Lemon-Rosemary Marinated Chicken

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This marinated chicken may be simple, but it packs plenty of luscious lemon-rosemary flavors! It’s easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but still fancy enough for a special occasion.

Hey. I like chicken.

I’ll take all kinds. Breaded, oven-baked, slow-cooked, covered in zee-sauce, NAME IT and I’ll eat it.

Marinated? Whooooole ‘nother ballpark of delicious.

ALL THE FLAVORS. They literally kick you in the tastebuds with their awesomenesss.

And I could swear this chicken just says. Eat me. All of me. Right now.

I can’t ignore….

Our superfood ingredient for Day #10? All the lemons. Full of ALL the antioxidants, tons of vitamin C, and SCORE! It can help you lose weight too.

When life gives ‘ya lemons…..make and eat ALL the Lemon-Rosemary Marinated Chicken.

The marinade for this chicken is seriously so.dang.good. Not so good that I’d want to drink it (uh, nooo)…..BUT it is the perfect marinade-bath for some chicken….

Mr. Lemon, meet your new girlfriend Ms. Rosemary. ♥

We’ve got tons of lemon flavor from the juice and zest of two whole lemons, a few garlic cloves, a whopping 1/2 cup fresh rosemary (fresh, fresh, fresh!) olive oil, and then just lots of salt and pepper.

I always puree my marinades in the food processor. It breaks everything down into a nice smooth marinade-sauce that will have maximum flavor.

I like to marinade this chicken overnight, and if you’ve got the time I would HIGHLY recommend it. The flavors just get better and better the longer the chicken sits in the citrus-y, herby marinade.

AT LEAST marinade this chicken for up to 4 hours though, PUH-LEEZE. Here’s whatcha can do if you’re running short on time: Before leaving for work in the morning just make the marinade. (literally takes 2 minutes) Dump it over your chicken..

Sidenote: I was just typing “chicken” and accidentally typed “kitchen.” I must still be remembering what happened last week when I put my chicken in a ziplock bag and then dumped the marinade inside only to unfortunately discover that there was a lovely hole in my marinading bag…..

So my kitchen counter and floor more or less ended up splattered with all that lucious marinade. It only took 2 days for the lemon smell to go away.

Oh, joy was that a fun day…

ANYWHO. Make sure the bag you put your chicken in is HOLE-LESS before you proceed to dump the marinade on top. Seal ‘er too unless you like marinade all over your fridge (yes, I’ve done that before too)

From there, just stick that bag in the fridge and forget about it for the rest of the day! Oh, but DON’T forget about it in there once dinnertime rolls around (yep, done that too) Stick that chicken in the oven….

30 minutes to faceplant time. Hooooo-yahhhhh!

Okay, so obviously we’ve covered the fact that this chicken is literally Flavor-City. Shall we discuss side dishes? No, that’s unnecessary with the amount of this chicken you’re probably gonna end up eating.

Just in case, though, lemme tell you that the pasta is my favorite side. Because the only thing I love almost as much as this chicken is ‘zee carbs.

This chicken is so simple yet SO elegant, your ho-hum weekday dinners are just begging for it. I promise you’ll love it!

In the rare event that you’ll have any leftovers, feel free to send ’em on over my way. Thank you for your cooperation in feeding my cravings. 🙂

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Lemon-Rosemary Marinated Chicken

This marinated chicken may be simple, but it packs plenty of luscious lemon-rosemary flavors! It's easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but still fancy enough for a special occasion.

Prep Time 4 hours 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 35 minutes

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 lemons juiced and zested (about 1/2 cup juice and 2 tablespoons zest)
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 cup fresh rosemary coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions

• Place chicken thighs in a large resealable plastic bag. Set aside.
• Place lemon juice, zest, garlic, rosemary, oil, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse several times until smooth (several chunks will still remain)
• Pour marinade over chicken in bag. Seal bag and turn several times to distribute marinade over chicken. Place chicken in refrigerator and let sit 4-6 hours or overnight for best results.
• Once chicken has marinated, remove from bag and discard marinade. Place chicken on a greased baking sheet. Bake chicken at 375F 30-35 minutes or until juices run clear. Serve chicken warm.

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