Lamb

Why lamb is rated low

Plain lamb is low FODMAP, and the rating is estimated from what lamb is rather than from a weighed portion: meat is protein, fat and water, with essentially no carbohydrate for gut bacteria to work on. The serving data here is qualitative and records "Any typical portion" as low, so a chop, a slice off a roast leg or a plain grilled steak all sit in the same easy place. The word doing the work in all of that is plain. Lamb is rarely cooked plain. It is rubbed, marinated, minced into sausages and kofta, braised in stock, and served under gravy, and every one of those steps is an opportunity for onion and garlic to arrive. The meat is not the variable. The recipe is.

What changes your risk

• Marinades, rubs and spice blends Ready made lamb rubs and supermarket marinated packs lean heavily on onion powder and garlic powder, and both are concentrated, so a coating that looks like seasoning can carry more load than a whole onion would. A rub made from rosemary, thyme, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and garlic infused oil does the same job.
• Mince, sausages and kofta Lamb sausages, merguez and shop bought kofta are lamb plus other things: wheat rusk as a binder, onion, garlic and seasoning mixes. These are the lookalikes most likely to cause trouble while still being described as lamb.
• The braise and the gravy Slow cooked lamb usually sits in stock with onion. FODMAPs from onion and garlic are water soluble, so they dissolve into the braising liquid, and cooking does not destroy them. A shank served in its sauce brings that liquid to the plate, and gravy granules and stock cubes work the same way.
• Serving size and the rest of the plate Low is a per serving rating rather than a per meal one. Lamb adds nothing to the total, which means the bread, the couscous, the beans and the sauce beside it get the whole allowance, so judge the plate as a whole.

What else works

There is no need to replace lamb, and the other plain proteins sit in exactly the same place if you want variety: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, plain fish, eggs and firm tofu. The forms worth treating as different foods are lamb sausages and merguez, pre marinated supermarket lamb, seasoned mince, shop bought kofta and kebabs, and anything served under a ready made gravy. For flavour without the risk, garlic infused oil, rosemary, mint, cumin, coriander seed, lemon zest and the green tops of spring onions cover most of what a lamb dish wants, and a pinch of asafoetida gives the savoury note that onion would.

How to keep it low

Buy lamb unseasoned and do the flavouring yourself, since a plain leg, shoulder, chop or mince costs less than the marinated version and you control what goes on it. For a roast, sit the joint on carrot and potato rather than the traditional bed of onion, and make the gravy from the pan juices with a little cornflour instead of granules. For a braise, build the liquid on plain stock, garlic infused oil, herbs and wine rather than a soffritto. When ordering out, grilled chops or a plain roast with the gravy on the side is a more predictable choice than a tagine, a curry or anything described as slow cooked, where onion is usually the base.

Common questions

is lamb low fodmap

Yes. Plain lamb is rated low FODMAP, with "Any typical portion" recorded as low. The rating is estimated from its composition, protein and fat with negligible carbohydrate.

how much lamb can i eat on a low fodmap diet

The data records "Any typical portion" as low and does not set a cap. Keep it to a normal portion of meat and spend the attention on the marinade, the gravy and the sides instead.

are lamb sausages low fodmap

Usually not. Sausages and merguez typically contain onion, garlic and a wheat rusk binder, so they are a different food from plain lamb. A butcher who can tell you the full ingredient list is the way to find one that works.

is slow cooked lamb ok on a low fodmap diet

The lamb is fine, but the liquid decides it. Onion and garlic are water soluble and dissolve into the braising stock, and cooking does not destroy them, so build the braise on plain stock, herbs and garlic infused oil.