While lamb might be a favorite for many people, it is not one of the most common foods on the Mediterranean diet. When looking at some of the guidelines, you might find that lamb is one of the least consumed foods on the Mediterranean diet.
Is lamb On The Mediterranean Diet?
Most dieticians or Mediterranean diet-aficionados will recommend that you stay away from the lamb on the Mediterranean diet. However, if you can find clean cuts with little fat, you should be able to enjoy a little bit of lamb on the Mediterranean diet. It all comes down to how you prepare it and the quantity of consumption.
To ensure that you better understand lamb and how to add it to the Mediterranean diet, we have created this article. The article will focus on lamb and what you can do to make it more accessible on the Mediterranean diet. We would recommend that you consider different cuts of lamb and certain cooking styles as well.
Is Lamb On The Mediterranean Diet?
If you walk into the home of someone following the Mediterranean diet, you might not find lamb in their home. Lamb might be a slice of great meat that you can sear and get some good flavor, but it is not one of the favorites due to the high levels of fat. It also takes much longer to digest when comparing it to fish or chicken.
Chicken and fish are two of the main alternatives, and while the protein content might be lower than that of lamb, you will find that they also have fewer calories. With fewer calories and smaller levels of fat, fish and chicken are great alternatives. However, when cooked correctly, lamb can be one of the tastiest dishes you ever eat.
5 Ways To Make Lamb Mediterranean Diet-Friendly
If you are adamant about having lamb on your Mediterranean diet, you should consider different ways of cooking it what you can do to create meals for yourself. We have done some research and tried to find some of the best ways to make lamb Mediterranean-diet friendly. Here are some of the top ways to integrate lamb into the Mediterranean diet:
Buy Cuts With Not As Much Fat
One of the first things you can do is consider buying cuts of meat that are not as fatty. Unfortunately, lamb is traditional, a fatty cut meat, and this means that you will be consuming plenty of fat that could have been avoided. When visiting your butcher, you should ask them to give you some of the cuts that aren’t as fatty.
These cuts will often be steaks, and you might even want to consider the fillet. While the fat adds plenty of flavor to the lamb, the downside is that you will be consuming additional calories that could have been avoided. It is far better to consider these lean cuts of lamb and add your flavoring if you consume it.
Cook It Through
Much like steak, many people prefer a nice medium-rare when they are consuming lamb. However, the fat will still be there, and you will have to consume the fat when eating your lamb. One of the best alternatives is to cook it through and seer the fat cap. Once the fat cap is seared, it will create some flavor.
Once the meat is cooked, you should remove it from the pan as soon as possible. This will prevent the meat from reabsorbing some of the fat, which could essentially be harmful to your body. Once you take it out of the pan, you can let it rest on some paper towels. These towels will absorb some of the fat, preventing you from consuming it.
Remove As Much Fat As Possible Before Cooking
If you have the lamb, you have the opportunity to remove as much of the fat as possible. The fat is not something you need to deal with, and add it to your pan. We recommend that you remove some of the fat when you get the lamb before you start the cooking process. With less fat, you should reduce the calories.
Keep in mind that some of the fat is still present when looking at the marbling of the meat. You must consider this when adding olive oil to your pan. Lamb is one of those meats that can create its oil. You will find that the fat will render, and you will have plenty of oil to create a crust to your favorite lamb steaks.
Lean Cuts Should Be Steamed
If you look at the Greek way of cooking lamb, you will find that steaming the lamb is one of the healthiest ways to go. While it might not be the tastiest lamb, it is still full of protein and other healthy amino acids. However, steaming the lamb will require plenty of flavorings from your side to create a good taste.
In Greece, Lamb skewers are some of the most common street food that you will find. The lamb is often steamed, and the fat is removed, which gives you a leaner and healthier cut of lamb to enjoy.
Once A Week Is More Than Enough
If you determine that lamb is an essential part of your Mediterranean diet, you need to work out how many times per week you are going to consume it. We don’t recommend consuming it more than once per week. Even with all these tips, there is still some fat in the lamb, and it can be hard to remove all the unhealthy aspects.
Lamb On The Mediterranean Diet Summary
If you are a big fan of lamb, you can add it to the Mediterranean diet. However, you should not over-consume lamb and make sure that you stay within your diet and macros. We would recommend having lamb but in small doses. Let us know in the comment section what you think about adding lamb to your Mediterranean diet.
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