Dutch Oven Lemon Greek Yogurt Roasted Chicken

If you've ever been to a Greek, Indian, or middle eastern restaurant, you know how delicious yogurt marinated chicken can be. It's packed with flavor, helps keep chicken juicy and moist, and the acidity in the yogurt helps to tenderize the meat. It's incredibly easy to marinate a chicken before roasting- and a small step that pays off big time when you to roast!

This easy Dutch Oven Lemon Greek Yogurt Roasted Chicken is a simple but stunning roast chicken preparation that is supremely easy, but delivers the most tender, juicy, roasted chicken you'll ever eat!

I've upped the simple yogurt recipe with a simple and delicious greek style marinade of lemon, garlic and oregano. Simply shake the herbs onto the whole chicken before and after rubbing with yogurt and oil, and cover to sit overnight.

You can even get a little more flavor and cut down on ingredients with some lemon greek yogurt- I used Noosa Lemon Yogurt. Of course you can use plain yogurt and lemon zest- but I had some yogurt I needed to use up, and it saved me one less step! I'm all about easy shortcuts when it comes to lots of flavor.

Now, even though we are going to marinate this chicken, it is really important to start with a dry whole chicken. When roasting chicken, the number one reason your bird doesn't get crispy and crunchy is because the bird was wet! Drying your chicken with paper towels, and letting it sit to air dry on a rack for a half an hour before marinating makes a big difference. I have a cookie cooling rack dedicated to chickens- I let them "rest" on top of the cooling rack placed over a baking sheet to catch any liquid and not make a mess.

If you think about it, you don't want to eat all that liquid they pack chickens in- so let it run off and pat it thoroughly dry! It makes all the difference when roasting a whole bird.

Normally with a yogurt marinade, you'd place the thing in a bag. Since I didn't have any bags big enough for my chicken, i just rubbed it down and let it hang out in a bowl covered in plastic wrap overnight in the fridge. If you adapt this recipe to chicken thighs, breasts or a spatchcooked chicken, go ahead and plop it all in a bag! Simply remove chicken from marinade and plop in the dutch oven when it's time to cook!

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Yield: 6 people

Dutch Oven Lemon Greek Yogurt Roasted Chicken

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

This easy Dutch Oven Lemon Greek Yogurt Roasted Chicken is a simple but stunning roast chicken preparation that is supremely easy, but delivers the most tender, juicy, roasted chicken you'll ever eat!

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Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken, Whole roaster ,dried with paper towels
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 6-8 oz greek yogurt, omit lemons if using lemon greek yogurt
• 1 lemon, zested and sliced into thin rounds

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, rub oil on chicken.
2. Season with salt, pepper, and half of the oregano and garlic.
3. Rub with yogurt.
4. Add rest of oregano, garlic, and lemon zest (if not using lemon greek yogurt).
5. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
7. Remove chicken from marinade, and place into well seasoned dutch oven.
8. Roast uncovered until internal temperature reaches 175 degrees, about 1-2 hours depending on the size of your chicken, your oven, and how dry the chicken was.

Nutrition Information

Amount Per Serving Calories 227Saturated Fat 3gCholesterol 58mgSodium 63mgCarbohydrates 3gSugar 1gProtein 17g

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