Chicken in lemon marinade – a vivid example of a harmonious combination of citrus fruits and meat. By and large, we can say that no matter which citrus fruit you take, except for grapefruit, which is characterized not only by a sweet and sour taste, but also by bitterness, it will go well with different types of meat - chicken, pork, duck, goose, beef (veal ), rabbit.
If you want to try some new and delicious sweet and sour marinade, then be sure to take note of this recipe for chicken in lemon marinade. By the way, sour or sweet and sour marinades for meat, in particular for baking or kebabs, are very popular today. Let's remember the marinade made from cranberries, kiwi, pomegranate juice, cherries, red currants and so on.
Lemons are also great for making marinades for chicken and other meats. The organic acids included in their composition perfectly soften the meat, making it juicy and soft in taste, in addition, they will give it a delicious citrus aroma. To give marinades a sweetish taste, honey, cane sugar, maple or other types of syrups, and balsamic vinegar are added to them.
Today I want to show you how to cook chicken, or rather chicken legs, in a lemon sauce, which will include honey, olive oil, spices and garlic. This combination of ingredients makes a very tasty sauce. This recipe is just as good as the honey mustard chicken recipe.
Now let's move on to the recipe and see how chicken is prepared in lemon marinade - a step-by-step recipe with photos .
Ingredients:
- Chicken drumsticks - 1 kg.,
- Lemon - 1 pc.,
- Garlic - 3-4 cloves,
- Honey - 1 tbsp. spoon,
- Salt - 1 teaspoon,
- Olive oil - 3 tbsp. spoons,
- Spices for chicken, paprika - 10 g each.
Ingredients
It is known that, being baked as a whole carcass, chicken often turns out dry and not too tender. Lemon gives approximately the same effect as with kebab. With it, the meat always comes out juicy, aromatic and soft.
In addition, citrus fruits contain a lot of vitamin C, which protects mucous membranes from infection. So using lemon during a pandemic seemed like a good solution to me.
So, to prepare lemon chicken you will need:
- broiler chicken - 1 pc.;
- basil, parsley and rosemary - to taste;
- olive oil - 4 tbsp. l.;
- lemon - 1 pc.;
- bay leaf - 4 pcs.;
- potatoes - optional (I used 4 pieces);
- salt (preferably sea salt), black pepper.
I used the whole lemon when baking the chicken. But if you don’t like the bitterness and aroma that the zest gives, you can simply cut the fruit into 2 parts and squeeze the juice directly into the marinade.
Chicken pieces baked in the oven with lemon and vegetables: tasty and fast
chicken pieces in the oven
Chicken pieces in the oven
If you are faced with the question of how to bake chicken in the oven, then I offer you a simple recipe for a very tasty, aromatic, baked chicken. We will bake the chicken divided into portioned pieces; legs or chicken thighs purchased directly from the store are also suitable for this recipe. So what do we need to prepare?
Ingredients:
- chicken's meat;
- sweet bell pepper;
- onion;
- fresh and candied lemons (in the text I talked about lemons in detail, so read a little lower)
- canned olives
spices:
- ground black pepper;
- cardamom;
- salt;
aromatic herbs:
- oregano;
- rosemary;
vegetable oil.
The process of cooking chicken in the oven in pieces
1. So, if the chicken is whole, then divide it into pieces, do not forget to wash it. Then the chicken should be dried, for this you can use paper napkins.
2. Next, pour lemon juice over the chicken pieces, rub with ground black pepper and salt (to taste), leave on the plate and proceed to processing the vegetables.
3. Remove seeds from sweet bell peppers, wash and cut into large pieces. Place the prepared peppers in a baking dish, previously greased with vegetable oil.
chicken in the oven cooking
4. Next, chop the onion and peel it. Mine. Cut into rings and place on top of the bell pepper.
vegetables for baking
5. Place the prepared chicken pieces on the onion, pour vegetable oil on top of the pieces. Sprinkle with aromatic herbs, in my case it was rosemary, oregano and ground coriander.
6. Wash the lemon and cut it into small thin semicircular pieces. I’ll immediately make a reservation that one part of the cut lemon pieces I had was soaked in sugar from a jar (sliced lemons with sugar). Another: fresh lemons, that is, I stuck to the 1:1 ratio.
chicken with vegetables in the oven
In my opinion, the combination of sour and sweet gives an even more expressive taste to chicken meat. If you don’t have such a preparation, then you can only use fresh lemon, the dish will not suffer from it. And so we distribute the lemon pieces over the entire surface of the chicken and finally add the canned olives from the jar.
7. Place the chicken in the oven, temperature 200 degrees. My chicken stood for exactly 1 hour. The meat is ready.
chicken in the oven photo
The recipe here for rice or pasta is a good side dish. In general, cooking chicken in the oven in pieces , in my opinion, is very convenient than baking it whole. The cooking time is reduced, and then you don’t have to bother with the chicken to separate it into parts. So I’m thinking, what’s the point of baking it whole if you still have to divide it later? But perhaps for special beauty and solemnity. Bon Appetit everyone!
Sincerely, Dietstol
Preparation
Set the oven to preheat to 180 C. Rinse the carcass thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel, outside and inside. Place the chicken breast side up on the table. Carefully separate the skin from the top of the meat, and then continue this operation down towards the back.
Pour herbs, salt, pepper into a bowl, pour olive oil and mix everything well. Brush the mixture under the skin of the chicken. Be careful when performing this procedure. The skin of the chicken should remain intact.
Cut 2-3 grooves half a centimeter deep on each leg of the chicken. Add some pepper, salt and dried herbs. Brush the chicken thoroughly with olive sauce, inside and out.
Poke the lemon skin all the way through with a fork. When baking, juice should flow out of it. Place the lemon inside the chicken. Send the bay leaf there too. Peel the potatoes and cut into thin slices.
Lemon chicken - food preparation
Chicken with lemon is baked in the oven. It can be wrapped in foil and baked in a sleeve. Lemon and honey make a good combination. Agree, this is an extraordinary combination of sour and sweet, but it is precisely because of this that the unsurpassed taste of the meat is guaranteed. If the chicken is being prepared for a special event, we recommend baking the whole carcass. For family feasts, you can prepare legs, breasts, wings - at the discretion of the cook. We pay special attention to spices. In many ways, they determine what aroma will be in your kitchen.
Lemon Chicken Recipes
Baking
Grease the pan with olive oil and place the potatoes on the bottom. Drizzle olive oil over potatoes. Place the chicken on its side on top. Without covering the pan with anything, place the dish in the oven.
After about an hour, remove the chicken from the oven and turn it over to the other side. If at this point there is not enough juice in the potatoes, add 2 tablespoons of water mixed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Bake the chicken for about 1 hour more. Once the carcass is golden brown, remove the dish from the oven and serve.
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Chicken with lemon in envelopes
Thanks to the parchment envelopes in which we recommend baking chicken pieces, the cooked meat will turn out unusually juicy.
Required:
- 4 pieces of chicken;
- 1 zucchini;
- 1 carrot;
- 2 lemons;
- fresh ginger root (1 slice);
- 85 ml dry white wine;
- cilantro leaves for decoration;
- salt and ground black pepper to taste.
It will take: 75 minutes.
Each serving: 350 kcal.
Cooking:
- Wash the lemons without peeling them and chop them into circles.
- Preheat the oven to 190ºC.
- Wash zucchini, carrots, peel, cut into thin slices.
- Place 4 squares of oiled cooking paper on the work surface (you can use foil). Place vegetables on each square, top with a piece of chicken along with lemon slices, sprinkle with grated ginger root, then sprinkle with wine. Add salt and ground pepper to taste.
- Lift the corners of the cooking paper up and fold them in to form a spacious bag.
- Transfer the bags to a baking sheet, place in a hot oven, and bake for 45 minutes until the meat is cooked.
- Serve by placing the chicken on plates in paper bags and garnish with cilantro leaves.
Try cooking zucchini stuffed with chicken in the oven.
Lentils with chicken in a slow cooker are an excellent dish from the healthy nutrition menu. You can find the recipe here.
For a snack, you can make a salad with chicken, mushrooms and pineapples using this recipe.
Tricks
First, a few tips for choosing chicken. To make lemon chicken as juicy inside as possible, do not choose a carcass that is lighter than a kilogram. The ideal weight of a chilled chicken carcass is kilogram + 300 grams. A bird of this size will not be dry and at the same time will not make you wait long for it to be ready. Pay attention to the integrity of the chicken skin so that there are no abrasions, cuts or punctures. The skin should be thin and intact, this is a sign that the chicken is free of excess water and fresh.
The lemon should be medium-sized and bright yellow in color. Citrus must be elastic - usually fruits with these characteristics without bitter zest are suitable for preparing this dish.
Don't be afraid to add more onions. It will not give any bitterness or smell. Thanks to the mixture of onion and lemon, your chicken will be very juicy, with a piquant taste and aroma.
For the marinade, use mayonnaise with lemon juice - this will enhance the taste and smell of your dish.
Black pepper will add flavor. For best results, it is better to use a pepper mill.
To ensure that the crust is very golden brown and crispy, during cooking, pull out the baking sheet several times and coat the chicken with the fat it has released with a silicone pastry brush.
It is best to bake chicken breast side down. This way it will be better saturated with marinade and natural juices during cooking.
How to cook
Take a lemon, wash it thoroughly with warm water and cook in a small ladle. As soon as the water boils, time it for seven minutes and turn off the heat. Drain the water and pierce the lemon in several places with a fork. It is important that there are many punctures on each side. So that the lemon gives as much juice as possible to the chicken. Take an onion and finely chop it - the finer the better. Rinse the chicken on all sides and dry with a kitchen towel. Mix salt and seasonings and rub the chicken - outside and inside. Take the onion, mix with mayonnaise and stuff the inside of the chicken, thoroughly coating everything. Place the lemon inside - to the onion, close the hole and prick with toothpicks dipped in water. Make sure the chicken is well covered. Grease a baking sheet with oil and place the lemon chicken on it. Preheat the oven to two hundred degrees and send the bird there. In an hour, the juicy, rosy chicken will be ready. Remove it from the oven and remove the toothpicks. Remove the lemon, cut it in half and use a small spoon to separate the pulp from the zest. You can add mayonnaise and spices to the pulp to create an excellent sauce for your dish.
Recipe 3: Chicken with lemon and honey
Is there a chicken carcass, lemon and a jar of honey in the refrigerator? Dont be upset! From this minimal set you can prepare chicken, which you can immediately serve even to dear guests.
Required ingredients:
• chicken – 1 kg;
• lemon – 1 – 2 pcs.;
• honey – 2 – 3 tbsp. l.;
• spices (basil, paprika, black pepper, ground ginger, red pepper) – a pinch;
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l.;
• water – 1 tbsp.
Cooking method:
In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, and then add the honey. Cut the lemon into slices and also place in the pan. Leave for a couple of minutes. We have formed a thick syrup. Turn off the fire. Take out the lemon slices. Pour the resulting liquid into a small plate, add a spoonful of vegetable oil and the listed spices. Stir the consistency.
Next we need a whole chicken carcass. In the breast area, carefully lift the skin of the carcass, brush the breast with honey sauce and lay out lemon slices. Please note that the lemon is not on top of the carcass, but under the skin of the chicken. To prevent lemon juice from leaking out, sew up the chicken.
All that remains is to coat the entire chicken with the honey mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees in the oven for approximately 1.5 hours.
