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    Balkan Lunch Box > Recipes > Main Courses > Oven Lemon Chicken

    Oven Lemon Chicken

    Published: May 9, 2016 · Modified: Apr 7, 2022 by Aida

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Oven baked lemon chicken: the best way to impress your dinner guests. Incredibly easy to make but I won't tell if you don't! 

    pecena piletina sa krompiricima oven baked chicken

    Oven baked lemon chicken is one of those recipes I've seen around for years, but was intimidated to take on. It looks too good to be easy to make. Fresh chicken infused by spices, caressed by fingerling potatoes that swim in its juice... Lemon squeezed to its last breath for the freshness it gives... How can this be simple? (Btw, something else that goes great with lemon is fish and other seafood.)

    But somehow it is.
    Recipe by Samir Hajdarević.

    20160629-preparation oven baked lemon chicken limun piletina sa krompirom
    pecena limun piletina sa krompiricima oven lemon chicken
    piletina pecena sa limunom i krompiricima oven baked chicken

    Oven Lemon Chicken (Pečena Piletina sa Limunom)

    Aida
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins
    Course Main Course
    Servings 4

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 pounds fingerling potatoes
    • 1 medium sized whole chicken without giblets
    • 2 lemons
    • 2-3 tablespoons seasoned salt
    • 2-3 tablespoons parsley
    • 2 tablespoons basil
    • 5 garlic cloves minced
    • Oil

    Instructions
     

    • Wash and peel potatoes. Cut in half or quarters depending on their size. Place in a bowl with 1 tablespoon seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon parsley, 1 tablespoon basil, and 2 minced garlic cloves. Add a tablespoon or two of oil, mix well and set aside.
    • Wash the chicken really well. Pat dry and transfer to a cutting board. Cut in a few places along the breast and legs (see the photo). Take the remaining spices (seasoned salt, parsley and basil), and smear over it on all sides really well. Take the remaining cloves and place in the orifices you made earlier by cutting. Wash lemons really well leaving the skin on. Cut into eights. Place one cut lemon inside the chicken (as much as it will fit), and set the remaining one aside.
    • Heat oven to 480F. Generously oil a 9X13 baking pan, place the chicken inside, and spread the potatoes around it evenly. Oil the chicken and potatoes. Add one cup of water into the pan. Take the last lemon, and squeeze all the juice evenly over the chicken and potatoes. Place the remains into the pan.
    • Place the pan into the oven, and bring the temperature down to 395F. Bake for 55 minutes or so, turning the chicken around once or twice.
    • Bring the temperature up to 450F again, and bake for 10-15 more minutes.

    Notes

    You may need a different sized pan - base it how on large your chicken is.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Kupus Salata - Balkan Cabbage Salad
    Easy No Mayo Potato Salad with Eggs and Onions (Krompir Salata) [Balkan-Style, With Vinagirette] »


    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ron @ fasthealthycooking.net says

      June 30, 2016 at 12:49 pm

      Oh wow! This looks amazingly flavorful! Can’t wait to try it!

      Reply
      • Aida says

        June 30, 2016 at 1:14 pm

        Thanks for stopping by Ron. Yes, flavorful, and very easy to make. 🙂

        Reply
    2. AJ Paradis says

      July 03, 2016 at 5:41 pm

      This looks so good! I have never baked a chicken. Well, not a whole chicken. I find it intimidating for some reason. But this does look deliciously easy. Perhaps I can conquer my fear.

      Reply
      • Aida says

        July 04, 2016 at 7:22 am

        AJ, I was the same exact way until this chicken. It really is that easy.

        Reply
    3. Chep says

      September 30, 2016 at 5:03 am

      Great recipe. Do you cover the pan when baking?

      Reply
      • Aida says

        September 30, 2016 at 6:43 am

        Thanks Chep! Depends on the oven. For this recipe I didn't. But if you notice the chicken blushing too fast, cover it with some foil and add a few minutes to baking. Then check if it's done. If you have a baking thermometer stick it into a juicy part of chicken away from the bone, and turn off the oven when the chicken reads about 165F (about 75C). If you don't have one, just check that the juice coming from the chicken is clear instead of pink.

        Reply
    4. Kay B. says

      January 21, 2018 at 8:30 pm

      This was our Thanksgiving Dinner last year and it was a huge hit!

      Reply
      • Aida says

        January 23, 2018 at 7:09 am

        Fantastic!

        Reply
    5. Brett Mann says

      June 16, 2020 at 3:09 pm

      In the instructions, #3 includes, "Take the last lemon, and squeeze all the juice evenly over the chicken and tomatoes." What tomatoes???

      Reply
      • Aida says

        June 16, 2020 at 4:22 pm

        Potatoes not tomatoes.

        Reply
        • Brett Mann says

          June 17, 2020 at 4:59 pm

          Thanks for correcting the instructions. Thought I'd missed an ingredient somewhere in the process.

          Reply
          • Aida says

            June 17, 2020 at 6:29 pm

            Np, thanks for letting me know it was incorrect. Did you make it?

    6. Sarah Amena says

      March 25, 2022 at 6:02 pm

      5 stars
      Salam Aida !!
      Thank you so much for sharing so generously all these amazing recipes - I just put the roasted chicken and lemon and potatoes in the oven! My husband is Bosnian as are my two small girls - they are 1 and 3 abs I’m hoping inshAllah to get them accustomed to Bosnian food - my mother in law has her own style and honestly it’s easier for me to read a recipe and follow your instructions and do it that way- no pressure! InshAllah every time I make a recipe I will be sure to post a comment - it’s so so kind that you are sharing these cooking secrets- no one taught me to cook so now it like I’m learning from the best - You!

      Reply
      • Aida says

        April 04, 2022 at 6:39 am

        Sarah Amena,
        We also find it easier to read and watch online! The blog was started when we couldn't get our family to give us the right ingredient volumes 😂... It was always "a little bit of this... a few spoonfuls of that..."
        How did the chicken turn out?
        Yes, it's good to start early by exposing children to different cuisines. I bet they love your Moroccan delicacies.
        I have a little girl and am doing exactly the same.
        Happy Ramadan!

        Reply
    5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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