Smoked Lamb Sliders with Carolina Barbecue Sauce

By Christie Vanover | Published January 21, 2018 | Last Updated July 27, 2022

Disclosure: True Aussie Lamb sponsored this post. Opinions are my own.

You could throw a traditional party with wings and dips, but would it be memorable? Would it leave people talking about how your food is the bombdiggity?

Don’t just have a party. Own it. Serve something new, like these smoked pulled Aussie lamb sliders.

In 2017, I attended an Aussie Meat Up event where I learned how to butcher an entire lamb. Together, with a handful of some of America’s amazing executive chefs, we prepared a variety of dishes cooking nose to tail.

World Food Champion, George Shore from Pitmaker BBQ smoked up his lamb on the Big Green Egg; while I grilled up some lamb burgers with my TeamMate.

For today’s pulled lamb sliders recipe, you can use leg of lamb or lamb shoulder. Both come from the upper part of the leg. Leg of lamb is cut from the hind legs, while the shoulder is cut from the front legs. The shoulder is a little more fatty, so it’s more forgiving. Work with what your local store carries. I grab my Aussie lamb from Costco.

The rub for this is super simple and is made up of ingredients you probably already have in the pantry. Trim the excess fat from the outside of the meat. Rub it down, and refrigerate it overnight for a dry brine. Then, smoke it in a pan of onions and beer. I chose an Aussie ale to stick with the theme.

After an hour, mop those juices all over the smoked lamb, and continue mopping every 30 minutes. To make sure the lamb is nice and tender, cover it with foil to finish cooking it.

When it’s time to party, pull the lamb and start building your sliders on toasted buns. Top the meat with those beer braised onions. Add a little red cabbage for color, and then finish with a Carolina style mustard BBQ sauce for added tang.