Lemon & Garlic Chicken
Serves 4
This is a go-to recipe - a bright, garlicky and fresh-tasting dinner that you’ll have on the table in under an hour. The sauce has a lot of flavor, so you really just need some steamed rice and a simple vegetable to round out the plate.
Ingredients #
- ¼ c olive oil
- 9 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/3 c vermouth
- Grated zest of 2 lemons
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 whole lemon (in addition to the lemons used for juice and zest)
- 1 ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 4 boneless chicken breasts with skin on, or 6 chicken thighs or drumsticks (or some combination)
Instructions #
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant and softened but not browned. Add the vermouth, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, coriander, 1 tsp. salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I like a good amount, as black pepper is very nice with lemon). Stir to combine and remove from heat.
Pour the sauce into a 9 x 12” baking dish, distributing the garlic evenly across the bottom. Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels, and place them on the sauce skin side up. Brush the skin of the chicken with some of the sauce, and season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Cut the ends off of the whole lemon, and then cut it into 8 wedges. Scatter the wedges between the chicken pieces in the baking dish.
Bake the chicken for 30-40 minutes (depending on the size of the pieces). If the chicken is done but not brown enough, put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Serve the chicken drizzled (or drenched) with the flavorful pan sauce, garnishing each serving with a roasted lemon wedge.