One of my favorite spices is rosemary, and I love to add it to everything I can. Unfortunately, though, not many people I cook for enjoy it like I do. So, I decided to try to make it more palatable for the others around my house and give it a bit of a twist.
This recipe will add a needed change in some of your repertoires, bring a beautiful citrus flavor with the almost pungent aroma of the rosemary and thyme.
Using a mortar and pestle for the garlic aliolli is the best way to do it. A large, granite one is best as you can add whole avocados and peppers to it. I regret not getting a granite mortar and pestle. You keep small grits of garlic in there which release more flavor as they cook. I really like using my mortar and pestle for spice grinding when I want to keep larger pieces of spices for pops of flavor, or to bring out natural oils in spices. Not to mention, you can make some amazing chunky jalapeno bechamel sauce in it!
I use fresh thyme in the recipe, but it isn’t needed. Just remember that if you used dried thyme, you will need to use less. Fresh herbs, compared to dried herbs, are much more voluminous. The general rule of thumb is to replace 1/3 of the dried ingredient for the fresh ingredient. So, for example, if you wanted to use dried thyme in this recipe, you should use 2 tsp. of dried thyme in replacement of the fresh.
In the recipe, it says to use 2 large lemons. You’ll want to make the sauce by reducing all the pan drippings at the end, and with sweeter lemons, the sauce becomes a tad bitter. I was using 3 very small lemons for this, so the sweetness ended up turning a bit bitter. The bitterness is probably characterized by the slight over-boiling I allowed to happen while I was trying to take photos, too.
Yields 3 Servings of Lemon & Rosemary Roasted Chicken Thighs
The Preparation
- 6 medium boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large lemons
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried ground sage
- ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
The Execution
1. You’ll need a mortar and pestle for this recipe. You CAN do this in a food processor if need be. Add your garlic to the mortar.
2. Add 2 tsp. salt to your mortar. This will act as a gentle abrasive to break down the garlic.
3. Grind your garlic and salt together until a coarse paste is formed.
4. Once your paste it formed it’s time to add the oil. Slowly drizzle it about 1 tsp. at a time while grinding everything together. When you have ground it together, add more oil.
5. Repeat the grinding process until a smooth paste is formed. This is called an aioli.
6. Get your chicken ready, trim off excess grit, but keep the fat on the thighs.
7. Dry off your chicken with some paper towels.
8. Add your chicken to a Ziploc bag, trying to not overlap the chicken too much.
9. Add your garlic aioli to the Ziploc bag, trying to spread it on the chicken as much as possible.
10. Using your hands, apply pressure to the chicken and rub the garlic aioli into the chicken as best as you can.
11. Marinate the chicken for anywhere from 2 to 10 hours.
12. Once your chicken is marinated, take it out of the fridge and preheat your oven to 425°F.
13. Slice 2 lemons up thin and create a layer of the sliced lemons on the bottom of a baking pan.
14. Put your chicken on the top of the lemons, pouring any remaining aioli from the bag on top.
15. Remove your thyme leaves from the stem. You want about 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme.
16. Sprinkle the thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper and remaining salt on top of the chicken. Rub it gently into the chicken.
17. Put your chicken into the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the juices run clear.
18. Remove the chicken from the baking pan and put it in some foil to retain heat.
19. Add all of the pan drippings to a saucepan.
20. Make sure that all of the juice is in the saucepan, you can use a spoon to gently push any excess juice out of the lemons.
21. Bring your sauce to a boil, while stirring continuously.
22. Once the sauce is at a boil, turn the heat to medium-low (or low, depending on your stove) while continuously mixing it.
23. Let the sauce reduce until it’s a bit thick. Spoon this over your chicken and serve!
Per serving with sauce, this comes out to be 462 Calories, 24.69g Fats, 3.47g Net Carbs, and 57.05g Protein.
| Lemon & Rosemary Roasted Chicken Thighs | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 6 medium boneless skinless chicken thighs | 977 | 32.77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.7 |
| 1 tablespoon minced garlic | 13 | 0.04 | 2.78 | 0.2 | 2.58 | 0.53 |
| 3 tablespoons olive oil | 358 | 40.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 large lemons (9g juice) | 21 | 0.23 | 6.62 | 0.3 | 6.32 | 0.34 |
| 2 tablespoons fresh thyme | 5 | 0.08 | 1.17 | 0.7 | 0.47 | 0.27 |
| 1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary | 6 | 0.27 | 1.15 | 0.8 | 0.35 | 0.09 |
| 1 ½ teaspoons dried ground sage | 3 | 0.13 | 0.64 | 0.4 | 0.24 | 0.11 |
| ½ teaspoons ground black pepper | 3 | 0.04 | 0.74 | 0.3 | 0.44 | 0.12 |
| Totals | 1386 | 74.06 | 13.1 | 2.7 | 10.4 | 171.16 |
| Per Serving(/3) | 462 | 24.69 | 4.37 | 0.9 | 3.47 | 57.05 |
Lemon & Rosemary Roasted Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 20 ounce boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large lemons
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried ground sage
- ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a mortar, add your garlic and 2 tsp. kosher salt
- Grind the garlic and salt together with a pestle, creating a paste.
- Slowly add your oil, grinding and mixing the paste into an allioli.
- Once the alloli is finished, dry your chicken off and put it into a bag with the allioli. Coat the chicken well.
- Marinate the chicken for anywhere from 2-10 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 425F.
- Slice 2 lemons thin and arrange the slices on the bottom of a baking pan.
- Lay your chicken on top of the lemons.
- Remove the thyme leaves from the stem and add your thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper, and remaining salt to the chicken.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the juices run clear.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and add all the pan drippings to a saucepan.
- Bring the sauce to a boil while stirring well.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low while continuing to stir the sauce. Let it reduce.
- Spoon the sauce over the chicken, enjoy!
