Greek Lemon Roast Chicken with Potatoes (Kotopoulo Riganato)

About This Recipe

Kotopoulo riganato -- lemon and oregano roast chicken -- is one of Greece's most iconic Sunday dishes, built on the same lemon-garlic-olive oil marinade that defines much of Greek cooking. The chicken roasts directly on top of sliced potatoes, so the rendered fat and lemony pan juices baste the potatoes as they cook, giving them a flavor and char they'd never get roasted alone. The technique that matters is marinating the chicken for several hours, ideally overnight, so the lemon juice and garlic penetrate past the skin, and starting the roast at a high temperature to crisp the skin before lowering the heat to cook everything through evenly. Basting halfway through with the pan juices keeps the potatoes from drying out and deepens the char on the chicken skin. Served straight from the roasting pan with extra lemon wedges, this is the dish that defines a Greek Sunday table -- simple ingredients, a long marinade, and a hot oven doing most of the work, filling the kitchen with the smell of garlic, oregano, and charred lemon.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1whole chicken(about 1.8kg)
• 0.5 cupolive oil
• 0.5 cuplemon juice(about 3 lemons)
• 1lemon(zested)
• 6 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 2 tbspdried oregano
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1.2 kgpotatoes(peeled and cut into wedges)
• 1 cupchicken stock
• 1lemon(cut into wedges, for serving)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the marinade

   Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper together.

2. 2

   Marinate the chicken

   Rub the marinade all over the chicken, inside and out. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

3. 3

   Arrange the potatoes

   Preheat oven to 220C/425F. Toss potato wedges in the leftover marinade in the pan and arrange in a single layer. Pour in chicken stock.

4. 4

   Roast at high heat

   Place the chicken on top of the potatoes. Roast 25 minutes at 220C/425F to crisp the skin.

5. 5

   Lower and continue roasting

   Reduce heat to 180C/350F and roast 50-60 more minutes, basting with pan juices every 20 minutes, until chicken reaches 74C/165F internal and potatoes are tender and charred.

6. 6

   Rest and serve

   Rest the chicken 10 minutes before carving. Serve with the potatoes and lemon wedges, spooning pan juices over everything.

Variations

• •

  Use bone-in chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken for a faster-cooking weeknight version.

• •

  Add a few whole garlic cloves and a halved lemon to the pan for extra roasted flavor.

• •

  Finish with crumbled feta and fresh oregano just before serving for a more rustic presentation.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat chicken and potatoes together in a 180C/350F oven until warmed through; the potatoes recrisp better in the oven than the microwave.

Frequently Asked Questions