Méchoui (Mauritanian roast lamb)

Name: Méchoui (Mauritanian roast lamb)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 35 min
Ingredients: 1.5 kg lamb shoulder, bone-in, whole (about 2 kg with bone); 60 g butter, softened; 6 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 tsp cumin; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp black pepper; 2½ tsp salt; 200 ml water

Non-vegetarian

Lamb rubbed with garlic, cumin, salt and butter and slow-roasted until it pulls apart, eaten by hand. In Mauritania a whole lamb or goat is roasted for weddings, Eid and honoured guests; this is a home-oven shoulder version.

Méchoui (Mauritanian roast lamb) is a Mauritanian main course, ready in about 4 hours 35 minutes and made with lamb shoulder and cumin. It serves 8 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 4 h
Rest: 20 min
Total: 4 h 35 min
Serves: 8
Level: Easy
Calories: 572

Ingredients

8 servings

1.5 kg Lamb shoulder (opens in a new tab), bone-in, whole (about 2 kg with bone)Swap: Goat meat
60 g Butter (opens in a new tab), softenedSwap: Olive oilContains milk
6 cloves (24 g) Garlic (opens in a new tab), crushed
2 tsp (4 g) Cumin (opens in a new tab)
1 tsp (2.5 g) Paprika (opens in a new tab)
1 tsp (2.5 g) Black pepper (opens in a new tab)
2½ tsp (15 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
200 ml Water (opens in a new tab)

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Mash the butter (opens in a new tab) with the garlic (opens in a new tab), cumin (opens in a new tab), paprika (opens in a new tab), pepper (opens in a new tab) and salt. Make deep slashes in the lamb and rub the paste all over and into the cuts.
- 10 min
How it looks · Photo: Mateusz Feliksik on Pexels
2
Step 2
Put the lamb in a baking dish (opens in a new tab) with the water, cover tightly with foil and roast until meltingly tender, basting every hour.
- 210 min
- 160°C
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
- Baking dish (opens in a new tab)
3
Step 3
Uncover, raise the oven (opens in a new tab) to 220 °C and roast until the outside is browned and crisp, about 25 minutes. Rest 20 minutes, then pull apart and serve with the pan juices and little dishes of cumin (opens in a new tab) and salt.
- 25 min
- 220°C
Food safety: Lamb shoulder for pulling should be well above 90 °C inside.
How it looks · Photo: locrifa on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Not attributed to one place · Commonly attributedMéchoui is a pit- or spit-roasted whole lamb tradition shared across the Maghreb and the western Sahara, including Mauritania.Also popular in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
Dish: Lunch · Dinner · Main courses · Grills & kebabs
Cooking method: Roasted, Slow-cooked
Taste: savoury, rich, aromatic / warmly spiced, buttery
Diet: No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carb · High-protein
All labels
Non-vegetarian · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb · High-protein
With the listed swaps: Paleo-style, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Festive & celebration · Make-ahead
Cook more with: Lamb shoulder · Cumin · Butter · Garlic · Paprika
Techniques: Roasting

Allergens

Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom butter

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

572 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 125 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

Protein 21%
Carbohydrate 1%
Fat 77%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	572 kcal	457 kcal
Protein	30.7 g	24.6 g
Carbohydrate	2 g	1.6 g
Net carbohydrate	1.7 g	1.4 g
Sugars	0.1 g	0.1 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	0.3 g	0.2 g
Fat	49.2 g	39.3 g
Saturated fat	22.4 g	17.9 g
Trans fat	2.4 g	2 g
Cholesterol	129 mg	103 mg
Sodium	899 mg	719 mg
Salt equivalent	2.2 g	1.8 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 523 mg
Calcium: 36 mg
Iron: 2.4 mg
Magnesium: 36 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 85 µg
Vitamin C: 1 mg
Vitamin D: 0.4 µg
Vitamin B12: 3.5 µg
Folate (DFE): —

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Ask for a shoulder with the shank attached; the bone keeps it moist during the long roast.

Common mistakes

Uncovering too early — the lamb dries out before it becomes tender.

Serve with

Serve with flatbread, salad and Mauritanian tea (atay) afterwards.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Reheating

Reheat covered in a low oven with a splash of water.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 27 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Lamb shoulder, bone-in, whole (about 2 kg with bone)1.5 kg · 1500 g
Butter, softened60 g

Used in step 1

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

Mauritanian atay (green tea ceremony)
Mauritanian · 45 min · 58 kcal · Vegan
Fish yassa
Senegalese · 2 h 5 min · 374 kcal
Fakoye
Malian · 1 h 45 min · 632 kcal
Thiéboudienne
Senegalese · 2 h 10 min · 779 kcal