Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken
This is a clean, simple, and hearty way to cook chicken on the stove. Rosemary and Chicken — oof — hard to beat that dynamic duo. And then add some lemon and butter to it? Get out of here. This chicken is going to be so good, you’ll feel like breathing in the aromatics is just as hearty as eating it.
A savory meyer lemon dish? Yup, not all meyer fates need end up in desserts. Meyer lemons are fragrant and juicy, and they’re not as sour as other lemons, like the genoa or eureka, making them a great addition to creating a most flavorful brothy sauce to chicken.
Adding a few sprigs of rosemary will completely infuse the sauce and the chicken. It’s a dynamic duo not to be messed with.
6 Ingredients. Simple. Aromatic.
Here are the basic ingredients – just 6 (excluding salt and pepper, of course).
- Fresh Rosemary
- Meyer Lemon – Okay with regular lemons (i.e., Eureka lemons), but best with Meyer Lemons, as they are the juiciest with less zing.
- Butter
- Purple Onion – but any onion will do
- Cooking Wine – white or rice
- Chicken Thighs – bone-in and skin-on
Rosemary & Meyer Lemon Chicken
Kitchen Notes
- Lemons – If you don’t have meyers, regular lemons, like the eurekas, will do just fine. Meyer lemons are juicier and less sour, which make for a great sauce base. But if you don’t got them (I didn’t even know what a meyer lemon was until my mid-20s), then use regular lemons.
- Let the skin on those thighs sizzle! – When adding in the chicken thighs, make sure to place skin-side down — and then don’t touch it! Resist the urge to scrape it off and flip it over. This is a critical cooking step to get that beautiful goden brown on that chicken thigh, so let it sizzle.
- Let the rosemary bathe – Leave the rosemary in the whole time to get as much of the aroma as possible. Most recipes will say to take out the rosemary earlier on in the cooking process, but I say, “leave it in!”
Melt, infuse, and sautee
Skin-side down
Golden brown -
keep cooking and squeeze in the lemon
Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Goes Great With...
The Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken is the star, but no meal is complete without some good sides.
Steam some rice, boil some pasta, or bake or mash a potato, and cook up some veggies or a salad to make this a complete and balanced dinner.
- Better yet, combine this with some roasted vegetables. Check out the Roasted Root Vegetables for both veggies and starch in one simple baking sheet. For a vibrant dish with a citrusy zing, try our Roasted Sweet Potato Brussel Sprouts with a Lemon Honey Vinaigrette — this isn’t your ordinary roasted veggies!
- In the mood for soup? Try our Miso Pumpkin for a clean and healthy soup starter, or go bold with the Tom Kha (Lemongrass Coconut), or mix it up with a classic Hot & Sour Soup.
- Want more chicken? If you like chicken and herbs, try our Thyme Lemon Garlic Chicken. It’s just 6 simple ingredients.
Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Equipment
- 1 saute pan
Ingredients
- 2-3 sprigs Rosemary
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 Meyer Lemon Any lemon will do, but meyer lemon is best/juiciest
- 1/2 Onion Rough chop (purple, onion, or white)
- 1/3 cup Cooking Wine White or rice wine work great. Splash enough to scrape off the bottom flavors of the pan
- 4 Chicken Thighs Bone-in, Skin-on
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pepper just a dash
- oil light drizzle to coat pan
Instructions
- Drizzle in oil, enough to lightly spread across the bottom of pan, and add butter to large saute pan on medium-high heat
- Add the rough chopped onions, and the rosemary to the pan
- Stir together, allowing butter to melt, onions to cook, and rosemary to bathe in the sauce -- this is where we're creating the base flavor
- When sauce starts sizzling, add the chicken thighs skin-side down, and let cook for 5-7 minutes -- resist the urge to flip them! This is when the skin gets its golden brown.
- Once chicken looks seared with a golden-brown skin, gently flip each thigh over to cook the other side. Place lid on the pan and allow to cook for another 5-7 minutes and lower to medium heat. This is when the sauce will further reduce and thicken.
- Take lid off and splash in the wine (approx. 1/3 cup), leaving chicken in. Use a wooden spoon to go around and under the chicken to scrape off the reduced, thickened sauce and grilled onions from the bottom of the pan (i.e., the good stuff). Let it simmer to allow alcohol to evaporate.
- Squeeze in the meyer lemon
- Add salt and pepper, and gently stir sauce around the chicken to bring together the flavors. Baste the chicken with a spoon, by scooping up the sauce and lacing over the chicken. Do this a few times, enough for the chicken to look coated and juicy.
- Place lid back on, and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until inside is no longer pink.
- Plate the chicken, and pour and scrape the sauce out of the pan right over the chicken.
Enjoy! Wabi Sabi!
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