Authentic Greek lemon chicken and potatoes — known in Greece as kotopoulo lemonato — is the Sunday roast every Greek family makes. This is my version: a one-pan baked Greek lemon chicken infused with a marinade of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, fresh herbs, and plenty of lemon. I grew up eating this almost every Sunday in Greece, and it is the exact recipe I turn to every time we crave a cozy, flavor-packed roast at home. The crispy potatoes soak up the savory chicken drippings and lemon juices, adding an irresistible touch to every bite.
If you love this Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes, you will also love this Greek Dutch Oven Roast Chicken, Spatchcock Chicken With Lemon & Garlic, or Greek Style Chicken Bolognese!
What cooks say:
“Delish, and SO simple! The marinade is terrific. I had a couple of fennel bulbs in the fridge, so I added them in with the potatoes. This dish is going into the rotation.”
LISA
Why you will love Classic Greek Lemon Chicken
What makes this authentic Greek lemon chicken
I was born and raised in Greece. This dish — authentic Greek lemon chicken and potatoes — appeared on our table almost every Sunday without fail. Here is what separates a truly Greek version from an approximation:
Two separate seasoning mixtures
Most recipes toss everything together. The authentic method uses two distinct blends: a herb-forward marinade for the chicken (with mustard, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and sage), and a bright lemon-garlic mixture for the potatoes. Each component is seasoned for its own purpose. The chicken gets deep, savory flavor. The potatoes get acidity and brightness. Together they create balance.
Dried oregano is non-negotiable
In Greek cooking, dried oregano is the herb. It sits next to the stove in every Greek kitchen, used more than any other seasoning. It goes into both the chicken marinade and the potato mixture. Fresh herbs add aromatics, but dried oregano is what gives this dish its distinctly Greek character.
The pan sauce is part of the dish
The juices that collect in the pan — infused with lemon, garlic, chicken drippings, and herbs — are not a byproduct. They are the sauce. In Greece, you strain them, pour them into a small pitcher, and serve them at the table for pouring over the chicken and dipping bread into. Do not skip this step.
Looking for the perfect dip to go with this? I have all my favorite Greek dip recipes in one place — 8 classics worth making.
Here is what you need
- Chicken: Get a whole free-range chicken broken into eight pieces. Bone-in chicken breasts or a pack of chicken thighs will also work, provided they are of the same total weight (3.5 to 4 lbs).
- Yukon gold potatoes. They have a thin skin that I like to keep. After scrubbing the potatoes clean, they are cut into wedges.
- Lemons. Their aromatic juice and zest will be used to season the potatoes before roasting.
- Mustard. Choose from yellow, dijon, and even honey mustard.
- Garlic head. In this recipe, a total of approximately ten cloves are used. If you prefer a lighter garlic touch, cut the amount in half.
- Fresh herbs. Thyme, sage sprigs, and rosemary. I love working with fresh herbs. You can use all or some. If no fresh options are available, you can use their dried equivalent as a substitute.
TIP: If you had to choose one herb to use in Greek cooking, it would be dried oregano. It’s the dried herb found in most traditional Greek recipes, a pantry staple that sits right next to the stove, along with sea salt and pepper.
Step by step
Step 1: Using a food processor, pulse half the garlic, the leaves from two sprigs of rosemary, two sprigs of thyme, a tablespoon of dried oregano, the mustard, a generous pinch of sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and half the olive oil.
If you don’t have a food processor, chop all the marinade ingredients as finely as possible and mix them with the olive oil in a jar or a bowl.
Step 2: Add the chicken to a pan and pour over the marinade. Massage the chicken marinade through every nook, cranny, and under the skin if possible.
Cover and let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 390°F / 200°C.
Scrub the potatoes clean and cut them into wedges.
Step 3: Using a food processor, pulse the other half of the garlic, juice and zest from two lemons, a teaspoon of sea salt, a tablespoon of dried oregano, a generous amount of freshly ground pepper, and the rest of the olive oil.
Step 4: Tuck the potato wedges between the chicken pieces and pour the garlic lemon mixture over the potatoes. Set aside the remaining mixture to baste the chicken as it cooks. Bake covered with aluminum foil for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 30-45 minutes. Measure the internal temperature of the chicken to ensure it is fully cooked and the juices run clear. The safe temperature for chicken is 165°F / 74°C.
When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven, cover and let it rest for 10 minutes, then serve.
Pro tips
- Don’t overcook. If the chicken is ready and the potatoes need more time, move the chicken to a serving platter, cover it with aluminum foil, and roast the potatoes until they are nice and crispy outside and tender inside.
- The sauce. The chicken drippings are infused with all the seasonings, herbs, lemon, and garlic and are excellent to pour over the roast.
- Make it silky. Pass the sauce through a sieve to remove any undesired fat components and make it silky. Transfer into a saucer to serve with the roast.
- This is a true one-pan recipe. Everything — the marinated chicken, the potato wedges, the lemon-garlic sauce — goes into a single large baking pan. There is no second skillet, no stovetop step. The fewer dishes, the better, especially for a Sunday roast.
- Baking covered first is the key step. Covering the pan with foil for the first 45 minutes traps steam and keeps the chicken incredibly moist while the potatoes begin to cook through. The uncovered time at the end is what gives you golden skin and crispy potato edges. Do not skip either phase.
- Use the leftover baked chicken for a second meal. Baked Greek lemon chicken leftovers are exceptional. Shred the meat for avgolemono soup, stuff it into pita wraps with tzatziki, or fold it into a cheesy orzo bake. The lemon-herb flavor holds up beautifully after reheating.
Making this with chicken thighs
If you prefer using bone-in, skin-on lemon chicken thighs instead of a whole cut chicken, this recipe works beautifully. Thighs are actually what many Greek home cooks reach for — they stay juicier during a long roast and develop more flavor than breast meat.
What changes when you use thighs
Keep the total weight the same (3.5 to 4 lbs) and use the exact same marinade and lemon-garlic potato mixture. The cook time stays the same. The only difference: thighs release more fat as they cook, which makes the pan sauce even richer and the potatoes even more golden.
Tip for extra crispy skin
After removing the foil, increase the oven to 425°F (220°C) for the final 10 minutes. The high heat crisps the skin without drying out the meat — thighs are forgiving enough to handle it.
Greek side dishes for lemon chicken
- Horiatiki-Greek village salad. Adds a refreshing, acidic contrast to the savory meal.
- Tzatziki yogurt dip. Great for dipping bites of chicken or roasted potatoes.
- Spanakorizo-spinach and rice. It complements the lemony chicken flavors.
- Gigantes plaki-baked giant beans. Earthy and rich.
- Fasolakia ladera-braised green beans. A rustic favorite that balances the richness of the chicken.
- Fried zucchini or crispy eggplant. Add a fun texture to the meal.
- Horta-boiled wild greens. A traditional and healthy side that adds brightness.
Storage and leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the chicken and potatoes in separate airtight containers if possible. They’ll stay fresh for up to 4 days in the fridge.
- Freeze: You can freeze the chicken for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely, then wrap tightly or store in a freezer-safe container.
Potatoes may lose their texture when frozen, becoming slightly mushy once thawed—freeze only if necessary, for up to 1 month. - Reheat in the oven; that’s the best for crispy skin and roasted flavor:
Preheat to 350°F (175°C). Place chicken and potatoes in a baking dish, cover loosely with foil, and heat for about 20–25 minutes or until warmed through. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes to crisp up the skin and edges. - Reheat on the stovetop:
Add a splash of chicken broth or water to a skillet, place over medium heat, and cover. Reheat until hot, about 10–12 minutes. Finish uncovered for some crisping. - Reheat in the microwave, the quickest method, but softens texture:
Place on a microwave-safe plate, cover with a damp paper towel, and heat in 60–90 second bursts until hot.
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Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
Equipment
- Meat thermometer
- large baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 free-range chicken cut in 8 pieces. A 3.5-4 lb chicken.
- 6 Yukon gold potatoes cut in wedges
- 2 lemons juiced and zested
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup mustard
- 1 garlic head
- 2-3 thyme sprigs
- 2-3 sage sprigs
- 2-3 rosemary sprigs
Instructions
Marinate
- Using a food processor, pulse half the garlic, leaves from two sprigs of rosemary, leaves from two sprigs of thyme, a tablespoon of dried oregano, the mustard, a generous pinch of sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and half the olive oil.
- Add the chicken to a pan and pour over the marinade. Massage it through every nook and cranny, and under the skin if you can. Let chicken marinate for one hour to a day.
Get ready to roast
- Remove chicken from the refrigerator half an hour before cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 390°F / 200°C
- Cut the potatoes into wedges and add them to a bowl.
- Using a food processor, pulse the other half garlic, juice, and zest from two lemons, a teaspoon of sea salt, a tablespoon of dried oregano, a generous amount of freshly ground pepper, and the rest of the olive oil.
- Tuck the potato wedges between the chicken pieces and pour the garlic lemon mixture over the potatoes.
- Bake chicken and potatoes covered with aluminum foil for 45 minutes.
- Remove aluminum foil and bake for another 30-45 minutes. If you have leftover garlic-lemon mixture, baste the chicken with it occasionally. This step is optional.Measure the chicken's internal temperature to ensure it is fully cooked and juices run clear. The safe temperature for chicken is 165°F / 74°C.
- Remove the chicken from the oven. Cover and let it rest for ten minutes. Pass the sauce in the pan through a sieve, transfer it into a saucer and serve with the roast (See notes below).Serve chicken and potatoes with a green salad, bread, and feta.
Notes
- If you don’t have a food processor chop all the marinade ingredients as small as you can and mix them well in a jar or bowl.
- Instead of fresh herbs, use their dried equivalents. If there is one herb to use, it’s dried oregano. Almost every Greek recipe has dried oregano in it. Its aroma is tied with most of the Greek flavors.
- Don’t overcook. If the chicken is ready and the potatoes need more time, move the chicken to a serving platter, cover it with aluminum foil, and roast the potatoes until they are nice and crispy outside and tender inside.
- The sauce that remains in the baking pan has all the chicken drippings and is infused with all the seasonings, herbs, lemon, and garlic and is excellent to pour over the roast. Pass the sauce through a sieve to remove any undesired fat components and make it silky. Transfer into a saucer to serve with the roast.
Nutrition
I love roast chicken for Sunday dinner. This has all the flavor!!
Delish, and SO simple! The marinade is terrific. I had a couple of fennel bulbs in the fridge, so I added them in with the potatoes. This dish is going into the rotation.
Hi Lisa!
I am delighted you loved the lemon chicken! I also love that you added fennel, great idea, I will try it as well. Thank you so much!
x Jenny
What a delicious dinner meal! I loved the combination of the lemon with all the fresh herbs. This year I started a small home garden and herb garden, and I use them for this chicken. The aroma that filled my kitchen when it was in the oven was out of this world!
Thank you so much, Sylvia! x Jenny
Lemon chicken and potatoes is the perfect family meal! Italians and Greeks have much in common and a dish like this is one of them. Love it!
Una faccia, una razza! Thank you so much, Loretto and Nicoletta! x Jenny
I love this recipe. I had this simple recipe in Cyprus and it was the best thing we ate in a fortnight. This is the best version of the recipe I have found as it marinates the chicken overnight. My wife prefers it done with a chicken left whole, but I think sections gets more flavour into everything. If you can get genuine Cyprus potatoes even better.
We make it both ways, sometimes it is nice to roast a whole chicken. But I prefer the cut up version as well, I do agree that flavor gets everywhere and everything is moist! You are right, Cyprus potatoes are the best as well as Naxos potatoes.
Thank you so much Bryan! x Jenny