When I tell you this meal needs 5 ingredients to come together, I am not kidding. You know when you’re having one of those days? You don’t want to do anything and you somehow lack the energy as well? This recipe is for those days. It’s the perfect pick-me-up, it’s packed with flavor and protein and exceptional nutritional value.
Personally, I love lemons and I love garlic. Nothing quite elevates a meal like the addition of one of those two ingredients. So imagine combining them! Wow! I know.
You can easily cook this in a skillet as well. But, like I said, it’s a recipe for one of those days. And so the lesser the effort you put into making it, the better it is. You don’t even need to marinade the chicken and let me tell you why.
Why You Don’t Need To Marinade The Chicken
This recipe uses lots of lemon. And I mean LOTS of freshly squeezed zesty lemon juice. Lemon juice is a great tenderizer for meat. It allows the spices to infuse the meat without any extra added effort.
You can obviously choose to marinade the chicken if you wish to do so. In fact, sometimes I like to prep the chicken and set it aside. It’s important to take breaks so you do not get overwhelmed or overworked. And because of how quick it is to prep the chicken, I do it when I pop into the kitchen for a coffee refill mid-work as I tap away on my keyboard working from home.
See? It takes about as much time to prepare as a quick coffee refill from the kitchen does.
Just 5 Ingredients?
Yes! Well, I’ll concede and tell you that I do use a spice mix. You can choose to add in your spices individually if you prefer it that way. But, again (haha!) it’s a recipe for one of those days. I have a wonderful (and pretty basic) Chicken Seasoning spice mix. No, really! That is exactly what it is called at supermarkets. It’s labelled Tavuk Çeşnisi which translates into Chicken Seasoning.
So what are these 5 simple ingredients?
- Chicken (you can use any cut you like, I prefer legs and thighs over everything else)
- Fresh lemon juice
- Seasoning mix
- Minced garlic
- Yogurt
That is it. That is all. You are golden. And I love how all of these ingredients are almost always just lying around in your fridge or pantry.
Let’s get right into the recipe then.
Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken
2
servings10
minutes35
minutesKeep your device screen on
Ingredients
- To prep the chicken
800g chicken (I used 2 chicken thighs & 2 chicken legs)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp chicken seasoning mix
1 tbsp yogurt
- To bake the chicken
1 small lemon sliced into discs
4-5 garlic cloves, smashed but not peeled
a drizzle of olive oil (OPTIONAL)
Directions
- Preheat the oven at 180 °C on the fan setting.
- In a bowl, add your chicken, lemon juice, garlic, seasoning, and yogurt. Mix well to combine making sure that every piece of chicken is well coated.
- Transfer your chicken to a baking dish. If you are using a drizzle of olive oil, add it now on top.
- Add your lemon slices and smashed garlic cloves.
- Pop the chicken into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. You can check if it’s done by using a thermometer (internal temp. should be 165F or 75°C).
Notes
- You can serve this Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken with any sides you like (grilled veggies, pasta, rice, etc)
