Please excuse the photo for this dish! It totally doesn’t do it justice. I hadn’t planned on including this recipe in my photo shoot. But it was just so good that I saved some to photograph so I could share the recipe sooner.
The idea here is roasting veggies, chicken and sliced lemon all at once so you get the most amazing moist golden chicken with lemony juices.
So good, Especially the roast lemon slices with caramelized edges. I could eat them all day.
Lemon & Basil Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini (courgette) 800g / 28oz
- 4 chicken thigh or breast fillets
- 2 lemons
- 1 small bunch basil
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
Instructions
- Turn your oven on to 250C (480F). Slice zucchini into rounds about 1cm (1/2in) thick and place in a baking tray. Slice lemon into rings about 5mm (1/4in) thick and add to the zucchini.
- Place chicken pieces on top of the zucchini and lemon. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Pop in the oven for 20 minutes. When the timer goes, check the chicken. If using breast or thighs without the bones it might be done. Stir and if chicken is still pink in the middle return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, mix mayo and yoghurt in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- When the chicken is golden and cooked through. Divide chicken, zucchini and pan juices between two plates or shallow bowls. Top with basil leaves and serve sauce on the side.
Nutrition
Substitutions
pantry-friendly – basil = pesto. zucchini = frozen cauliflower or broccoli.
keto / ultra low carb – halve the zucchini and serve with baby spinach. Halve the lemon too and use all mayo instead of the yoghurt combo.
vegetarian – eggplant, chickpeas or tofu.
dairy-free – replace yoghurt with extra mayo.
more substantial (carb lovers) – serve over cooked pasta or rice. Or serve with potato or sweet potato.
more substantial (low carb) – roast almonds, walnuts or macadamias. Extra mayo. Avocado.
Low FODMAP – skip zucchini and serve lemony chicken with salad leaves.
no lemon – lime will work. Or skip roasting the lemon and serving the pan juices with a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.
different vegetables – eggplant, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers (capsicum), green beans, sweet potato. If the veg aren’t cooked when the chicken is done, remove chicken and keep roasting the veg until you’re happy.
different herbs – parsley, mint or coriander (cilantro) are all good (but I do have a preference for basil)
different protein – amazing with fish fillets (will only need 10 minutes to cook so put the zucchini in for 10 minutes then add the fish and keep cooking), pork sausages, meatballs + see vegetarian ideas.
more fancy / for entertaining – serve with toasted almonds or pine nuts on top. And serve a side like Classic Green Salad, Crispy Iceberg Salad with Almond Crust, Best Ever Broccoli Salad or Hasselback Potatoes.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
zucchini – will keep for 2 weeks or longer in a plastic bag in the fridge. To keep it even longer, cook sliced zucchini in a little butter until just soft then store in an airtight container in the fridge.
chicken thighs or breast – freeze them.
lemon – whole lemon will keep wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge for months.
basil – make basil oil by packing washed and dried leaves in a clean jar and covering with extra virgin olive oil. Or you can freeze the leaves, they’ll wilt but will still be delicious.
mayonnaise – unopened in pantry or once opened will keep for months in the fridge.
yoghurt – usually has a shelf life of a month or so. Otherwise, have it for another meal like breakfast! Don’t freeze.
Problem Solving Guide
bland – add a little more salt. Next time try a different chicken supplier – a good quality chicken should have loads of flavour.
chicken dry – sounds like you’ve overcooked your chicken. Next time check earlier. For now serve with more mayo.
no oven – pan fry zucchini on a medium high heat until soft. Remove zucchini from the pan and keep warm. Add a little oil to the pan and pan fry chicken until golden brown on both sides and no longer pink in the middle. About 5 minutes each side but will depend on how thick your chicken is. Instead of slicing and cooking the lemons just squeeze lemon juice over the cooked chicken.
too watery – the zucchini does give off a lot of liquid so expect to have a lot of pan juices. If it’s too much you can reduce the sauce down by simmering in a frying pan for a few minutes. Or just serve with soup spoons – the juices are delicious!
Prepare Ahead
You can but I prefer my chicken freshly cooked. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to a week or can be frozen.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
I had some eggplant that needed using up (see Macadamia Satay and 2 lemons, so made this instead of the scheduled Magic Green Sausage Supper, roasted the vegetables with some rosemary, and finished off with fresh oregano (it’s that time again), feta and olives for a Greek version. Good.
Wow that sounds soo good Mark – LOVE the idea of the lemon with the eggplant.
This was so quick & easy! (Left off the yoghurt/mayo sauce–we aren’t big cream sauce fans.) Added fresh rosemary from the garden. Delicious! Oh, and added some leek that I needed to use up. This is so easy to adapt! Love it. Plan to try eggplant. We both dislike eggplant, so yeah, I need to try it right? Anyway, great dish.
I made it this week and really enjoyed as well Elizabeth! And I was thinking it didn’t really need the sauce with all the lovely pan juices.
If you’re not an eggplant fan – maybe start with 1/2 eggplant and 1/2 zucchini 🙂
Vegetarian version tonight. I started the eggplant and potatoes early to make sure that they cooked, then added the lemon slices, zucchini, mushrooms and chick peas. Good.
Semi-carnivore tonight, i.e. ~1/2 portion of chicken thigh fillet. Started with a sliced eggplant and chopped sweet potato in the warming oven, then the chicken, zucchini and lemon later, and chickpeas toward the end. I had the first lot with pesto and feta, and the leftovers with sour cream and avocado. Very good.
Love how you repurposed the leftovers with a Mexican vibe Mark 🙂
Made this tonight. This is my 5th day in the 10 day challenge and did not disappoint! Made a small adjustment and added a minced clove of garlic and chopped basil to the yogurt/mayo sauce. Perfect! Served with sweet cooked carrots.
Ooh nice additoins to the sauce Patti!
From one of our members Dave in regards to this Lemon & Basil Chicken recipe.
Thank you, thank you ,thankyou for the add on info of substitutions. As a single “no recipes in my head ” guy this is invaluable. I have health/diet issues that make most recipes difficult to use without subbing something which usually means leave it out.
Glad you’re finding them helpful Dave!
Day 4 and another delicious meal! My chicken breast was quite large so had to roast it a bit longer but the end result was wonderful. Added a few pine nuts to the sauce for a special effect!
Nice addition with the pine nuts Ken!
I made this with store bought pesto. It was tasty. I only made half the recipe which was plentiful.
Good to know it works with commercial pesto Paul!
I need to buy some pesto to test out – I usually make my own but it’s always good to explore different ingredients.
I only cooked 3 thigh fillets rather than 4, and 2 zucchini ditto, and added an eggplant and 2 flat mushrooms, and cooked a red capsicum (2 of these, with one kept to go on zucchini burgers later), potato and sweet potato on a separate tray. The eggplant in particular seemed to take a long time to cook, but was particularly nice with the lemon.
Excellent additions Mark!
Eggplant does tend to take a while. Cutting it into smaller pieces will speed up the cooking time 🙂
I made this again, and put the eggplant in first, while the oven was still warming, which worked rather better.
That’s a good idea to get the eggplant happening earlier – undercooked eggplant is never good 🙂