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.)

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.)

1. 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.
2. Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, dried Greek Oregano, and granulated garlic or garlic powder.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Place skewers on the grill and rotate every 2-3 minutes to get nice grill marks on the meat.
7. Cook lamb about 8 minutes for medium rare or 9-10 minutes for medium, but don’t overcook.
8. Season cooked lamb with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper and serve hot.
9. 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:

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.

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