Main course Mediterranean-inspired home cooking
Lemon chicken
Golden chicken roasted in a lemon and butter sauce with garlic, rosemary and thyme. Optional cream softens the lemon's sharpness and gives the sauce a creamy finish.
Ingredients
4 servings · metric units
When increasing the servings, brown the chicken in batches and use a larger dish or several dishes so the pieces sit in a single layer. Browning will take longer; roasting time depends mainly on the size of the pieces rather than the number of servings.
You’ll need
large ovenproof frying pan, or a frying pan and roasting dish · kitchen tongs · plate for briefly holding the browned chicken · kitchen paper · fine grater and citrus juicer · knife and chopping board · spoon or spatula · food thermometer
Let’s make it
0/6 stepsDry and season the chicken
Do not wash the chicken; pat it thoroughly dry with kitchen paper. Rub with salt, pepper, the sweet paprika, optional hot paprika and half the prepared garlic. Reserve the remaining garlic for the sauce. Refrigerate for 15–20 minutes.
20:00Key visual detail: Dry and season the chicken. Prepare the lemons and oven
While the chicken rests, preheat the oven to 200°C conventional. Finely grate the yellow zest from both lemons. Cut a few thin slices from one and reserve them for roasting; squeeze the remaining flesh of both lemons, removing any pips. Divide the butter: use a quarter for browning and reserve the remaining three quarters for the sauce.
Key visual detail: Prepare the lemons and oven. Brown the chicken
Heat the olive oil and the quarter of butter set aside for browning in a large frying pan over a medium heat. When the butter foams, add the chicken with its broadest skin-covered side down. Brown for 5–7 minutes, until golden and easily released from the pan; turn and cook the other side for another 5–7 minutes. Do not let the garlic or paprika blacken. Transfer to a plate only while you make the sauce — the chicken is not yet cooked through.
12:00Key visual detail: Brown the chicken. Make the lemon sauce
Reduce the heat. Add the reserved garlic and prepared lemon zest to the fat in the pan and stir for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Pour in the prepared lemon juice and stock, scraping up the golden residue from the base. Add the remaining butter. If using cream, first mix it with a little hot liquid from the pan, then stir it into the sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring. The sauce should reduce slightly but remain pourable; it will be thinner without cream. Season with salt and pepper.
03:00Key visual detail: Make the lemon sauce. Roast until cooked through
Return the chicken to the pan, skin-side up, along with any juices from the plate. If the pan is not ovenproof, transfer the chicken and sauce to a roasting dish. Arrange in a single layer, keeping the top of the skin above the sauce. Tuck the reserved lemon slices and rosemary and thyme sprigs between the pieces. Roast uncovered for 35–45 minutes. Halfway through, you can spoon sauce over the sides of the chicken. Start checking smaller drumsticks after 35 minutes; large whole legs may need longer. The chicken is ready when the thickest part reaches at least 75°C without the probe touching bone, and the skin is golden.
40:00Key visual detail: Roast until cooked through. Serve with the sauce
Remove any woody herb stalks. Gently stir the sauce around the chicken and serve with your chosen accompaniments, spooning the sauce underneath or alongside the meat to keep the golden skin from softening.
Key visual detail: Serve with the sauce.
A few useful tips
- Dry the skin thoroughly and avoid crowding the pan: the chicken should brown rather than steam in its own juices.
- Grate only the yellow lemon zest. The white pith and pips can make the sauce bitter.
- For crisp skin, spoon sauce over the sides of the chicken rather than the top, and keep the skin above the liquid.
- If the skin browns before the centre is cooked, cover the chicken loosely with foil and continue roasting.
- Serve with mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, pearl barley or basmati rice, alongside a spinach salad.
Storage
Store only fully cooked chicken. Divide leftovers into smaller portions and place with the sauce in shallow containers; refrigerate within 2 hours of finishing cooking. Keep at 4°C or below for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Sauce made with cream may separate after thawing. Defrost in the fridge, then reheat covered until the chicken reaches at least 75°C in the centre. Do not store chicken that has only been browned.
Timing
Hands-on: 30 min · Cooking: 65 min · Resting: 20 min