Whole Roasted Greek Chicken with Lemon Potatoes

by Joe Volgey

Opa! Let’s make this delicious one pan dish.

I absolutely love Greek food. It is salty, tangy, earthy and just all around delicious. Something about eating Greek food feels homey. Many recipes are straight forward with few ingredients and still able to pack in so much flavor!

This recipe is no different, with a few simple ingredients, very little effort and a little bit of time you can have the most delicious meal on the table for the whole family, or eat it by yourself , no judgement here.

Spatchcocking is my preferred way to cook a chicken, always. Just by taking out the back bone, it cuts down on the cooking time and allows for a much more even cook of the meat. If you don’t have a whole chicken, or don’t want to cut out the backbone you can use some bone in skin on chicken thighs or even some leg quarters. I don’t recommend doing breast only because it tends to dry out quickly, but if you choose to do so, I would cook the potatoes almost all the way through first and then add the chicken breast on top. Keeping an eye on the breast until its cooked through about 15-25 minutes depending on the size. Check to make sure your chicken is cooked through with a meat thermometer. I always take my meat out 5-10 degrees before the “done” temperature,165F degrees for chicken, the residual heat will continue to cook the meat as it rests.

Ingredients

  • 1 4lb whole chicken
  • 5 yukon gold potatoes cut into wedges
  • 1 small onion sliced thin
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • Juice from a whole lemon (approximately ¼ cup)
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Take chicken out of the refrigerator and let warm up for 20-30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 450F degrees
  3. Spatchcock your chicken by cutting out the backbone with either a pair of kitchen shears or a very sharp knife. Pat dry.
  4. In a cast iron skillet , add potatoes and onions, drizzle with half of the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and a few cracks of black pepper.
  5. In a small bowl combine the rest of the olive oil and oregano (I add a pinch of red pepper flakes as well for a little heat). With a kitchen brush, apply half of the mixure to the underside of the bird. Drizzle with half of the remaining lemon juice. Flip the bird over, and lay it on top of the potatoes breast side up. Brush the remaining oil mixture onto the chicken, pour the rest of the lemon juice on and season liberally with salt and a few cracks of black pepper.
  6. Roast the chicken and potatoes in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Take it out, toss the potatoes and let roast for another 15-20 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 155F degrees in the thickest part of the breast.
  7. Remove skillet from oven and allow to rest. (If potatoes need more time , remove chicken from the skillet and roast potatoes until fork tender.)
  8. Carve chicken and enjoy.

 

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