Grilled Lemon Chicken - Utah Stories

This year for Memorial Day, many of us will be at home (where else?), perhaps firing up the grill for a Memorial Day barbecue. Here is one of my favorite grilling recipes; it’s for grilled chicken that is marinated first in lemon juice, garlic, herbs and shallots. This recipe calls for a whole chicken that has been butterflied. If you don’t know how to butterfly a chicken (it’s easy), click here for a video with directions.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 Tbsp minced shallot
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, minced
juice of 1 lemon
zest from 1 lemon, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red-chili flakes or chili powder (optional)
1 whole 3-4 lb. chicken, butterflied
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method:

Place the olive oil, garlic, shallot, rosemary, chilies, lemon juice and lemon zest in a large baking dish or Zip-Loc plastic bag. Whisk the marinade ingredients together thoroughly. Place the chicken in the marinade, turning to coat both sides. Then put the chicken and marinade in the refrigerator for at least two, and up to eight, hours for the marinade to penetrate and flavor the chicken.
Heat a grill to medium heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and season well on both sides with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken on the grill, skin-side down, and grill slowly with the grill cover closed until the skin is golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. Watch for flare-ups!
Turn the chicken over and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes with the cover closed until the chicken is done and nicely crisp and browned on both sides. Undoubtedly, there will be flare-ups and the chicken skin might burn in spots. Keep a spray bottle filled with water handy to extinguish flare-ups.
Remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to sit for about 10 minutes covered with foil before cutting. Cut the chicken in half or into pieces and serve with your favorite sides.

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Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine & travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers.