A chicken with crispy, flavorful skin is my absolute favorite. I could never be one of those people who don't eat the skin to cut calories and fat. Just wouldn't happen. If it's crispy and seasoned well you better believe I'll be eating it. And possibly stealing some more when no one's looking.
This is my favorite way to roast a chicken. It's quick to prepare and produces a fabulous sort of Greek tasting chicken. I use whole chickens marked Fryer Chicken since that's what's available at my grocery store. A fryer chicken just means that it's a bit smaller, usually around 3 - 3.5 pounds. A Roasting Chicken would be around 5 pounds, and if you use one of those, just increase your cooking time.
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Serves 4-6
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 3-3.5 lb whole chicken
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix together the oregano, garlic powder, salt and lemon pepper.
Pat your chicken dry. Place in a roasting pan, oven-proof frying pan or cast-iron skillet. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and rub it all over the chicken. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over the chicken. Place your chicken in the oven and roast for 1-1.5 hours until the juices run clear and an internal meat thermometer reaches 170 degrees inserted in the thickest part of the thigh. Remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest 10-15 minutes to let the juices redistribute.
Optionally: You can stuff a half a lemon and some sprigs of fresh oregano inside the chicken before you roast it.
Click here for printable version of Simple Lemon Oregano Roasted Chicken
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THE RESULTS?
It's just as easy to roast two chicken at a time to roast one. For the same effort you are left with a bunch of leftover shredded chicken that has a million uses. I had that logic the last time I made this roasted chicken, and decided to try this recipe on one chicken and Jamie Oliver's recipe on the other one. While we loved Jamie Oliver's recipe (especially the crispy bacon and those amazing potatoes) we liked this one even better. I have made this recipe at least a dozen times and I never tire of it. The crispy flavorful skin is lovely with the moist chicken. You would be surprised how well the lemon pepper penetrates and imposes a citrus flavor to the meat.
Oh and check out all those dark chicken drippings in the pan. By all means DO NOT THROW IT OUT. That is concentrated chicken flavor, fabulous added to the pot when you make your own chicken broth, or perfect when used in Tagliatelle with Chicken, Rosemary and Pine Nuts.