Roast Lemon Chicken thighs with crispy skin, seared then oven baked for tender and juicy chicken full of flavour!
Your new favourite chicken recipe is here! An easy Lemon Chicken recipe with a kick of garlic and a touch of herbs will fast become a requested chicken dinner. Simple to make with minimal ingredients and maximum flavour, this is one low carb meal the entire family will get behind!
Roast Chicken
You all know how much I love a good, juicy whole Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken, but my absolute most favourite parts of a chook are either legs or thighs. I know, I know most people hate dark meat and for those people, we have juicy Sheet Pan Garlic Herb Butter Chicken. For today, however, these thighs are the shiznit!
Chicken Thighs Or Breasts?
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are an inexpensive cut of chicken that won’t kill your weekly food shop! Deliciously versatile, easy to make on either stove top or oven, nothing beats crispy skin on chicken! Due to the nature of this recipe, I recommend using thighs. If you want to use chicken breasts, I’d recommend using skin-on and bone-in for ultimate flavour.
How To Make Lemon Chicken
Our lemon chicken recipe starts off seared in a pan first. Searing skin-side down in a hot skillet over medium-high heat gives the skin time to get the crispy texture we love so much, while roasting them finishes cooking them off, giving you tender, juicy meat.
Seasoned with only salt and pepper to avoid any other seasonings from burning in the hot pan, you’re going to sear your bone-in chicken thighs, UNDISTURBED, for a good 8-10 minutes — skin-side down first — to render the fat and get the skin nice and golden brown in colour.
Tips for a crispy skin
- Thoroughly pat skin dry with a paper towel. This gets rid of any excess water from freezing or refrigeration.
- Use a cast iron skillet or oven-proof stainless steel pan and heat over medium heat until hot.
- Add in a tiny amount of oil (about 2 teaspoons) and wait for it to shimmer. When it’s hot enough, add your chicken as mentioned above.
- Once skin has seared, flip and continue searing the underside for a crispy, golden meat base.
- When adding in the rest of the ingredients, add them to the base of the pan without touching the skin to keep that skin as crunchy and crispy as possible.
- If wanting to baste the skin with the liquid ingredients, it won’t turn out as crispy as it was. Yes, the flavour will be present, but the pan seared crispiness will diminish a little.
- Transfer the pan or skillet to a hot oven and roast for 15 – 20 minutes until done and cooked through to the bone.
- Baste with pan juices when serving.
Sides for Roast Chicken
- Mashed potatoes
- Sweet Potato wedges OR Crispy Garlic Baked Potato Wedges
- Garlic Parmesan Roast Green Beans
- Avocado Corn Tomato Salad
- Honey Garlic Roast Carrots
- Browned Butter Baked Asparagus
- Lemon Herb Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Balsamic Chickpea Avocado Feta Salad
Looking for more chicken recipes? Try these!
Chicken Thighs With Creamy Mushroom Garlic Sauce
Crispy Chicken Parmesan (Parmigiana)
Chicken Tikka Masala
Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
- 6-8 skin on bone in chicken thighs trimmed of excess fat
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons olive oil divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons garlic minced or crushed
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup chicken stock or broth, or a dry white wine for extra flavour!
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped, plus extra to garnish
- 4 lemon slices for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C | 430°F. Thoroughly pat thighs dry with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large oven-proof pan or skillet over medium-high heat. When pan is HOT, sear chicken skin-side down for 8-10 minutes, until crispy and golden browned. Flip and sear the underside for another 8 minutes, until the meat is golden.
- Move thighs to the side and add the garlic to the pan juices. Sauté until fragrant (30 seconds). Pour in the lemon juice and stock, then add in the herbs.
- Transfer chicken to hot oven and roast until completely cooked through (about 15-20 minutes).
- Garnish with extra parsley; taste test and adjust salt and pepper, if needed. Serve with lemon slices.
AConnecticutCook says
GREAT, easy recipe with a huge flavor payoff. Double the lemon and the broth (not the spices) to make more sauce becuase your family will eat every drop. I’ve made this recipe in a large nonstick pan, and tonight broke down a whole chicken (cut the breasts crosswise so you end up with 10 pieces) and used a big cast iron pan. Delicious! I used a copious amount of prechopped garlic. You can even triple the liquid with a big enough pan as long as it doesn’t cover the chicken, because you want the skin to remain crispy. Serve with rice or egg noodles and that sauce.
Billy says
This is my “go to” instead of the labor intensive chicken piccata. I don’t really pay much attention to the eight minute browning rule. I just kinda wing it. To thicken I add a Knorr bouillon cube. Great with pasta or orzo.
Thanks!
Dorian says
This was a fantastic recipe! I followed the recipe exactly except at the end I removed the thighs from the pan, put the pan on the stove burner and reduced the sauce a little more. Added about a half tsp of flour and whisked it in to make it a little thicker. Make a wonderful sauce.
Alaina Cole says
This is probably the best meal I have ever made!! I roasted some asparagus in the oven at the same time as the chicken, and added in my lemon slices before roasting, so they were lovely and jammy! The sauce had a deep flavor that was great on the crispy chicken and the asparagus! And then I went back to my cast iron and ate up all the remaining sauce with some pita. Amazing and so easy, thank you!