Yoghurt, Lemon & Oregano Chicken Thighs
Super juicy, so tender and moist with a crispy, crispy skin. Absolute favourite and well worth the prep.
Serves: 4-6 with leftovers
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus overnight marinating and 1 hour coming to room temperature
Cook time: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
10-12 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
juice of 1 lemon, plus some peel, no pith
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the pan
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, stems included if they are not too tough
500g Greek style yoghurt
iceberg lettuce, cut into big chunks, to serve
METHOD
Put the lemon juice and peel, salt, olive oil, garlic and oregano into a NutriBullet or fast blender and blend.
Combine with the yoghurt and mix completely, then toss the chicken thighs through. Leave to marinate for at least overnight.
Take the chicken out of the fridge so it comes to room temperature before it goes into the oven. That might need at least an hour. You can omit this step if you are pressed for time.
Preheat one very large roasting pan in a 220C fan forced oven, or two trays if you only have smaller ones. Prep them in the oven and pull them out when they are hot.
Add a little olive oil to the hot pan and place the chicken skin side up directly onto it. I like to not place baking paper under, so that there is less stewing. However, if you would prefer to, that's absolutely fine.
Roast for 35-40 minutes. Turn the pan halfway through, or if you have two pans, swap them so the middle one goes to the top and the top goes to the middle, making sure it is not crisping up too much.
Remove the chicken from the oven and place onto a warmed serving platter.
Put the pan, including the pan juices, onto the stove top and whisk, so that the acid and the proteins from the lemon juice whisk together with all of the chicken juices released from the meat and emulsify the sauce.
Drizzle over the chicken and serve with big chunks of iceberg lettuce, using the chicken sauce to dress the lettuce.
HINTS
A great tip here is to do this as soon as the meat comes home, then pop it into the fridge or even into the freezer if you plan on eating it later in the week. So the hard work is done as soon as you have done the shopping. This is the full purpose of Big Batch Energy and freeze ahead.
Preheat the pan empty and skip the baking paper. The chicken hits hot metal and roasts rather than stews, which is where the crispy skin comes from.
Room temperature chicken roasts evenly, so an hour out of the fridge is worth it. Do it as soon as you get home. Omit it if you are pressed for time.
LEFTOVERS
These are going to be perfect the next day, deboned and put onto rolls or into a salad. You could very easily toss these with some noodles, because the chicken flavour is so beautiful and not overly directional into any culture. It could easily be adapted and placed into a soup with some miso and some rice noodles. It's just a delightful finished protein with lots of flavour but no overriding direction that couldn't be veered into another area. Delicious on rice.
NUTRITION (per recipe total, serves 5-6 - guide only):
Energy: approximately 21100kJ (5045 calories)
Protein: 410g
Fat: 370g
Saturated fat: 106g
Carbohydrates: 28g
Sugars: 22g
Fibre: 3g
Sodium: 4200mg
Note: a good deal of the yoghurt marinade is left behind in the bowl and on the pan rather than eaten, so actual fat and sodium per serve are lower.
This nutrition information is a guide only and may vary depending on brands, exact quantities, and ingredient substitutions used.