This roasted lemon garlic chicken is a simple, healthy meal to throw together easily.
Hot or cold, this roasted chicken is just as great on the dinner table as it is on any family picnic!
I love simple recipes.
I can also get pretty excited about flavorful, bursting in in your mouth flavors.
And I love recipes the kids AND the adults can get just as excited about!! This recipe is ALL those things!!
It is just as delicious warm or cold and packs well for summer excursions. Forget that KFC, make something you can feel good about feeding your family! Picnic food never pasted so good! And if you are celebrating the 4th of July, be sure to try this 4th of July fruit pizza as a beautiful and sweet treat. Addtionally, gluten free chopped Italian sandwiches would be a fun addtition!
Afternoons where I realize I have this in the fridge ready to go make me happy…my dinner is handled with minimal effort!
Lemon garlic chicken marinade:
By creating a simple marinade, you can transform the humble chicken leg into something extraordinary! The lemon zest really makes this flavor pop, so be sure to include it! I love to use my favorite Microplane grater to do this.
I will never forget the first time I used one: it was love at first zest…and suddenly zesting wasn’t some time consuming dreaded chore designed to shave skin of my knuckles!! Trust me, you need one! It’s great for all sorts of things (grating chocolate, ginger, garlic, hard cheese, and all zesting!)
This marinade is great with any cut of chicken, with OR without bones. To get the full flavor, I like to marinate overnight!
Lemon garlic chicken thighs or breasts WITHOUT the bone?
This marinade works well with any cut of chicken, but cooking times WILL vary.
Roasting works well with skin on, bone in chicken pieces, simply follow the direction in the recipe card.
If you have boneless skinless thighs or breasts, I would grill them OR sauté them on the stove top. I’m not a huge fan of oven cooked boneless skinless pieces.
Affordable gluten free meals:
You can’t get much more affordable than the chicken drumstick!
This dinner is great way to feed a huge crowd with minimal moolah!
My Cowboy BBQ Skillet is another affordable meal you could try….hearty and filling and great served over some fresh cornbread!
Three ingredients salsa chicken looks tasty, and my roasted Vietnamese meatballs are loaded with flavor and very inexpensive!
I’ve been eyeing this harvest chicken hash too! And if you have a smoker. these smoked chicken quarters are economical AND delish!
Oven Roasted Drumsticks Serving Suggestions:
Here are some great summery sides you can consider when serving up these flavorful drumsticks!
- I never overly loved green salads with honey mustard dressing until I made my own easy homemade version and it was love at first bite!
- When I first started making my garden’s fresh green beans this way, it became a staple recipe!
- When it’s summer, nothing beats a cool Mediterranean cucumber salad!
- When strawberries are in season, take advantage with this unique strawberry feta salad. Sweet and savory!
- Italian bruschetta can be served on any allowed bread slices, or even without the bread as a summery side! I love to make it when my tomato bushes are overflowing!
Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken Recipe:
If you try this recipe, be sure to come back a report on how it went! Simply leave a comment below to let others know!
Easy Roasted Lemon-Garlic Picnic Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken pieces bone in, skin on. I used drumsticks because they are the most affordable. See notes above for boneless skinless cooking variation.
- 6 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard or any mustard
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large lemon zest & juice
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
Instructions
Marinade:
- Mix the marinade ingredients together in a large ziploc bag or glass container large enough to accommodate all your chicken.
- Add in the chicken, mixing to ensure all pieces get covered.
- Place the mixture in a the fridge and marinate for a full day or longer. Remember, the longer you marinate, the stronger the flavor!
Cooking:
- When you are ready to roast, remove the bone in chicken from the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Place the chicken on a large cookie sheet (sans additional marinade), and roast for about 45 minutes until the skin is golden and the the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a knife.
Nutrition
This was fantastic. Really wanted to have cold chicken on a hot day that was neither fried nor super-spicy. This was delicious right out of the oven, at room temperature a few hours later, and as cold leftovers straight from the fridge the next day. Definitely going into rotation at our house. Thank you!
Thank YOU Deborah…I love it cold too…and I don’t even always like cold chicken!
This looks amazing! Will it be delicious if I bake the chicken, refrigerate overnight, and take to a picnic (in a cooler with ice) the next day?
Yes Kay! I love it cold!
I just made this last night, originally I planned that it will be enough for 2 days dinner, but 3/4 of it was gone the first night 🙂 My kids loved it. Easy and delicious!
well I guess better than having too much leftover then!! Glad you all like it!
Yum! These look so tasty. Thanks so much for sharing this on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, I’ve pinned it : )
Great easy recipe! Thanks for sharing on Wildcrafting Wednesday!
What a great recipe to have on hand! Your roasted lemon garlic picnic chicken looks delicious, whether you are following a Paleo diet or not!
This is making me drool! 🙂
This chicken sounds so easy and delicious–I’m sure I’ll like it.
We LOVED this recipe! I’ve already made it several times and I added it to my “Recipes That Shine” page on my site 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!
Oooh, I am doing roast chicken tonight – you have inspired me.
I found you via the Whole Food Wednesday linky party. I linked in a post about retro prawn cocktails
Have a super week.
Just pinned your great recipe, thanks for sharing on Full Plate Thursday and hope you are having a great week end!
Miz Helen
Than YOU Helen!
This sounds super delicious!
Thanks for linking with Kids in the Kitchen! pinned!
I just printed this off and can’t wait to make it! Thanks! We’ve been on vacation and I was excited to come home and see all the great recipes everyone’s been cookin’ up 🙂
Great Cassidy, let me know how you like it!
Wow! That looks delicious! I love roasting chicken and that marinade would be perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Ummm…just wondering…what flavor cookie should we place the chicken on…? :)Otherwise the recipe sounds delicious – we’ll give it try soon!
LOL Cheryl…thanks for catching that!
Hi Tessa,
This chicken looks amazing!!! I love it.
And you know what’s so funny…tonight I made lemon garlic broccoli. I’ll be posted it this week. 🙂
Great minds baby!
Yum Tessa! That looks delicious! and it’s perfectly golden brown! Love the lemon-garlic combo:)