Roasted Lemon Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes
A traditional Mediterranean dish of tender, juicy chicken roasted together with potatoes, lemon, garlic and rosemary.
Servings 4
Calories 528kcal
Ingredients
For the brine
- 6 cups cold water
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 whole chicken about 3 lbs
For the roast
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 small lemon or ½ large lemon
- 3 garlic cloves cut into slivers
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- ½ tsp sweet paprika
- 2 large Russet potatoes
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Brining the chicken
- To a pot, large enough to hold the chicken, dissolve the salt and sugar in about 1/4 cup of warm water. Add 6 cups of very cold water and stir well.
- Check that there are no giblets in the chicken’s cavity then add the chicken to the brine.
- Make sure that the chicken is covered in the brine, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Preparing the roast
- Preheat the oven to 425 ℉
- Scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt. Poke them with a fork, then cook them whole with the skins on, in the microwave on high for about 4 minutes.
- Juice the lemon, then blend the lemon juice with 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Cut the lemon rind into 4 pieces.
- Peel and cut the garlic into slivers.
- Remove the chicken from the brine then pat it dry with a paper towel. Discard the brine.
- Stuff the chicken’s cavity with the lemon pieces and garlic then tie up the wings and legs with butcher’s twine.
- Place the chicken in a large skillet or shallow roasting pan then coat with the lemon and olive oil mixture. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and paprika.
- Slice the partially cooked potatoes into wedges. Then toss them in a bowl to coat them with the remaining 1 tbsp olive, crumbled rosemary, salt and pepper.
- Add the potatoes and ½ cup water to the pan, place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 ℉.
- Turn over the potatoes part way through cooking to brown all sides. Add a little more water if the bottom of the pan has dried up.
- Roast for about 80 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear. To ensure food safety, a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh joint should read 165 ℉ or above.
- Remove the roast pan from the oven, allow it to cool for about 5 minutes before carving.
Notes
Garnish with fresh rosemary and a wedge of lemon.