Greek Lamb Souvlaki
Greek Lamb Souvlaki is the dish that introduced me to Greek Food, and I’ve loved these grilled lamb skewers for years! And this Lamb Souvlaki recipe has classic Greek flavors with olive oil, lemon juice, and oregano used to marinate the lamb!
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Greek Lamb Souvlaki is the first Greek food I remember ever tasting as a college student, and it was the beginning of a long love affair with Greek flavors for me. And a few years ago I bought some leg of lamb from Costco and made Greek Lamb Souvlaki so we could update the photos for this post. If you like Greek food, this recipe is simple to make.
Of course Lamb is not inexpensive, but I think this Greek Lamb Souvlaki is a perfect main dish any time you don’t mind splurging a bit on some lamb. And if you’re lucky enough to be celebrating warm weather by cooking something on the grill, enjoy!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- leg of lamb
- Olive Oil (affiliate link) or non-stick grill spray
- extra virgin olive oil, preferably Greek Olive Oil (affiliate link) for the marinade
- fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
- dried Greek Oregano (affiliate link)
- Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
- salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
What is Souvlaki?
Wikipedia defines Souvlaki as “a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables, grilled on a skewer.” And although in the U.S. this is almost always called Souvlaki, the plural form is really Souvlakia, so when there are multiple skewers like you see in my photo that would be called Lamb Souvlakia in Greece.
What lamb did we use for Greek Lamb Souvlaki?
For this Souvlaki recipe with lamb we used leg of lamb that we cut into cubes and trimmed off most of the fat.
How low in carbs is this Lamb Souvlaki recipe?
This amazing Souvlaki made with lamb only has about 3 net carbs per serving.
What other meats can you use for Souvlaki?
The meat used most for Souvlaki in Greece is pork, and on my blog I have a recipe for Souvlaki using Pork and also a recipe using Chicken.
What Flavors Are Most Common in Greek Food?
The most essential herb in Greek cooking is oregano, and it must be Greek Oregano, as opposed to Mexican Oregano, which truly does have a different flavor. In Greece, most cooks have a jar of dried oregano right by the stove, and the dried version is often preferred over fresh oregano, since drying concentrates the flavor. Greek dishes also use a lot of mint, dill, onion, garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves. Read more at Wikipedia about Greek Cuisine.
Want more ideas for grilled meat?
There are lots of good ideas for grilled meats of every kind in my round-ups of Keto Beef, Pork, and Lamb on the Grill and Amazing Keto Steak Recipes.
How to make Greek Lamb Souvlaki:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Cut lamb into cubes about one inch square. I started with two pounds of lamb and trimmed off most of the fat; take your choice on that.
- Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, dried Greek Oregano, and granulated garlic or garlic powder.
- Put lamb cubes inside a Ziploc bag (or use a plastic container with a tight lid), add the marinade, and marinate the lamb cubes about 4 hours in the refrigerator.
- Dump the lamb and marinade into a colander placed in the sink, drain off the marinade, and let lamb come to room temperature while you heat the grill to medium-high.
- Thread lamb cubes on to skewers. If you don’t have blade-type skewers (affiliate link) like these great skewers I bought in Turkey or double skewers for kabobs (affiliate link) be sure to push the cubes of lamb tightly together so they don’t spin around on the grill.
- Place skewers on the grill and rotate every 2-3 minutes to get nice grill marks on the meat.
- Cook lamb about 8 minutes for medium rare or 9-10 minutes for medium, but don’t overcook.
- Season cooked lamb with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper and serve hot.
- Souvlaki is great served with The World’s Best Tzatziki Sauce.
Make it a low-carb Meal:
Greek Lamb Souvlaki would taste great with American Greek Salad, Greek Salad with Peppers, Greek Dip with Tomatoes and Feta, or Chopped Greek Salad with Peperoncini for a low-carb meal.
More Delicious Grilled Food with Greek Flavors:
Greek Lamb Souvlaki
Greek Lamb Souvlaki is the dish that introduced me to Greek Food, and I love these skewers with marinated lamb.
Ingredients
Souvlaki Ingredients:
- 2 lb. leg of lamb (or slightly less if there isn't much fat to be trimmed)
- olive oil or non-stick grill spray for brushing or spraying the grill
Marinade Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek olive oil)
- 3 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (see notes)
- 1 tsp. dried Greek Oregano
- 1 tsp. garlic powder or dried granulated garlic (I prefer not to use freshly chopped garlic because it can burn on the grill.)
- salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- I started with two pounds leg of lamb and trimmed off most of the fat; take your choice on that. If your lamb doesn't have much fat you might not need two pounds
- Cut lamb into cubes a little over one inch square.
- Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, dried Greek Oregano (affiliate link), and granulated garlic or garlic powder to make the marinade.
- Put the lamb cubes inside a Ziploc bag (or use a plastic container with a snap-tight lid) and add the marinade.
- Marinate the lamb cubes at least 4 hours (or marinating all day wont' hurt) in the refrigerator.
- Dump the lamb and marinade into a colander placed in the sink, drain off the marinade, and let lamb cubes come to room temperature while you heat the grill to medium-high heat.
- Thread lamb cubes on to skewers. If you don't have blade-type skewers like these great skewers I bought in Turkey or double skewers for kabobs be sure to push the cubes of lamb tightly together so they won't spin around on the grill. (affiliate links)
- Place skewers on the grill and rotate every 2-3 minutes to get nice grill marks on the meat.
- Cook lamb about 8 minutes for medium rare or 9-10 minutes for medium, but don't overcook.
- Season cooked lamb with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper and serve hot.
- Souvlaki is great served with The World's Best Tzatziki Sauce.
Notes
I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice for this recipe. Use more or less lemon juice to taste; I like quite a bit of lemon.
Recipe inspired by The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines, one of my favorite cookbooks. (affiliate link)
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 744Total Fat 54gSaturated Fat 18gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 33gCholesterol 211mgSodium 297mgCarbohydrates 3gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 58g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Greek Lamb Souvlaki is a great dish for low-carb or Keto diet plans, and most low-carb dieters probably wouldn’t mind a bit of fat left on the meat. Lamb is a limited food for the South Beach Diet, due to the amount of fat, but if you trim the fat well you could eat this for an occasional treat.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Grilling Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Lamb Souvlaki recipe was first posted in 2007! The recipe was updated with better photos in 2019 and last updated with more information in 2024.
18 Comments on “Greek Lamb Souvlaki”
I love how sometimes the simple food is most delicious. These lamb souvlaki kabobs look amazing! Can’t wait to try them.
Neil, have fun at the barbecue! I hadn't heard that about using the tips of the dried oregano, very interesting. I have some oregano growing, maybe I will try drying some!
We are having a bbq tomorrow and were talking about doing souvlaki, perfect timing. Did you know some Greeks, rather than using oregano from the jar, keep whole bunches of the herb dried on the stalks and rub just the tips into their dishes, they say it has the best flavour.
Your Souvlaki looks amazing..all the steps in which you delinated help all of us.. I have printed your recipe and will try it…looking forward..thanks
Andy
www.recipebuddys.com
Yum, yum, yum! That looks so good! You have the best lamb recipes.
We love LOVE lamb in this house!
The pork and halloumi were really good but I can smell the lamb & oregano souvlaki from the screen and I’d like some of that… maybe with a little minty tzatziki on the side..
yum, looking at your photos makes me wish jonas wasn’t a vegetarian and we could whip this up for dinner!!!
You know I love it when you post lamb recipes! And yet another one that sounds delish. Thanks, Kalyn.
Kalyn – I am completely salivating right now! And I just happen to have Greek oregano so I definitely want to try this soon!
Lydia, I agree, and I love lamb!
Katie, how do you describe taste, but I think the Mexican kind is a bit stronger. Both taste good to me, but they are definitely different.
Kevin, never too many things to make with lamb, that’s what I say.
This dish looks really nice. The marinade sounds tasty. I now have another lamb dish on my to try list.
That is a lovely lamb dish! I bet the flavors really got into the meat.
I wonder what the taste difference is between Mexican and Greek oregano… And I wonder which I have in my garden….
That looks so good! I love that it’s easier to get good lamb in the supermarket now than ever before. And of course I am devoted to Costco, too! I think the secret to lamb is not to overcook it.
Valli, me too (although I love just about every type of Greek food!)
Kat, that would be great!
Kelly, I do like to take those photos on the grill, but I keep forgetting to change the white balance when I go outside. I honestly don’t know if I changed it on this photo or not, but some of my “on the grill” shots turn out pretty bad!
Debbie, I would definitely ask the butcher to get lamb shoulder for you, or you can also use leg of lamb, which is more tender but also more expensive. I would use either of those for this recipe. Costco is a good place to buy lamb.
This looks really good, Kalyn. I want to eat more lamb too, I’ve relatively recently “discovered” it. So far I’ve only made lamb rib chops – AWESOME but very expensive so only an occasional treat. I have bad leg of lamb memories from childhood, chiefly of it stinking up the whole house. So do you have to go to a market with an actual butcher and just ask for a pound of shoulder meat? I don’t think I’ve ever noticed lamb at my regular supermarket. Sorry for the ignorant question, but I’d love to start cooking it more!
The shot of the lamb pieces on the grill is so cool. I’ve never eaten lamb on a regular basis, I may have to start.
WOW, That looks tasty! (and easy – which is important to me 🙂 ) Is it ok if I add you to my Blog Roll at TheWeighWeWere.com? Many of my readers will be very interested in your recipes!
Souvlakia is one my favourite Greek dishes as well. Thanks for all the tips!!!