Recipe

Lemon and Onion Roasted Chicken

Community Pick!

Lemon and Onion Roasted Chicken

Photo 1 of 2
by Sarah Shatz

Lemon and Onion Roasted Chicken

Photo 2 of 2
by Bevi

  • This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Roast Chicken
    This recipe was entered in the contest for The Recipe You Want To Be Remembered For
    This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Holiday Roast
    This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Citrus Recipe
  • Chef

    Bevi's Notes: In asking several of my friends and family what dish they would remember me by, I got a number of different answers. Many loved my meat pie, and a few an Israeli chicken dish I have made...

    Expand

Serves 4 portions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

    Ask a question about this step
  2. Choose any of the vegetable selections in any combination you like. Cover the bottom of a 9" x 13" glass baking dish or roasting pan with the vegetables. Sprinkle 1 Teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of olive oil over the vegetables. Use your hands to smear the vegetables thoroughly with the salt, pepper and oil.

    Ask a question about this step
  3. Thoroughly wash the chicken, and pat dry. Salt and pepper the chicken cavity, and throw in the garlic cloves and either rosemary or thyme as well. Place the chicken breast side up on top of the vegetables in the baking dish.

    Ask a question about this step
  4. Peel the onion and slice crosswise, keeping the onion slices intact, and making each slice about 1/4" to 1/3" wide. Basically you will have about 8 onion "plates" of various sizes.

    Ask a question about this step
  5. Run your hand under the breast skin, releasing the skin from the meat. Run your fingers under the legs as well to separate the skin from the meat.

    Ask a question about this step
  6. Take the larger onion segments and place them under the skin, 2 segments per side of the breast. Take the smaller onion segments and place them under the leg skin. Any remaining, loose onion slices can be thrown into the cavity.

    Ask a question about this step
  7. Slide 6 or 8 sage leaves under the skin, and you can place them on top of the onion slices. Conversely, you can place a sage leaf on each onion segment as you slide the onions under the skin.

    Ask a question about this step
  8. Cut the lemon in half, and squeeze the juice all over the chicken, working the lemon into the skin with your hands. Thrown the lemon halves into the cavity.

    Ask a question about this step
  9. Rub the remaining olive oil all over the chicken. Sprinkle the remaining salt and pepper over the bird.

    Ask a question about this step
  10. Place the bird in the middle of the oven. Baste the bird occasionally with the pan juices that accumulate. The chicken will be done in 80 to 90 minutes. Test the bird for doneness by wriggling the leg, and if the leg comes out of the joint easily the chicken is done.

    Ask a question about this step
  11. Let the chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving. To serve, place the chicken on a serving platter, surrounded by the roasted vegetables. Serve the jus on the side.

    Ask a question about this step

42 Comments on Lemon and Onion Roasted Chicken

Reply

This was wonderful...easy to do and full of flavor.. Not to mention how good the house smells
Warm and full of happiness and love...oh yea and good food. Thank you

Profile Reply

I am so glad you enjoyed it!

Reply

I am making it for the second time tomorrow and will use two chickens and tons of vegtables to make sure that we have lots of leftovers for the weekend. It was wonderful the first time. Who would have believed that a simple chicken recipe could be so memorable - thank you! I had never used the technique of placing the onions in the cavity between the skin and the meat which made it so juicy! Also - the mixture of sweet and white potatoes was delicious.

Profile Reply

I am so glad you liked it enough to make it again! It's a great idea to make 2 birds. Enjoy your weekend!

Reply

Where is the print symbol to print this recipe out? There isn't any print symbol on the left side as Ellen wrote in answer to my question.

Profile Reply

There is a side bar to the left of the recipe photo. Below the cook's name is a Facebook icon and below that a twitter icon. Below that is an email icon in a grey shaded
Horizontal bar and below that the print icon in a grey shaded horizontal bar.

Winter_2011_269 Reply

This looks really good. I think I'll try it tonight.

Profile Reply

I hope it worked out!

Oldies_joemare_bd Reply

Beautiful!

Profile Reply

Thank you! I made one yesterday - a one-pan meal is always nice.

L1010593 Reply

I have this in the oven as I type! Can't wait!!!

Profile Reply

This was a cosmic roasted chicken couple of days! A friend
Whom I was staying with in California asked me to make the chicken for her.
She bought the chicken and veggies--she chose wax potatoes, carrots, onions
Turmips and Brussels sprouts to roast with the bird. Amazing flavors! A few hours later
My niece contacted me about the recipe, and now you have made
It!! Please let me know how it all turned out, Tiggybee, and I
Hope you enjoyed!!

Steve_dunn02 Reply

There really is nothing more memorable than a good roast chicken, and this one looks simply superb. - S

Profile Reply

Thanks, Steve. I hope you try this some time.

New_years_kitchen_hlc_only Reply

Wonderful stories in your headnote. And such a gorgeous-looking roast chicken, too. ;o)

Profile Reply

Thanks, Antonia. Sarah took the photo, and really did the dish justice.

Reply

a girl after my own heart. I was going to add a similar recipe...but yours is better! Well done...Nothing like a roasted chicken to lift up our hearts :)

Profile Reply

It's really a staple, isn't it?

Me Reply

Personally, I will always remember you for this, which was an AMAZING dinner last night!

Profile Reply

That's so nice! I am so glad you enjoyed it, wssmom!

Dsc_0382 Reply

The smell of this cooking must be phenomenal! Have fun with those babies!

Profile Reply

Oh thanks so much! I will have a great time - hope to help new mom catch up on her sleep!

Mrs Reply

Beautiful story! And my favorite meal, too.

Profile Reply

Thanks. Then there is the added benefit of using leftovers for other recipes - if there are leftovers!

Summer_2010_1048 Reply

That's so sweet. I really think roast chicken = love. Will definitely try this!

Profile Reply

I hope you like it, Midge. Please let me know how it goes!

Copy_of_me Reply

Nothing like a roasted chicken and vegetables, a great tribute to your dad, wonderful story, wonderful legacy for you. I missed this recipe the first time around, your photo is "mouth watering" good!

Profile Reply

Thanks, Lapadia. My dad loves this revved up version of his chicken. And he loves to do the carving and cutting - one of my jobs in the hotel kitchen was to hold the platters while he carved, making sure he filled special requests; e.g. "Bubie G." always wanted a couple of legs and extra swathes of crispy skin.

I cannot take credit for the photo. Sarah took the photo when Jenny featured the recipe in her blog contribution. It really is a gorgeous photo.

52 Reply

Bevi Excellent picture and your recipe

Profile Reply

Thanks pauljoseph. Sarah took the photo, and it is beautiful.

Wedding_pictures_162 Reply

Wow--lovely story!

Profile Reply

I have lots of practice with poultry shears!

Reply

Thank you! I will try it and let you know! I'm just glad I can give it a go!

Reply

Can I do any of this ahead of time...perhaps the day before?

Profile Reply

Yes, you can. What I have done in the past is prepare the vegetables, but do not oil or season them. Put them in a Ziploc bag. The next day, throw them in the roasting pan and then season and oil them. Likewise, the evening before prepare the chicken and squeeze lemon juice from half the lemon on the bird. When I am ready to roast the next day, I take the chicken out of the fridge and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. After you have prepped the veggies in the roasting pan, place the chicken on top of the vegetables. At this point, squeeze the juice on the bird from the other half of the lemon. Then, oil and season the bird. All the lemon goes in the cavity. I always have placed the onions in under the bird's skin the evening before. I hope this helps!

Ab_sum Reply

The chicken is almost done for dinner tonight and man does it smell wonderful! Thanks, Bevi, for all these tips! After such a long day this will be the perfect comfort meal for us. Yes, we have the parsnips,fennel, rosemary, sage and lemon all in their places. It really was not that hard to put together either.

Profile Reply

I am so glad you made this, Sagegreen. It's an honor for me to have you try one of my dishes.

Profile Reply

I changed the recipe to reflect Jenny's comments. Hope you enjoy.

Profile Reply

NOTE: The oven temp should be 375 - my typo mistake.

352607972305 Reply

Yum!! I'd love to get your curry recipe too!

Profile Reply

I am so glad you and your family enjoyed it, Kemryb!

Reply

Wow! I just made this recipe and there was absolutely nothing left over but bones! The entire family went gaga over it. I highly recommend this one!

Meet our Hotliners:

Rick Field

The_people_s_pickle_pic

Rick Field is the founder of the pickle company Rick's Picks.

Rick Field answered Pickled peppers! 11 months ago