Whole roast chicken marinated in lemon, garlic, and oregano, roasted over potatoes until both are deeply charred and tender.
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.
Serves 4
Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper together.
Rub the marinade all over the chicken, inside and out. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
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.
Place the chicken on top of the potatoes. Roast 25 minutes at 220C/425F to crisp the skin.
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.
Rest the chicken 10 minutes before carving. Serve with the potatoes and lemon wedges, spooning pan juices over everything.
Marinate overnight if you can -- the lemon juice needs real time to penetrate the chicken for the signature riganato flavor.
Start at a high oven temperature to crisp the skin, then lower it so the chicken and potatoes cook through evenly without burning.
Baste with the pan juices every 20 minutes; it's what keeps the potatoes from drying out and builds their char.
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.
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.
Lemon-oregano roast chicken is a staple of Greek Sunday cooking, rooted in the country's long tradition of marinating meat in olive oil, lemon, and herbs before roasting -- a technique also central to souvlaki and other Greek grilled and roasted dishes.
Yes, bone-in, skin-on thighs or drumsticks work well and cook faster, usually 45-55 minutes total at the same temperatures.
Cut the potatoes into pieces no thicker than about 2cm and make sure they're in a single layer so they cook evenly alongside the chicken.
A minimum of 2 hours will still give decent flavor, but overnight produces a noticeably more lemony, well-seasoned chicken since the acid has time to penetrate the meat.
Per serving (480g / 16.9 oz) · 4 servings total
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