My mom has a rule when she goes out to eat: order the lamb dish. It’s not a terribly common protein in her neck of the woods, so she gets really excited whenever it’s on a menu.
We tend to think of lamb as a fancy protein – something we eat for special occasions or maybe a dinner party. But why? It’s low in fat, has TONS of flavor, and most cuts cook really quickly. I think we should all take a page from my mom’s playbook and eat more lamb!
One of the things I love about lamb is how it can stand up to big, bold flavors and seasonings. I took advantage of this to pack these little lamb sliders full of herbs (Dill! Oregano! Mint!) and spices (Paprika! Garlic! Cinnamon! Yes, cinnamon – trust me.), slather them in a salty/creamy feta and Greek yogurt sauce, and top them with crisp quick-pickled cucumber ribbons. But don’t worry, the flavor of the lamb itself never gets lost.
I had no trouble finding mini pitas, but you can certainly use flatbread, naan, or even slider buns. Or you can make them into regular burgers and stuff them into full-sized pitas if that’s more your thing. You just may need to add a few minutes of cooking time to the patties.
I used a spiralizer to make pretty ribbons out of the cucumbers, but you can do something similar with a vegetable peeler. Just cut off the ends of the cucumber and run the vegetable peeler down the length of the cucumber, creating thin ribbons. This recipe makes a little more cucumber than you’ll need, but you can toss the extra with feta cheese, fresh dill and mint, and kalamata olives for a delicious side salad.
- 1 pound ground Superior Farms lamb
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1.5 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
- 1.5 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
- ½ tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1.5 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 English cucumber, roughly 1 pound
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- about 8 mini pitas and Roma tomato slices, for serving
- Combine all of the lamb patty ingredients in a large bowl. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix well. Divide the meat mixture into about 8 or 9 balls, just smaller than a baseball. Form into patties about ½ inch inch thick. Set aside. Patties can be formed in advance and frozen, or refrigerated for up to 1 day).
- Preheat a grill to medium.
- While the grill is heating, make the sauce and cucumbers.
- To make the sauce, first dissolve the salt into the lemon juice (so you don’t have any crunchy salt in your creamy sauce). Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.
- Use the ribbon attachment of a spiralizer to cut the cucumber into thin ribbons. Cut them into smaller sections with kitchen shears or a knife. If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can use a vegetable peeler and shave pieces off the cucumber lengthwise into ribbons. Gently toss the cucumber ribbons in a large bowl with the red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- Grill the lamb sliders over medium heat until cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side. While the lamb is cooking, warm the pita on the grill. It should only take about 1 minute per side to heat them through.
- Use a knife to cut the pockets open on the warm pita. Stuff each pita with a lamb patty, a generous slather of sauce (yes, that’s a technical measurement), a tomato slice, and a few ribbons of pickled cucumber.
