This Lemon Olive Chicken contains lots of flavorful Mediterranean ingredients – ripe green olives, lemon, garlic, oregano – that are all roasted along with the browned chicken to create a bright, tangy sauce.
Then the finished chicken and sauce are topped with crumbled feta cheese. I served this with steamed fresh green beans on the side. It’s also great over orzo.
The weather is starting to warm up here and pretty soon it will be just too hot to have the oven on for a long time. But before that happens, I’m doing lots of roasting and baking.
Roasted main dishes are usually so easy – brown up some meat, add ingredients, and pop the whole thing in the oven to slowly cook while you do something else.
Lemon, ripe green olives, garlic, and oregano combine in a flavorful Mediterranean sauce for this Lemon Olive Chicken. Click To Tweet
How to Make Lemon Olive Chicken:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Zest and juice two of the lemons. Cut the third into wedges.
Peel the shallots; cut lengthwise once then crosswise into half moons. Peel and mince the garlic. Set all aside for now.
Pat the chicken dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the oil to a large, ovenproof frying pan and place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the seasoned chicken. Brown well on all sides, turning several times. Transfer the browned chicken to a plate.
To the pan, add the shallots and cook until softened. Add the parsley, garlic, and oregano and cook for an additional minute. Stir in the lemon juice, zest, wine, and olives.
Return the chicken to the pan.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover the pan and place it in the oven (if your pan doesn’t have a lid, use a double thickness of foil). Cook for 45-50 minutes or until chicken is very tender.
Remove the lid or foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the juices are slightly reduced.
Serve the chicken topped with the pan sauce, feta cheese, and lemon wedges.
(Note: You’ll use green ripe olives for this recipe. Not the pimiento stuffed green olives packed in brine. Lindsay markets “California Green Ripe” olives packed in water and sea salt which is what I used. If you can’t find green ripe olives, you can use large black olives.)
Enjoy!
Lemon Olive Chicken
Inexpensive chicken leg quarters baked with lemon, olives, and garlic. Topped with feta cheese.
Ingredients
- 3 large lemons
- 3 shallots
- 3 garlic cloves
- 4 chicken leg quarters
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup green olives (see note)
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Zest and juice two of the lemons. Cut the third into wedges. Peel the shallots; cut lengthwise once then crosswise into half moons. Peel and mince the garlic. Set all aside for now.
- Pat the chicken dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the oil to a large, ovenproof frying pan and place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the seasoned chicken. Brown well on all sides, turning several times. Transfer the browned chicken to a plate.
- To the pan, add the shallots and cook until softened. Add the parsley, garlic, and oregano and cook for an additional minute. Stir in the lemon juice, zest, wine, and olives. Return the chicken to the pan.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover the pan and place it in the oven (if your pan doesn’t have a lid, use a double thickness of foil). Cook for 45-50 minutes or until chicken is very tender. Remove the lid or foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the juices are slightly reduced.
- Serve the chicken topped with the pan sauce, feta cheese, and lemon wedges.
Notes
(Note: You’ll use green ripe olives for this recipe. Not the pimiento stuffed green olives packed in brine. Lindsay markets “California Green Ripe” olives packed in water and sea salt which is what I used. If you can’t find green ripe olives, you can use large black olives.)
-- Adapted from Sunday Roasts
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More chicken recipes from never enough thyme
More baked chicken recipes you might enjoy:
- Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken from The Hungry Mouse
- Greek Herb and Garlic Roasted Chicken from Poor Girl Eats Well
- Honey Mustard Chicken from Jan’s Sushi Bar
- Braised Chicken Legs with Red Potatoes from Amanda’s Cookin’
- Baked Lemon Tarragon Chicken from Mother Would Know
Yum – thank you for the nice recipe.
You’re welcome, Liz! Thank you for visiting the blog :-)
this looks amazing….all those olives!
Yes, the olives really make this recipe!
I love olives and lemon with chicken. This, a loaf a bread, a bottle of white wine…that sounds amazing.
Oh yeah, a good loaf to soak up that pan sauce…yum!
Love the Mediterranean angle with green olives, lemon, garlic, oregano . Sounds wonderful!
Thanks Ginny! We really enjoy this recipe. It’s economical, too, with the inexpensive chicken leg quarters.
I’m licking my lips just reading your post! This sounds delicious – love the briny, lemony flavors!
I just love your new format! You are so talented.
I wish I liked olives. I never acquired the taste. But, all of the other flavors are just calling my name. Really!
Happy Monday.
Miss P
Thanks! It was past time for an update and I wanted something cleaner and brighter but still “me.”
I’ll have to look for some of the California Green Ripe! I don’t know if I’ve seen them around here.
Do seek them out, Angie. I think you’ll really like them!
Mouth watering!!! This sounds and looks delicious! I eat capers by the spoonful and would normally put them in a dish like this- love the addition of the olives!
That’s a thought, Colleen – a spoonful of capers wouldn’t be bad at all in this recipe! I just might add them next time.
Olives provide such a fabulous depth of flavor to so many dishes! Your lemon chicken sounds like a winner!! Have a terrific weekend, Lana.
Thanks and a fabulous weekend to you, too, Liz.
Delicious! The recipe was easy to follow, just a few ingredients, and so flavorful. It’s a keeper!
I make a really similar dish (I even use Lindsay olives in it!) and it’s fabulous. I bet your version is delicious, too.
This looks and sounds delicious Lana! I love lemon on/in chicken, amazing flavor. And thanks so much for the link love! :)
This is the most delicious chicken I’ve ever tasted! The dish is juicy, tender, soft and incredibly tasty!
I highly recommend cooking chicken according to this recipe, you will be delighted!
I’m so glad you liked it!