This smoked paprika and lemon roasted chicken may have been my best chicken ever, and I’ve cooked a lot of chicken. The spice rub was flavorful without being too spicy, and the slow and low cooking method resulted in tender, juicy chicken and sticky skin – similar to a rotisserie chicken.
About halfway through the roasting process, I threw in some potatoes and onions to cook in the smoky, spiced, lemony chicken drippings that started to accumulate in the pan. Choose any sturdy veggies you like to make this easy, impressive one-pan meal.
A note about roasting chicken:
I’ve talked before about how easy it is to spatchcock a chicken. I strongly encourage everyone to get a good pair of kitchen shears and try it, purely to feel like a badass in the kitchen. But, if the idea of cutting open a chicken gives you nightmares, you can ask any butcher or meat counter guy to do it for you. OR, just roast it whole and add about 30-40 minutes of cooking time.
It looked like a bloodbath while I was working on this little guy. But the ends justified the means!
Smoked Paprika and Lemon Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Onions
Douse a spatchocked chicken (it's easy, I swear!) in this flavorful smoked paprika and lemon spice rub, and then roast slow and low for perfectly juicy roasted chicken. Throw in potatoes and onions for an easy, yet impressive one-pan meal. Adapted from the Dining In cookbook by Alison Roman.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed with the back of a spoon
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 lemons, 1 juiced, with 2 more cut in half or quarters for roasting
- 2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or grated
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 lb waxy potatoes, cut into medium-sized pieces for roasting I used a potato medley
- 1 red onion, cut into thick slices
Instructions
To spatchcock the chicken
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Wash and pat dry the chicken. Place the chicken with the backbone facing up. Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut along one side of the backbone until the chicken completely opens. Repeat along the other side of the backbone to remove.
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Turn the chicken over so that the breast is facing up and press down to flatten. You may feel a pop if you press hard enough.
For the recipe
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
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Make the spice rub by combining the smoked paprika, fennel, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil in a small bowl.
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Rub the spice rub alllll over the chicken. Really get in there. If you're comfortable, even add the spice rub under the skin by gently separating the skin at the opening at the top of the breast. Wiggle your finger in between the skin and the meat, trying not to break the skin.
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Place the chicken and lemons into a large cast iron or oven-safe pan and begin to roast.
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Meanwhile, chop the potatoes and onions. After about an hour of roasting, add the potatoes and onions to the pan, swirl them around in all of the chicken drippings that have accumulated so far and place the chicken over top (you will likely have to take the chicken out of the pan for a few minutes to do this). Continue to roast for another hour to hour and a half, or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
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To serve, carve the chicken (or eat it caveman-style like me, because I was so excited how it turned out), and make sure that you dip the chicken in those smokey lemony drippings.
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