Lemon Baked Chicken
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Made with fresh lemons, onions, garlic, and sprigs of thyme, this skinless Lemon Baked Chicken recipe is so easy to make it’s hard to believe it’s as delicious as it is! Serve it straight out of the oven or add it to wraps, salads, soups, or stews! {Paleo}
Hold the phone and shut the front door! All good things come to those who wait. And that includes this skinless Lemon Baked Chicken dinner recipe! Omigosh, it’s so good, and I’ve been dying to share it with you.
Okay, just think FRESH! More specifically, lemons + garlic + onions + thyme sprigs = SAVORY GOODNESS. It also equals tantalizing and salivating and SMELL-O-VISION. This is clearly an ALL CAPS recipe.
This dish is perfect not only as its own meal but also as leftovers and filler in other recipes. Fresh lemons, garlic, onions, and thyme. The juices from one flow into the flavors of another, and when they get together, the sparks fly. Not literally, of course. We will not be burning our kitchens down for this recipe. Although, I almost did once in high school during a take-home science experiment almost-gone-wrong.
But that’s beside the point. Spiriteds, you just gotta make this one and taste for yourself how good and versatile it is! So let’s get baking! Your tastebuds will thank you.
Lemon Baked Chicken goes with
- Salads
- Stews
- Lettuce Wraps
- Stir-Frys
Or you can do what our younger daughter does and nibble on it throughout the day. Because the leftovers, if you have any, are just as good as when it’s fresh out of the oven.
Lemon Baked Chicken ingredients
- Whole chicken. Skin removed (see notes below for details).
- Lemons. Sliced with as many seeds removed as possible. No need to remove the rind.
- Garlic cloves. Leave them whole. Remove skins.
- Onions. Any color will do. Cut into wedges.
- Fresh thyme sprigs. Several sprigs.
- Olive oil. Drizzle to cover the pan and the top of the chicken (to prevent burning).
- Sea salt and black pepper. The sea salt helps hold in the moisture during baking so your chicken turns out succulent, juicy, and tender. Black pepper, if desired, adds extra flavor on top of that.
How to prepare a whole chicken
For a healthier option, we remove the skin. And below are best practices just for you!
- Ask the meat counter to remove the skin for you. If you don’t want to remove the skin, don’t have the time, or don’t have the tools, then ask someone at the meat counter to remove the skin for you. This may take a while. So it’s a good idea to do this when you first get to the grocery store and then get your other groceries while they prep the chicken.
- Remove the skin yourself. To do this, make a slight incision on the top of the chicken and use your fingers to pull the skin away. You may need to use a cloth to scrub away any portions that you can’t remove by hand. Some of the skin will likely remain in areas around the tail and on the wings. Remove as much as you can. We put the discarded materials in a small trash bag and put it in our bin outside.
How to make Lemon Baked Chicken
Once you have as much of the skin removed as possible, then it’s time to start in on the recipe! Your house is about to smell wonderful!
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Set aside.
- Insert as several onion wedges, lemon slices, garlic, and thyme sprigs in the chicken. Using kitchen twine, tie the chicken legs together. To do this, wrap the twine around what was the tail of the chicken and then bring the twine around one leg, criss-crossing it back around the tail (if possible) and then around the other leg in a figure 8 fashion. If you can’t wrap the twine around the tail a second time, then wrap the twine around the second leg, in a figure 8 fashion, bringing the two legs together.
- Place the chicken in the 9×13 pan and scatter the remaining lemon slices, onion wedges, garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs around the edges of the baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the chicken, sprinkle with sea salt, and then bake the chicken for 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
- Remove pan from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Refrigerate leftovers and eat within 4 days.
NOTE: If you’re curious how long chicken will keep in the refrigerator, then here’s a Healthline article, How Long Does Chicken Last in the Fridge?, to answer your questions!
Wait! Don’t throw that away!!!!
Before you throw away all the leftover bones, etc, check out this Homemade Bone Broth recipe first! It is so good, made even better with all the carryover flavors from the Lemon Baked Chicken. Throw the olive oil mixture in there, too, if your palate wishes!
Make a meal of it!
Aaaaannnddd, there are several side dishes and salads that would pair well with your Lemon Baked Chicken:
- Garlic Mashed Cauliflower Potatoes
- Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole
- Easy Paleo Quick-Steamed Vegetables
- Baked Cinnamon Apples
- Pomegranate Pear Salad
- Fresh Mixed Berry Salad
Enjoy every last drippy, succulent, juicy bite, friends! Spiriteds, stay well and stay wild. Jump into the fun whenever you can and always know I’m glad you’re here. ❤️❤️❤️
Lemon Baked Chicken
Made with fresh lemons, onions, garlic, and sprigs of thyme, this Lemon Baked Chicken recipe is so easy to make, it’s hard to believe it’s a delicious as it is! Serve it straight out of the oven or add it to wraps, salads, soups, or stews! {Paleo}
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Baking
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, bone in and skin removed
- Olive oil
- 2 lemons, sliced and seeds removed
- 3–4 cloves fresh garlic, skins removed
- 3–4 onions, any color, cut into wedges
- Several sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, divided
- Flaky sea salt
- Coarse black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Set aside.
- Insert several onion wedges, lemon slices, garlic, and thyme sprigs in the chicken. Using kitchen twine, tie the chicken legs together. To do this, wrap the twine around what was the tail of the chicken and then bring the twine around one leg, criss-crossing it back around the tail (if possible) and then around the other leg in a figure 8 fashion. If you can’t wrap the twine around the tail a second time, then wrap the twine around the second leg, in a figure 8 fashion, bringing the two legs together.
- Place the chicken in the 9×13 pan and scatter the remaining lemon slices, onion wedges, garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs around the edges of the baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the chicken, sprinkle with sea salt, and then bake the chicken for 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
- Remove pan from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Refrigerate leftovers and eat within 4 days
Notes
- If you prefer not to remove the skin yourself, ask someone at the meat counter when you purchase your chicken to remove it for you. There may be a wait, so it’s a good idea to make that request first and then do the rest of your shopping.
- If the chicken doesn’t have an extended area where the tail used to be, then tie the legs tightly in a figure 8 fashion. That should still hold all the ingredients in while the chicken cooks.
- Salting the top of the chicken prior to baking will not only add more flavor but also help hold in the moisture so your chicken is succulent, juicy, and tender when it’s done.
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