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Roasted Chicken with Lemon Sauce

Some simple ingredients plus a little bit of planning can turn a great dinner into two. Use the leftover chicken half to make Pasta with Chicken and Peas.
Everyday Food, March 2005
  • Prep Time 15 minutes
  • Total Time 1 hour
  • Yield Serves 4
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Ingredients

  • 3 chicken halves (3 to 4 pounds total)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 1/4 cups dry white wine
  • 3/4 cup canned reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large roasting pan with a rack, cook chicken, skin side up, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165 degrees, about 45 minutes. Remove chicken and rack.

  2. Make sauce: Pour pan juices into a measuring cup; skim off fat. In pan, cook wine over medium-high, scraping up bits, until reduced by a fourth, 4 to 6 minutes. Add broth, lemon juice, and pan juices. Cook until reduced by a fourth, 5 minutes. Stir in oregano. Add water, if needed, to make 1 1/2 cups.

  3. Serve two chicken halves with 1/2 cup of the sauce.

Recipe Reviews

Reviews (16)

  • petiteflu
    8 Sep, 2009

    I've never had a bad meal using dry vermouth for the white wine. It is rather inexpensive and doesn't go bad after it's opened.

  • LunaThings
    4 Mar, 2009

    you should check out cooking wine section in your supermarket. you can get a bottle of dry white wine the same size as a bottle of vinegar, a good 3 cups worth of wine for about $4.

  • lindakp
    21 Jan, 2009

    Depending on what type of meat I am making - I substitute beef or chicken broth for wine. I hate opening a whole bottle for just a small amount of wine.

  • SOMERSIZING
    21 Sep, 2008

    PALIN4PRESIDENT; I'M WITH YOU. SOUNDS GREAT, AND WILL BE GREAT!

    NONOTA: WHEN COOKING WITH WINE, THE ALCOLOL DISSAPEARS INTO THE AIR AND ONLY LEAVES THE FLAVOR. I HAVE NEVER DRANK, BUT HAVE FOUND WINE DOES ADD SOME GREAT FLAVOR, HOWEVER I HAVE NEVER TASTED IT STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOTTLE THAT SOUNDS TERRIBLE.

  • Palin4President
    20 Sep, 2008

    To the person asking about a substitution for wine...how about apple juice?

  • nonota
    18 Sep, 2008

    what can i replace wine with ?
    because we don't drink or eat anthing with alchohole

  • nonota
    18 Sep, 2008

    what can i replace wine with ?
    because we don't drink or eat anthing with alchohole

  • angelahiggins
    14 Apr, 2008

    I was pleasantly surprised at how little fuss this meal was. Roast chicken usually has all sorts of bits and pieces that need doing but this was very easy.

    It was delicious but we needed only a couple of teaspoons of sauce on each serving of chicken - it was quite tart. I look forward to making it again for a meal that when your eating it feels like a lot of effort took to make it but behind the scenes is really low key.

  • carolinaliving
    1 Apr, 2008

    This was very good and easy to make. The sauce was so flavorful. It's good served with potatoes, crunchy dropped biscuits and a green salad with fruit.

  • Adina
    7 Feb, 2008

    Hello, all -- an Everyday Food editor here. The tomato side dish that looks so yummy is called Cherry Tomato Crisp. It's posted on the site, so you just need to do a search. Enjoy!

  • Adina
    7 Feb, 2008

    Hello, all -- an Everyday Food editor here. The tomato side dish that looks so yummy is called Cherry Tomato Crisp. It's posted on the site, so you just need to do a search. Enjoy!

  • karisweeney
    19 Jan, 2008

    I also would really like to know what the tomato side dish is. It looks really yummy!

  • jbdebay
    19 Jan, 2008

    What is the side dish in the picture. It doesn't mention anthing about it.

  • NeatNickers
    12 Jan, 2008

    HeritageCook, the description paragraph states that it can turn one _dinner_ into two (dinners), as the leftover lemon sauce is used for the Pasta with Chicken and Peas recipe, with a hyperlink. It serves 4, as shown at the top of the recipe.

  • Jane Bonacci_The Heritage Cook
    2 Jan, 2008

    Why does it call for 3 chicken halves in the ingredients, then instructs us to serve only 2?

  • Jane Bonacci_The Heritage Cook
    2 Jan, 2008

    Why does it call for 3 chicken halves in the ingredients, then instructs us to serve only 2?