Lemon Roasted Chicken with Croutons
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I’m so excited to share this recipe with you! It is healthy, delicious, simple and a family favorite! It is one of those recipes that you can make for a special occasion or just for dinner on a weeknight. Don’t let the longer cook time make you nervous- once you get it in the oven, you just leave it there until it’s done cooking. No basting or turning required! The roasting pan does all the work. My roasting pan is blue-speckled, decades old and from my Grandmommy’s kitchen. It has a couple of worn spots and a bent handle, but it cooks food evenly and with love! If you don’t have a roasting pan, this is the closest I could find to what mine looks like.
What makes this recipe different from any other roast chicken is the scrumptious sauce that is made from the chicken’s juices, lemon juice, onion and olive oil. The homemade croutons make a wonderful bed to place the roast chicken on top of and then you spoon the lemony sauce on top. Yummmmm!
The original recipe came from a friend at work, in our pre-kids era. I’ve tweaked it over the years and it is now on our regular dinner rotation. The first time I made it, I was 24 and it was our second married Christmas Eve. Austin, my husband, was working on his Master’s Degree and working a job doing security at a university and had to work Christmas that year. I decided to make this recipe and it was my first time ever roasting a chicken! I ended up roasting it upside down (breast down) and even serving it that way on my pretty pewter platter. It looked so funny looking back on that!
If you’ve never roasted a chicken before, you can do this! You will feel really accomplished when you see this golden chicken in the roasting pan!
What You Will Need:
Large Roasting Pan with Lid
Cutting Board
Pastry Brush
Small Serated Knife
Large Bread Knife
Kitchen scissors
Recipe:
One of the best things about this recipe (besides the sauce) is that there is always leftover chicken! I take the chicken off the bone and use it to make chicken salad, chicken tacos or chicken pot pie!
I always make this chicken with sautéed carrots and steamed broccoli! The flavors go really well together!
Once you have tried the recipe, let me know what you think!
Enjoy!