Air Fryer Lamb Chops

Perfectly golden brown lamb chops made right in your air fryer! And don't forget to top them off with the deliciously herby mint chimichurri for an extra boost of flavor.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Greek, Mediterranean

Diet Gluten Free, Kosher

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 11

Marinating Time 1

Total Time 1 21

Servings servings

Calories 881kcal

Author Alana Lieberman

Cost $45

Equipment

air fryer

Ingredients

For the Lamb Chops

16 lamb chops from 2 "frenched" racks of lamb around 3 pounds (see notes)
2 garlic cloves minced
zest from 1 lemon
1 lemon juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoons dried oregano
¼ teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoons black pepper

For the Mint Chimichurri

1 small shallot cut in half
3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons black pepper
1 ½ cups fresh parsley stems removed
½ cup fresh mint stems removed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¾ cup olive oil

Instructions

Clean the racks of lamb and cut them into chops: if the racks have a thin membrane on their underside, remove it with your knife. Remove any excess fat. Then, cut between each of the bones to create separate lamb chops or "lollipops."
For more information, check out this video on how to butcher a rack of lamb. (Cutting it into separate chops is demonstrated at about 3:31)
Add all of the marinade ingredients to a large bowl. Mix to combine.
Place the chops in the marinade and gently toss to coat them.
Marinate the chops for at least an hour, but no more than 24 hours.
While the chops marinate, make the mint chimichurri: to a food processor, add the shallot, garlic cloves, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Pulse until the shallots and garlic are minced. Add in the parsley, mint, and dried oregano. Pulse again to combine.
Slowly pulse in the olive oil until it forms a slightly chunky sauce.
When the chops are done marinating, spray the basket of your air fryer with nonstick spray. Lay the chops in a single layer at the bottom of the basket. Do not overlap them (you may need to cook them in batches).
Air fry the chops at 380 degrees F for 8 minutes, then flip them over, and air fry again at 400 degrees F for another 3 minutes*. Lamb chops are medium rare when their internal temperature registers 145 degrees F.
Repeat steps 6 & 7 until all chops are cooked through.

Notes

Frenched racks of lamb: a frenched rack of lamb simply means the rack is cleaned so that the lamb's shoulder blade is removed and the rib bones are exposed. At the end of the bones, there is a hearty row of meat. With these racks, you will then slice the meat into chops or "lollipops" so that each slice will have 1 bone with 1 oval-shaped cut of meat on the end.
I bought the pre-frenched racks of lamb at Costco, which required no additional butchering.
Nutrition facts are calculated for the lamb chops only.
Mint chimichurri will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. You can also freeze it in an air tight container for about a month.

*Due to the wide assortment of air fryers, as well as different possible sizes of lamb chops, it is difficult to provide an exact cook time for perfectly medium rare chops. If you prefer your lamb chops to be pink in the middle, you should try a test chop in the air fryer before cooking the rest. Use that chop as your guide in deciding whether to increase or decrease the cook time for the rest of the chops.

Nutrition