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Balsamic Brown Sugar Lamb Chops Recipe – How to Make it in 8 Simple Steps

By: Author April Freeman

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This is a close look at a rack of balsamic brown sugar lamb chops on a chopping board.

For a long time, beef and chicken have been the two top types of meat that have graced the American dinner table, despite the fact that all across the world, lamb is enjoyed just as much as these two favorites. However, the tides are beginning to turn, as the palate of the average American expands to experiment with all sorts of meat. Generally, most people who have eaten lamb keep this kind of meat limited to special occasions like Easter Sunday.

Sheep meat of all kinds, both lamb and mutton, fell out of favor after World War 2. Servicemen had been forced to eat canned Australian mutton while serving overseas, and by the time that they returned home, they wanted to never taste the stuff again. Demand for mutton and lamb dropped in the years after the war and has not seen a revival since.

At least, not until 2020.

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Balsamic Brown Sugar Lamb Chops Recipe

April Freeman
Coated in a delicious, tangy-sweet sauce, our recipe for Balsamic Brown Sugar Lamb Chops is quick to prepare and totally delicious. With a sauce that has a bold statement, this recipe will soon become a favorite for the whole family.
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Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Cuisine American
Servings 8 Servings

Equipment

  • Large skillet
  • Cooking Tongs

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp Cooking Oil
  • 8 pcs Lamb Chops
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • ⅓ cup Balsamic Vinegar
  • 3 sprigs Fresh Parsley

Instructions
 

  • Add the cooking oil to a large skillet and heat the oil over medium heat. Pat both sides of the lamb chops as dry as possible with a paper towel to help them brown more quickly. Sprinkle salt and pepper over both sides of the lamb chops.
  • When the oil sizzles when you flick a drop of water into it, it is hot enough to start cooking. Put the chops into the skillet and cook them until they are lightly browned on each side. This should take 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Remove the lamb chops from the pan to a plate with a pair of cooking tongs.
  • Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the minced garlic and cook the garlic for about 60 seconds, or until the garlic is a golden brown color and is fragrant.
  • Whisk in the balsamic vinegar and the brown sugar. Cook this mixture until it is thick and fragrant.
  • Add the lamb chops back to the pan, turning them over until they are all thoroughly coated in the sauce. Cook the lamb chops until they are at the level of doneness that you prefer.
  • Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the lamb chops as a fresh, green garnish.
    The cooking lamb chops are coated in sauce and topped with garnish.
  • Serve the chops topped with a bit of the cooking sauce.
    A plate of balsamic brown sugar lamb chop with a side of greens.

Notes

Typically, most of the sheep and lamb that is produced in the United States are purchased by specialty markets–mostly those that cater to tourists, like cruise ships and luxury resorts or to immigrant communities. When the worldwide pandemic shut down travel activities and prevented festivals in immigrant communities, the sale of lamb dropped 50 percent in a very short time. And yet, in just a few months, the demand went back up. As people all over the globe ended up stuck at home for long periods of time, they began experimenting with things like cooking new kinds of food. Lamb began to be one new kind of protein that millennials started preparing at home.
The sheep herds across the United States are currently at only 10 percent of the size that they were as of 1940. However, with the new interest in cooking that came about due to the pandemic, perhaps sheep farming will again be profitable, and lamb will become much more common in the average suburban grocery store.
One hangup people might have in eating lamb is that it brings to mind cuddly, sweet-looking, baby sheep. This is definitely not the case, since those baby animals would have very little meat on their bodies to consume. One thing to remember is that the lamb industry classifies an animal younger than one year as a lamb. Since sheep reach almost their adult size around the age of 8 or 9 months, you are not eating a sweet-faced baby animal when you eat lamb.
Our recipe features lamb chops, and there are a few different options when you look at lamb chops in the grocery store. Blade and sirloin lamb chops are a bit tougher than other kinds of lamb chops, so you may want to cook them just a bit longer. Loin chops and rib chops are more tender kinds of lamb chops.
Loin chops look like a smaller version of a T-bone steak, but rib chops have a single chunk of meat stuck to the end of a single rib bone. Sometimes, these chops are “Frenched” which simply means that the butcher removed the excess fat and meat along the length of the bone. Lamb chops that are about an inch in thickness will help you brown the chops without overcooking the center of the chop and making it tough.
Keyword Balsamic Brown Sugar Lamp Chops, Main Course, Recipe

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