so I halved ketchup down to 1 cup and the rest as is. Turned out great! Family enjoyed it :)
With leftovers, I made shepherds pie. Yum!
Thank you for your recipe
Is it possible to put everything in at once and heat on low for 8 hours or so, before leaving for work in the morning? As I will not have the time to put on the sauce for an hour first..
definitely!
Made this and it went down an absolute storm thank you! X
Thanks a lot for this lovely sauce recipe. Greetings from belgium
Absolutely delicious, Thank you
I made this for quarantine Easter dinner, and it was so delicious! I’m not a huge lamb fan because I think it’s always so fatty, but I saw this recipe and figured it was a great way to melt away the fat. Kind of like pork shoulder for pulled pork, the slow cooker is perfect for this! Way too much for just my husband and me, but I froze the leftover meat. I might freeze the bbq sauce too, I wonder how that would turn out? Thanks for the great recipe!
I think you can freeze the sauce, too! Glad it was such a hit!
Where is the recipe for the Balsamic vinegar bbq sauce?
it’s part of the main recipe!
I was wanting to cook this while at work. Could I cook on low for 8 hours?
I don’t see why not!
Do you cook the lamb tied? Thanks
not necessary!
“stir well, and cook on high for 1 hour.
Towards the end of the 2 hours, heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add the oil. Season the lamb with salt and pepper.”
WHAT DID YOU LEAVE OUT???
apologies! I changed the cooking time from the sauce to 1 hour on high from 2 hours on low, and didn’t adjust the second sentence – it is correct now! so sorry.
Too late for that, but do you return the shredded lamb to the sauce?
You could, but the directions just suggest spooning some of the sauce over the lamb – depends on how moist you like your pulled lamb!