Herb Roasted Chicken w/ Lemon

Chicken with lemon is a very popular combination. There are a lot of chicken recipes that use lemon as an accent, most notably the dish that is common in Greece: chicken cooked with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and garlic. See Greek Homestyle Chicken. The recipes on this page emphasize rosemary in place of oregano.

FMM: Taking tips from the recipes below, I brushed the chicken (in this case two chicken thighs) with olive oil on both sides and seasoned with salt and pepper. I zested a lemon and sliced it. I then put the lemon slices on a pan with rosemary sprigs on top, then the chicken thighs, skin facing up. I sprinkled the lemon zest on top of the chicken. Baked it at 350° until the skin was nice and crisp. Next time I will try to add more lemon flavor, rosemary, and sprinkle rosemary on top of the chicken besides roasting it on top of rosemary sprigs. Maybe marinate the chicken in a lemon juice and rosemary marinade.

Herb Roasted Chicken w/ Lemon (with a parsley drizzle to finish the dish)

FMM: This turned out quite well. We added onion, celery, carrots and a little chicken broth to the pan to roast with the chicken. Potatoes would be another good option. We doubled the lemon rind in the chicken marinade and added the lemons to the mix. It still did not taste all that lemony. The rosemary gave the dish a nice flavor. We did not have fresh thyme so did not add. We were going to make the parsley drizzle, but forgot about it.

For the chicken:
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken cut in 8 serving pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme
Olive oil, for drizzling
The rind of 1/2 lemon, zested [zest of 2 whole lemons]

For the parsley drizzle:
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced (1 Tbsp.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

Trim off any excess skin or fat from the chicken. Place the chicken pieces in an 11 by 13-inch baking pan, or any pan that that they fit in without crowding. Mix together the salt, pepper, olive oil, herbs, and the lemon zest. Toss the chicken pieces the seasoning mixture and then arrange the them skin side up in the pan. You can season the chicken pieces and arrange them up in the roaster pan up to a day before you cook them. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Roast until the skin is nicely browned and there is no pink near the thigh bone and the juices run clear, about 40 to 50 minutes. Check both white meat and dark meat. If the white meat is done before the dark meat, take it out and set it on the serving plate until the dark meat is done.

For the parsley drizzle, wash and dry the parsley. Remove the leaves from the stems and chop the leaves finely. Combine with the remaining ingredients in a bowl and use immediately to garnish the roast chicken.

Lemon-Rosemary-Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
from https://www.southernliving.com/

This lemon, rosemary, and garlic chicken and potatoes is the perfect combination of flavorful and filling, and there are so many ways to jazz it up with your own culinary personality.

Variations
This type of dish is made for making it your own. Try some of these ideas:

  • Spud swap: Feel free to add in sweet potatoes, Yukon golds, white potatoes, or whatever else you have on-hand. If you’re working with a bigger potato, cut it up to roughly the size of a red potato to ensure it’s done at the same time as the chicken.
  • Add other vegetables: Root vegetables would be a great addition to the potatoes. Cut up carrots, turnips, or parsnips.
  • Change herbs: Rosemary is obviously a favorite with lemon and chicken, but sage would be a welcome change. Try tarragon, too.

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (3.5-oz.) jar capers, drained
2 lemons, sliced
10 garlic cloves, smashed
3 Tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves (or 1 Tbsp. dry)
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. olive oil
6 chicken legs (about 1 1/2 lb.)
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lb.)
2 lbs. small red potatoes
Crusty French bread

Make lemon mixture:
Preheat oven to 450°F. Stir together first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl.

Sear chicken and potatoes:
Place a roasting pan on stove top over 2 burners. Add 3 Tbsp. olive oil, and heat over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with desired amount of salt and pepper; place, skin sides down, in pan. Add potatoes. Cook 9 to 10 minutes or until chicken is browned. Turn chicken, and pour lemon mixture over chicken.

Roast chicken:
Bake at 450°F for 45 to 50 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve chicken with sauce and French bread.

Place leftover chicken in an airtight container, and refrigerate within 2 hours of removing from the oven. It’ll safely last about three days. To reheat, place in a baking dish (add a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil if it looks too dry), cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325°F until it’s heated through.

Servings: 6