For The Absolute Best Lamb Chops, Break Out Your Grill

There are a lot of great lamb recipes out there, and yet, lamb is still a surprisingly underrated choice of meat. It's healthy, flavorful, and highly versatile, which has us dreaming of a delicious lamb chop dinner. To find out what the best way to prepare lamb chops is, we reached out to Wissam Baki, executive chef at the modern Lebanese restaurant Amal in Miami.

"For the ultimate lamb chops, cooking them on a charcoal grill in the Mediterranean style is unparalleled, especially with Lebanese cuisine," Baki told Tasting Table. Olive oil and garlic are two important Mediterranean ingredients and they come together beautifully in this grilled lamb chops with white beans recipe, if you're looking for inspiration. Baki continued, "The use of charcoal imparts a distinctive smokiness from the oak wood that simply can't be replicated with an oven or [stovetop], enhancing the lamb's flavor with a rich, authentic taste."

A gas grill is convenient but, if you want to achieve the highest quality, charcoal is key. Lamb is plenty flavorful on its own, but the additional notes of rich charcoal smoke really elevate this dish. Some prominent foodie intellectuals have gone so far as to claim that smoke is the sixth taste, just after umami, since there is something almost ancestral about our global love of smoked foods. Whatever the case may be, Mediterranean cultures have been using smoke as a flavor enhancer for centuries and that's a good excuse for us to want to try it out.

Lamb chops can actually come from several different cuts of lamb, including the ribs, loin, and shoulder. Depending on which cut you're using, you may need to adjust the cook time. For example, chops from the shoulder tend to cook faster than other cuts. But while little details like that are good to keep in mind, the main focus should be on the method of preparation and the marinade you're using.

Although you can cook lamb chops in the oven or on the stove, you aren't going to be able to achieve the vibrant flavor notes you get with a charcoal grill in any other way. All good things in life require patience and effort, and this is no different. Charcoal grills take skill to hit the right temperature and require a good amount of cleaning once the meal is over, but the payoff for your hard work is a delectably complex dinner that you simply can't fake your way into. A simple rub of olive oil, garlic, and rosemary can go a long way, so don't feel the need to max out your grocery list. Lamb has plenty of character already, so giving it a nice little nudge should work just fine.