How to Make Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken with Potatoes
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Delicious Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken cooked with a lemon-herb butter and served with a side of potatoes is a great way to change up your weekly menu!
I’ve got more 50+ Easy Chicken Recipes for you to enjoy – right click and open these other recipes in a new tab so that you can read them after this one!
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Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions and to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required as well as understand the steps and timings involved.
Roast chicken is always a family favorite – it’s easy to prepare and cook, and it’s an inexpensive meat too.
However, if your family is tired of the same old same old plain chicken dinners, this will really help you change things up.
My favorite part about this dish is that your side is roasted along with the chicken so you get a complete meal in one pan!
I love to use flavored butter when cooking turkey for the holidays, and this method transfers well onto smaller poultry too…
In this recipe, the chicken is rubbed with a lemon and pepper butter (along with some other aromatics like garlic and herbs) – both under the skin and on top too. This imparts tons of deliciousness into the bird and transfers to the potatoes that are cooked alongside in the same pan.
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
You may have some of the ingredients for this recipe in your kitchen already – the full list with measurements is found in the recipe card.
For your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon if available online.
- Lemons – unwaxed as the zest is used in this recipe.
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Herbs de Provence – this is a herb blend and depending on the brand you buy, may contain thyme, savory, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, parsley, tarragon, and lavender. These herbs are most commonly used in French cuisine, though the flavors also pair well with Mediterranean cuisine. If you don’t want to use this blend or can’t source it, you can use the same measurement of a single herb if you prefer – rosemary, oregano, and thyme all go well with chicken, or use a mixture of herbs of your preference.
- Whole Peppercorns
- Chicken Broth or Stock
- Microplane – a grater used for zesting citrus. You can use the finest side of a box grater too.
- Roasting Pan – for cooking the potatoes and chicken in.
This recipe uses American cups. They’re a handy piece of kitchen equipment to have along with a kitchen food scale. Having both in your kitchen means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog as I use both cups and weighted measures.
More Recipes Using Lemons
One of the hero ingredients in this recipe is lemon, so here are some more recipes using the same:
- Lemony Prawn Risotto Recipe
- Authentic Greek-Cypriot Avgolemono – Egg Lemon Soup
- One-Pan Vegetable & Lemon Pork Traybake
More Chicken Recipes
Looking for more chicken recipes? Check these out next:
- Chicken Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing
- Hungarian Chicken Stew
- Lemon Herb Chicken Drumsticks with Smoky-Bacon Greens
How Do I Make Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken?
Just check out the recipe card below with full ingredients, instructions, and demonstration photos. You can print the card out too (don’t worry, the pics don’t print to save your ink!).
Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken
Delicious Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken cooked with a lemon-herb butter and served with a side of potatoes is a great way to change up your weekly menu!
Ingredients
- 2 whole lemons
- 2 medium yellow onions, sliced ¼” thick
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 Tbsp. Herbes de Provence*
- Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 whole roasting chicken (approximately 4-5 lbs / 1.8-2.2kg)
- 4 large rosemary sprigs, torn into smaller pieces, divided
- 1 lbs / 450g. baby red potatoes, scrubbed
- 1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
- ½ cup chicken broth or stock
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Zest one of the lemons with a microplane and cut the rest of it into quarters. Set the zest and lemon aside.
- Slice the remaining lemon into ¼-inch thick slices and arrange on the bottom of a large roasting pan or oven-safe skillet, along with the sliced yellow onion. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the lemon zest, butter, garlic powder, onion powder, and Herbes de Provence. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste, and stir with a fork to create a paste.
- Using a spoon, work your way between the meat and the skin on the chicken breast so that you create a cavity for the butter. Be careful not to tear the skin.
- Place the chicken on top of the onions and lemon in the pan and gently massage 1-2 tablespoons of the lemon-butter mixture under the skin.
- Spread the remaining mixture all over the outside of the chicken in an even layer.
- Stuff the chicken with the quartered lemon and one-third of the rosemary sprigs. Secure the legs together with kitchen string.
- In a large glass bowl, toss the baby red potatoes with the remaining olive oil and fresh rosemary. Season with salt and black pepper, as desired.
- Nestle the seasoned potatoes around the chicken before adding the chicken broth and whole peppercorns.
- Place the pan in the pre-heated oven to roast for one hour. Tip: If necessary, loosely cover the chicken with aluminum foil after 45 minutes to prevent over-browning.
- After an hour, remove from oven and check for doneness by inserting an instant-read thermometer between the leg and breast, but not against the bone. See the notes section below.
- Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before carving. Serve immediately topped with some of the juices from the pan and the roasted rosemary potatoes on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
*or use the same measure of your choice of dried mixed herbs if you prefer.
Chicken should reach an internal temperature just below 75C/165F before removing from the oven. The temperature will rise several degrees as it rests.
Actual cook time will vary depending on a number of factors, including starting internal temperature, size of the bird, and fluctuations in cooking temperatures from oven to the next.
For best results, check with an instant-read thermometer after 1 hour and adjust final cook time accordingly.
Make It A Meal!
You’ve made the main dish, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal!
- Appetizer: Winter Vegetable Soup
- Side Dish: Roasted Apple Cauliflower Mash with Crispy Brussels Sprouts
- Beverage: Passion Tea Lemonade
- Dessert: Classic Scotcheroos Recipe
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too!