Paleo Pan-Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken

Moist, savory and lemony chicken infused with lots of buttery flavor, herbs and spices – it may look complicated, but wait’ll you see how simple this paleo recipe really is!

whole30 compliant recipe markThis dish is actually adapted from my popular whole bird recipe for those busy evenings when you want a deliciously hearty meal, but don’t want or need to cook a whole chicken.

This lemon herb chicken recipe also uses one of my favorite time-saving paleo cooking methods – a single pan that goes from stove top to oven.

Easy skillet meals like this one are also great at holding in flavor and moisture while they cook. For this one I added some chicken stock and let the rendered fat and lemon juice all mingle together in the pan. I guarantee you this will fill your home a lemon scent that will bring your family running to the table!

So for this recipe you will need some kind of oven-proof skillet. I recently invested in a high quality stainless steel 12-inch pan that I just love. It cooks evenly, cleans up surprisingly easy, and it looks great. If you don’t own a really good stainless steel pan yet, I’d encourage you to consider it some day…I know it’ll make your paleo cooking so much easier. (I’ll put the amazon.com link to mine in this post if you want to check it out.)

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You’ll also need a good two pounds of bone-in, skin on chicken. I chose pre-cut thighs for the extra fatty flavor, but I would think bone-in breasts would work well too.

So all you do is give a quick three-minute sear to one side of the thighs in the pan, flip them over, brush a little good stuff over them, and hustle them off to the oven to finish cooking for about 25 minutes. [av_sidebar widget_area=’Lockerdome’ av_uid=’av-vyib0p’]

Just about any steamed veggies would be a great side for this one, or this is the perfect paleo entrée for a cauliflower rice, with a little of the pan drippings drizzled over the chicken and rice.

Hope you enjoy this simple, savory paleo meal…and as always, I love to hearing your comments on this or any other paleo recipe.

Paleo Pan-Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken Recipe

Paleo Pan-Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs bone-in, skin-on thighs
  • 3 Tbsp ghee
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp rosemary, fresh
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • Juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup)
  • Zest of 2 lemons (divided in half)
  • 1/2 cup of chicken stock
  • Salt, pepper, paprika – to taste
  • Equipment
  • Large oven-proof skillet

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400º F
  2. Juice and zest the 2 lemons
  3. In a small bowl, cream together 2 tablespoons of softened ghee with the 2 cloves of minced garlic and a teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme, plus half of your lemon zest
  4. In a second small bowl, mix the 1/4 cup of lemon juice and the 1/2 cup of chicken stock together, then add in the remaining half of lemon zest
  5. Rinse chicken in cool water and pat dry. Season both sides with salt, pepper and a little paprika
  6. Heat a large skillet with 1 tablespoon of ghee over medium-high heat
  7. Sear one side of the chicken in hot skillet to brown – only about 3-4 minutes until golden
  8. Turn chicken over with tongs so the seared side is up, then quickly brush with the ghee, garlic and herb mixture you set aside earlier
  9. Next add all of the chicken broth and lemon juice mixture to the skillet
  10. Immediately transfer oven-proof skillet to your 400º F pre-heated oven and cook uncovered about 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooke through
  11. Carefully remove from oven using an oven mitt or thick kitchen towel to grab the handle
  12. Serve with cauliflower rice or any veggie side and enjoy!
https://www.paleonewbie.com/paleo-pan-roasted-lemon-herb-chicken/

Join the Conversation

  1. Made this tonight – it’s amazing! My kids who won’t usually eat chicken ate all of it and loved it. I kept checking to make sure it was cooked properly it was so moist :-) It will definitely be a family favourite, thanks!

    1. Love hearing that Sara…thanks so much for your wonderful comment! :)

  2. Who else thinks this is cool

  3. Awesome very informative :/

  4. Make this many times, quick and easy

    1. Agreed… Awesome ! ? :p

    2. Agreed Nice thanks a lot :

  5. YUMM-IEEEE! I have always been scared to sear chicken thighs. I don’t know why, it just freaks me out. I’ve been getting better at stepping outside of my comfort zone (with a little help from my new cast iron skillet) but looking at these photos totally motivates me to dive head first in to juicy, lemon-y, herb-y chicken-ness. Looks amazing!

    1. These are great Chrissa…and when you discover how easy these actually are, you’ll wonder why you waited so long! :) Give ’em a try and let me know how they turn out…and thanks so much for your nice comment!

  6. I ❤️ your recipes!!!

    1. Thank you so much! ?

    2. I actually made the crock pot Italian meatballs today, double batch so I could freeze it! Amazing!!!

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