Grilled Lemon Chicken

This is a confusing name.

I'm sorry, it's Friday.

I mean.  IT'S FRIDAY!

But still.  This isn't Chinese-style chicken with lemon sauce that happens to not be fried so we're calling it grilled.

No.

It's Greek-flavored chicken with lemon stuffed in a most undignified fashion right under the skin so that when you grill the chicken it gets lemony and crispy and succulent on the inside and ....

.... I just decided I'm making this tomorrow.

Maybe.

It's easy, too!  You only need 4 ingredients and a hot grill - an indoor grill would work just fine too!

Here's what you need for 4 plus leftovers:

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• Greek seasoning, or steak seasoning
• olive oil
• 2 whole lemons

Easy, huh?

You want the chicken to be thawed, if it wasn't originally.

There's no marinating here, but I do find that the flavor is a bit stronger if you can season and stuff the chicken 30 minutes to an hour before you grill it.  If you can't, that's fine too!

Before you start messing with the raw chicken, thinly slice the lemons.

With your fingers, very gently loosen the skin from the chicken to form little pockets, and stuff lemon slices all over the chicken between the meat and the skin. If little holes form it isn't a huge deal.

Then, sprinkle the chicken all over with the seasoning (or just salt and pepper, whatevs) and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil per breast.

When you're ready to grill, get the grill nice and hot, and place the chicken skin side DOWN on the grill.  Once the chicken hits the grill, turn the burners down so that the skin can crisp quickly but then the meat will cook slowly.

Let the chicken cook on the skin side for 10 minutes, then flip it gently to see your pretty grill marks and crispy skin!

Or something.  Sorry about the flash picture, it was DARK.

Keep flipping the chicken every 5 - 7 minutes until it's cooked through.  For bone-in chicken, you'll want to allow at least 20 - 30 minutes for the meant to cook through.  Cut a small slit to check for doneness, or use a meat thermometer.  We want chicken that is just BARELY done but still very moist on the inside.

When the chicken is done, let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting or serving.  I cut the breasts in half because they were huge, but you could remove the meat from the bones and thinly slice it with the skin and lemons - that would be lovely!

I served this just with grilled bread and grilled caprese salad - it was perfect for the end of summer, and the lemon chicken was totally the star - the lemons are SO flavorful with the chicken, and once grilled they soften enough to eat whole with the chicken.

Also, we ate outside.  So it was dark.  Sorry. Not really.

Plan this for your next cookout - you'll love it.  Have a great weekend!