This Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken is by far the BEST roasted chicken I have ever had. I’m not joking and I have had many chicken meals in my life time. It’s so simple, yet so delicious. The chicken is so flavorful and moist. I love the freshness of lemon, the herbs and the pan sauce is so good to dip Dutch Oven Bread in. Since I got my cast irons skillet, I’ve been wanting to roast a whole chicken in it. I got Ina Garten’s cook books and the latest one, Cooking for Jeffrey, has this Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken recipe in it. Let me tell you, I’d love to be Jeffrey for a day so Ina can cook for me. ha! I made Lemon-Lime Chicken before in a baking dish. Roasting the whole chicken in a cast iron skillet
First, I will shows you how to butterfly chicken. I bought a whole chicken from the grocery store and butterflied it myself. All you need is a sharp paring knife and a pair of kitchen scissors. You can also ask the butcher to do it for you. I don’t mind doing it myself, it’s fun in a weird way. I feel like a surgeon doing it. ha ha
Place the chicken on a cutting board breast side down. Working from the cavity opening up to the neck, cut down each side of the back bone with a pair of kitchen scissors. I started with the right side.
Make an identical cut on the opposite side to remove the backbone completely; discard (or reserve it for stock).
Flip it over. Next, remove the breast bone which is running from the middle of the bird down between the two legs is a soft bone. It’s a triangular shape that is firm towards the middle of the bird and becomes softer cartilage as it tapers down between the legs.
To remove it, use a paring knife to cut down in the middle.
Now open it up like a book.
Use your fingers to simply pull out the breast bone.
Trim the fat off with the kitchen scissors.
Pad it dry with paper towels. Oh hey, and don’t forget to wash your hands really good with soap after handling the raw chicken.
There you have it a beautiful butterflied chicken that promises to never fly away. ha ha
Let’s cook some food!
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Use a mini food processor to process, thyme, fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. I already have my fennel grounded from making Maple Fennel Bacon so I did not use the food processor.
Pour olive oil into measuring cup. You’ll need 1/3 cup. Stir in the herbs, salt and pepper.
Cut 1 lemon (save the other one for juice later) and onion in half and slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Thinly slice 2 large garlic cloves.
Add onion and garlic on top.
Place the chicken, skin side down on top, and brush with about half of the oil and herb mixture.
Turn the chicken skin side up, pat it dry with paper towels (VERY IMPORTANT!), this will make the skin crispy. Brush it all over with the rest of the oil and herb mixture.
Roast the chicken for 30 minutes.
Pour white wine into the pan (NOT on the chicken) because we want to keep the skin dry for crispiness.
Roast for another 10-15 minutes until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 160-165 degrees.
Remove the chicken from the oven.
Thinly slice a few pieces from the second lemon for garnish (optional). Squeeze lemon juice (I used the rest of the lemon – about half lemon) on the top, cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes.
Cut the chicken into 4, 6 or 8 pieces. Serve hot with the pan juices, cooked lemon and onion.
I like to serve it with Dutch Oven Bread or over quinoa, Jasmin rice or soak up all the delicious juices. Mmmm… as Ina would say, how bad could that be? 🙂
I really hope you give this Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken a try. The recipe card is below.
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ⅓ cup of olive oil
- 2 lemons
- 1 yellow onions
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 (4 lbs.) chicken, backbone removed and butterflied
- ½ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
- First, butterfly the chicken. Place the chicken on a cutting board breast side down. Working from the cavity opening up to the neck, cut down each side of the back bone with a pair of kitchen scissors. Flip it over.
- Remove the breast bone which is running from the middle of the bird down between the two legs is a soft bone. It’s a triangular shape that is firm towards the middle of the bird and becomes softer cartilage as it tapers down between the legs. Use a paring knife to cut down in the middle. Now open it up like a book. Use your fingers to simply pull out the breast bone. Trim the fat off with the kitchen scissors. Pad it dry with paper towels. Discard all the bones or save them for stock.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use a mini food processor to process, thyme, fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour olive oil into measuring cup. You'll need ⅓ cup. Stir in the herbs, salt and pepper.
- Cut 1 lemon (save the other one for juice and garnish later) and onion in half and slice into ¼ inch thick pieces. Thinly slice 2 large garlic cloves.Place lemon slices in a cast-iron skillet and put onion and garlic on top.
- Place the chicken, skin side down on top, and brush with about half of the oil and herb mixture.
- Turn the chicken skin side up, pat it dry with paper towels (VERY IMPORTANT!), this will make the skin crispy. Brush it all over with the rest of the oil and herb mixture. Roast the chicken for 30 minutes.
- Pour white wine into the pan (NOT on the chicken) because we want to keep the skin dry for crispiness. Roast for another 10-15 minutes until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 160-165 degrees.
- Remove the chicken from the oven. Thinly slice a few pieces from the second lemon for garnish (optional). Squeeze lemon juice (from the rest of the lemon) on the top, cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes. Cut the chicken into 4, 6 or 8 pieces. Serve hot with the pan juices, cooked lemon and onion. Enjoy!
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