What To Keep In Mind When Cooking Mutton Vs Lamb

After declining heydays in the mid to late 1900s, lamb and mutton have slowly reclaimed their spots in America's home kitchens — albeit with less frequency than poultry or beef. But there's a reason it held wide acclaim in early America and often starred in holiday spreads and celebrations: It's a relatively lean meat with plenty of protein, and it happens to be super tasty. That is, if you know how to prepare it. 

Though mutton and lamb are the same animal (a sheep in different stages of life), the best cooking methods can vary considerably. That's why we reached out to an expert on the topic, Wissam Baki, executive chef at Amal Miami. Baki's modern Lebanese menu at Amal Miami leans heavily into lamb rather than mutton, featuring lamb chops as well as minced lamb in the restaurant's kefta wraps and the popular kefta and pistachio kababs. 

Lamb is the young sheep, typically up to one year old, while mutton is usually aged two to three years before consumption. That age difference results in differing tastes and texture, which determine the cooking techniques, according in Baki. "When cooking mutton, which comes from older sheep, you'll need to account for its stronger, gamier flavor and tougher texture, often requiring longer, slower cooking to tenderize," he explains. "Lamb, from younger sheep, is generally more tender and milder in flavor, allowing for quicker cooking methods and less need for extensive marinating or braising."

Lamb is a favored food in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries, giving rise to a plethora of tasty mutton and lamb recipes. However, lamb in particular also appears in many European and British dishes, including shepherd's pie in England and Ireland, where the lamb is ground or minced. In France, a similar dish goes by the name of hachis parmentier, which can be made with either lamb or beef. African cooking often centers on mutton and lamb as well.

Suffice it to say that sheep has many incarnations by the time it reaches worldwide plates and tables. That means you have lots of lamb recipes to experiment with, starting with a simple shepherd's pie, similar to cottage pie but with minced lamb instead of ground beef. Lamb can be cooked in many ways, but savory pies and kababs, such as chef Baki's at Amal Miami, call for minced lamb rather than whole cuts, making them easy ways to earn your lamb-cooking stripes with less stress and precision.

Mutton is excellent for stewing, braising, Dutch ovens, and slow cooker recipes, many of which can be retrofitted to include mutton. Regardless of the pot or recipe, low and slow is the ideal cooking method for incredibly tender mutton. Since mutton is generally tougher and gamier, the slow-cooking method softens the more mature collagen tissue. This tenderizes the mutton while tempering the gamey taste with fresh, aromatic herbs and spices.