Lamb Cuts Diagram – Primal Cuts of a Lamb Carcass

All 10 cuts on the diagram

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Primal cuts 6

Shoulder A primal cut. Blade chops, arm chops and roasts come from it.
Rack A primal cut, also called the rib. Rib chops and rib roasts are cut from it.
Loin A primal cut. Loin chops and loin roasts are cut from it.
Leg A primal cut: the hind leg, sold whole or as leg roasts.
Breast The lower ends of the ribs and the breastbone. With the foreshank it makes one primal cut.
Foreshank The front leg from shoulder to knee; the foot below is removed.

Smaller divisions 4

Neck Cut off the front of the shoulder with a straight cut.
Sirloin It lies between the loin and the leg. Sirloin chops are cut here.
Flank The belly muscles below the loin.
Hindshank The lower hind leg, cut from the leg at the stifle joint.

How this list was compiled: Every cut name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two sources use it: (1) USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications, Fresh Lamb and Mutton, Series 200, https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_200_Fresh_Lamb_and_Mutton%5B1%5D.pdf (shoulder, rack, breast, foreshank, loin, flank, legs, hindshank, sirloin as numbered items; the neck cut from the shoulder; the foreshank's trotter removed at the knee; the hindshank removed through the stifle joint; the flank as the abdominal muscles below the loin); (2) Wikipedia, Lamb and mutton, the United States list of cuts, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_and_mutton (square cut shoulder, rack, loin, leg, neck, breast, shanks fore or hind, flank); (3) USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Lamb from Farm to Table, read in the Internet Archive copy of https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat-fish/lamb-farm-table (the five primal cuts: shoulder, rack, shank/breast, loin and leg; which chops come from which primal); (4) American Lamb Board, Cuts, https://www.americanlamb.com/cuts (foreshanks and hindshanks; chops from the rib, loin, sirloin and shoulder). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Not to scale. Licence: own work

How it works

Label the primal cuts of a lamb carcass on one side view: the big cuts along the back, the breast and foreshank underneath, then four smaller divisions.

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Along the back, front to rear

Numbers 1 to 4 are the shoulder, the rack, the loin and the leg. The rack is the rib section; the leg is the hind leg. Number 5, the breast, runs underneath the shoulder and rack, and number 6, the foreshank, is the top of the front leg. United States charts count the breast and foreshank as one primal, which makes five.

Four smaller divisions

Numbers 7 to 10 are the neck in front of the shoulder, the sirloin between the loin and the leg, the flank under the loin, and the hindshank at the bottom of the leg.

Rack and rib mean the same primal: rib chops are cut from the rack.
Fore means front and hind means back: the foreshank is on the front leg, the hindshank on the back leg.

Questions and answers

What are the primal cuts of a lamb carcass?

The United States Department of Agriculture lists five: shoulder, rack, shank and breast, loin, and leg. The rack is also called the rib. The neck, sirloin, flank and hindshank are smaller divisions cut from or beside them.

Where do lamb chops come from?

Rib chops come from the rack and loin chops from the loin. Blade and arm chops come from the shoulder, and sirloin chops from the sirloin, at the front of the leg.

What is a rack of lamb?

The rack is the rib section of the back, between the shoulder and the loin. It is sold as a rib roast or cut into rib chops, and two racks tied in a ring make a crown roast.

Are lamb cuts the same in every country?

No. These are the United States names. British charts divide the carcass differently and use names such as scrag end, best end and chump.