Grilled Chicken with Roasted Carrots

About This Recipe

Simple French-inspired cooking at its best — chicken breasts marinated in herbs, lemon, and garlic-infused oil, grilled until juicy and charred, served alongside sweet roasted carrots glazed with a touch of maple syrup. Every element is low-FODMAP, making it ideal for sensitive digestion without sacrificing flavour, using garlic-infused oil rather than raw garlic or onion to carry the aromatic flavour into the marinade without the fermentable compounds that trigger digestive symptoms. Marinating the chicken for at least an hour — longer if time allows — lets the lemon juice and herbs penetrate past the surface, which is what keeps a lean cut like chicken breast from tasting flat once it's grilled; the acid also helps tenderise the meat slightly, guarding against the dryness lean breast meat is prone to over direct heat. Roasting the carrots whole or in thick batons, rather than thin coins, means they caramelise properly at the edges before the inside overcooks, and a light glaze of maple syrup added only in the final few minutes of roasting keeps the sugars from burning while still building a glossy, slightly sticky finish.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 2 medium (200 g each)chicken breasts
• 400 gcarrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
• 2 tbspgarlic-infused olive oil
• 1 tbspfresh thyme leaves
• 1 tbspfresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tbspmaple syrup
• 1 tbsplemon juice
• 0.5 tspsalt
• 0.25 tspblack pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the chicken

   Combine garlic-infused oil, thyme, rosemary, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Coat chicken breasts and let sit for 5 minutes while you prepare the carrots.

2. 2

   Roast the carrots

   Toss carrots with a drizzle of garlic-infused oil, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Spread on a baking tray and roast at 200 °C (400 °F) for 25 minutes, turning once, until caramelised and tender.

3. 3

   Grill the chicken

   Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill chicken breasts for 5–6 minutes per side until charred and cooked through (internal temperature 74 °C / 165 °F). Rest for 5 minutes.

4. 4

   Serve

   Slice the chicken and arrange alongside the roasted carrots. Drizzle with any resting juices.

Variations

• •

  Substitute parsnips or baby potatoes for the carrots.

• •

  Add a side of steamed green beans tossed in lemon butter.

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

• •

  Spicier: add a finely chopped fresh chile or a teaspoon of crushed Aleppo/Urfa pepper to the aromatics for warm, layered heat instead of a single sharp hit.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat gently or serve cold in salads.

Frequently Asked Questions