Mar 3, 2010

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken (Pollo Arrosto)

Evan Kleiman of Angeli Caffe in Los Angeles gave us the recipe for this simple, aromatic roast chicken.

Credit: Andr� Baranowski

1 3 1⁄2-lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 cup fresh rosemary leaves
1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice
10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 lemon, peel removed, pith and pulp chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Toss chicken with oil, rosemary, lemon juice, garlic, lemon, and salt and pepper in bowl. Marinate for 1 hour.

2. Heat oven to 475°. Arrange chicken in a 9" x 13" baking dish; add remaining marinade. Roast, flipping once, until cooked through, 30–40 minutes.

SERVES 4

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #127

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Ratings & Reviews (23)

by bernsense on 2010-02-18

Excellent recipe, very simple flavors and real easy to make.

by joshgordon188 on 2010-02-20

Simple, but does not disappoint. This is great for a week night when we do not want to stand over the stove after work.

by mereelaine on 2010-03-06

Perfect balance of olive oil and lemon juice. The flavors perfectly blend and are even better the next day.

by fancykarate on 2010-03-19

I have made this several times and it's always delicious. Pairs well with yellow rice and a nice rioja.

by cherie72 on 2010-04-29

Evan Kleiman is my culinary hero! This recipe is so simple you almost wonder, "Do I need a recipe for this?" Just follow her lead and you'll have an excellent meal. I paired it with some homemade flatbread, zucchini, and yogurt dip. Then I sent the recipe to family and told them to make it right away. Delicious!

by MOTWELL on 2010-06-08

Awesome recipe! My chicken weighted about 6lbs. I doubled the garlic (because I like garlic), added a little more lemon juice and rosemary, but kept the olive oil the same. I also added about 6 cut up red potatoes. The prep work was a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort. I really loved the lemon and garlic flavor. The chicken and the potatoes were very flavorful and tender.

by nancymayo2 on 2011-01-04

This recipe is proof that sometimes, keeping it simple is the best thing! I emailed this to all my friend who really "don't cook" & each one had a wonderful outcome. I have actually put this up & because of work, not been able to make it for (3) days and it's still wonderful!

by MERR on 2011-01-04

QUESTION: I want to make sure I'm reading this right. Where the recipe calls for 1 lemon chopped, it's not just peeling of the zest right? It's peeling the lemon (like one would do to an orange) and chopping up the wedges?

I'm slightly thrown by the pith inclusion, which I thought is the white bitter part remaining after removing the zest.

by cookiemaker on 2011-01-21

It is often said that chicken is the perfect canvas for any number of flavours, but I find that nothing beats garlic, lemon, rosemary and olive oil. Sometimes I kick it up with some sweet/hot Turkish pepper or dried pepperoncini for a bit of fun. Other than that, this Mediterranean classic combination of flavours reigns supreme! Thank you for affirming what many of us believe.

by tputnam on 2011-10-06

Way too much olive oil for no good reason. I ended up with pieces of chicken with limp, unappetizing skin swimming in oil amid uncooked pieces of garlic. I fished the chicken pieces out and broiled them until the skin crisped up. Next time, I'll simply do what I always used to do - make Marcella Hazan's Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon Juice from 'More Classic Italian Cooking'. I often broil that at the end, too, but don't have to deal with the excess oil and crunchy garlic. So much better!

by LEMON on 2011-12-14

Would give it five stars, but for some slight modifications I made:
Reduced the olive oil to 1/4 cup, which was plenty.
I also added the lemon's zest, because I like it.
@MERR, I used a paring knife to roughly "peel" the lemon, and then chopped it with some pith still on. It wasn't bitter after the cooking, and helped hold the lemon bits together.
Made one diner exclaim, "Damn, Lemon, that's some good chicken!"

by JON G on 2012-01-05

I made this for my wife yesterday evening. Used chicken fillet, cos that's what we had.Used all ingredients and added fresh ginger and a shot of sherry. My wife, who is a real food critic, usually gives me a 'good'. This she loved. Thank you

by JON G on 2012-01-05

Forgot stars

by ALAMOBECKY on 2012-01-19

I, too, halved the oil but due to the rendered chicken skin fat still felt the sauce was too fatty tasting. I'm definitely going to make this again, though ... the flavor was wonderful. I'm going to take off the skin before marinating.

by agape126 on 2012-04-02

I see the rave reviews but my experience was terrible: I too questioned the addition of a whole lemon, including pith and membrane, and as I suspected the dish was too bitter to eat! My husband raves about my cooking but said I should burn that recipe! ;-) I will try it again with much less oil as recommended, and using only some zest and lemon sections (no pith and no membrane!).

by JMSPDX on 2012-05-25

This recipe absolutely proves the less-is-more rule. Easy to make, flavorful, and worth repeating. Don't forget to have some crusty bread on hand for that wonderful garlicky lemon oil that remains on your plate after you've devoured the chicken.

by JMSPDX on 2012-05-25

I forgot to add that a minute or less under a hot broiler after roasting solves any limp-skin problems.

by AFC on 2012-08-16

Very tasty and easy to make.

by helen redpath on 2012-08-18

this chicken was amazing!
the secret actually is the baked lemon, without the rind
I'm not a lemon fan per se, but I'm eating that roasted lemon right alongside the sliced roasted garlic
I agree, maybe not so much oil I baked my chicken skin down for 20 min or so, and then turned it over and it crisped up nicely
I used 2# chicken thighs and 1/4 c. of olive oil
Would I make this again---absolutely---for company, absolutely definitely!!!

by MARSDAR on 2012-12-02

I hesitate to leave a review because I MUST be doing something wrong. My chicken turned out pale and unappetizing looking, swimming in a sea of watery and oily juices. I did put the chicken pieces under the broiler and I quickly thickened the liquid to make a sauce but I was very unhappy with the results. This is the second time I've made a recipe for roast chicken pieces where I ended up with LOTS of liquid in the baking dish. Both chickens were organic. Could this make any difference?
I welcome any help!

by SWEETHOMECO on 2013-03-03

This turned out very well for me. Used a bit less oil and garlic. Also did not use the pith (I honestly was a bit confused by that part of the recipe) I just peeled the lemon and used the "meat" of the lemon. I did not cover the chicken at all while it roasted in the oven. Curious if some of the people who's chicken turned out very oily and/or pale kept the chicken covered for the majority of time while roasting?

by LIZZILU on 2013-04-08

I love this recipe and have made it several times. I add extra chicken thighs to serve, and use the breasts to make chicken salad. @MARSDAR: I would check the oven temperature and make sure it's high enough. Sometimes oven thermostats are off calibration, or pre-heating temps "lag" behind ready buzzer. I place a store-bought oven thermometer in the center of the oven while pre-heating and then move it when I put the dish in the oven. Have followed Evan Kleiman for years! She's great!

by MKRSUL on 2013-04-22

I loved this recipe! After reading some of the negative reviews I was curious to see if 1/2 cup of olive oil would be too much or that it would be bitter because of the pith or that I would be serving raw pieces of garlic, 10 cloves did seem a lot. I also was concerned about the limp skin as I felt the chicken might be too packed in a 13x9 baking pan. I am happy to report that it was fabulous! I'm not sure how one reader had a bitter dish. The skin crisped up nicely, the garlic slices were cooked and mellow and I found that the grease factor was really non existent.

In fact, I poured the pan juices into a skillet, added about a 1/2 cup of pitted cerignola olives (green italian) sliced in half and reduced briefly. I then tossed it with pasta letting the pasta and sauce meld for about 3-4 minutes finishing the dish with lemon zest, finely chopped rosemary, a handful grated pecorino, and a good grinding of fresh black pepper.

It all was really delicious and my family loved it.

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken (Pollo Arrosto) 4 5 20 23