Oregano Chicken

My oregano chicken is so delicious you will be thinking about it long after you eat it.

Oregano and zaatar both belong to the same 'family' of herbs and it is milder than zaatar making it more versatile.

In this recipe I have also slowly roasted garlic in the oven which I use to make a lemony oregano basting sauce at the end.

You might also be familiar with my popular zaatar chicken recipe, if not what are you waiting for?

My other fabulous chicken recipes include my 7 spice and sumac chicken, coriander chicken, pomegranate molasses chicken, and my recent red chicken recipe.

Ingredients

Try and source good quality dried oregano, which I find is available in Italian supermarkets. They don't mess around with their oregano.

You can also use fresh oregano in this recipe, but dried oregano gives an intense depth of flavour.

Ideally I would use dried oregano in the first marinade and fresh oregano in the basting mix at the end to give different subtleties of flavour.

Instructions

For me, putting a chicken in the oven is one of the easiest dinners.

You just literally marinade it and the oven does all the work.

Although you do have to check on it every 20 minutes or so and turn the chicken to ensure an even bake. This takes one minute.

The basting mix at the end is made of mild olive oil, lemon juice a sprinkle of salt and either fresh or dried oregano. I also add the caramalized garlic.

This makes it extra juicy and crispy at the same time.

Step 1: Wash your chicken and prepare the marinade

Step 2: Rub the marinade well into the chicken and leave ideally overnight

Step 3: Bake the chicken for around 1 hour

Step 4: Add the lemon oregano olive oil basting mix for the last 15 minutes

Top Tips

Buy the best chicken you can afford, and ask your butcher to kindly clean it and prepare it for you.

You don't want to use very high heat over 200°C (390°F) for this recipe as you don't want to burn the herbs.

I find one hour and minutes is the best time to cook a chicken in the oven, although you can do it for 45 minutes and it will still be good to eat.

However, when you cook it longer on lower heat it becomes juicy and crispy at the same time, making it memorable.

The basting stage at the end is optional but it will uplift your whole chicken dinner from average to super delicious.

📖 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Print

Oregano chicken

Lemony garlic chicken with a burst of dried and fresh oregano

Course Main Course

Cuisine Lebanese, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Keyword Dinner Party, Healthy, Slow cooking, Weeknight Dinner

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Zaatar and Zaytoun

Ingredients

• 1 chicken cut into 8

For the marinade

• 1 teaspoon 7 spice
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• drizzle mild olive oil approx 2 tbsp
• squeeze of lemon approx 1 tbsp
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon sumac
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt approx

For the basting mix

• 1 small handful fresh oregano finely chopped
• ½ lemon juiced
• ¼ cup mild olive oil
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Ask your butcher to cut the chicken into eighths, keeping the skin on and removing any giblets

2. To a good sized bowl and add the dried oregano, 7 spice, paprika, black pepper, oregano, squeeze of lemon, drizzle of mild olive oil, salt and whole garlic cloves. Mix well

3. Wash and drain the chicken in a colander then add to the marinade bowl with the spices and whole garlic cloves, rubbing the marinade in under the skin well with your hands

4. When you are ready to bake the chicken, take it out of the fridge half an hour before and let it come to room temperature as you heat the oven to 200°C (390°F)
5. Transfer the chicken to a baking tray and cook for 20 mins then reduce the heat to 180°C (350°F), and roast for another 40 minutes, turning the chicken every 20 minutes or so
6. In this time prepare the basting mix and add the fresh oregano (or dried oregano if you don't have fresh), olive oil, lemon juice and pinch of salt
7. After a total cooking time of 1 hour take out the chicken (leave the oven on), and peel the garlic cloves, and mash them into the basting mix. Drizzle the basting mix over the chicken and cook for another 15-20 mins until the skin is crispy
8. Serve with fluffy white rice, a fresh green salad making sure you drizzle on the sauce over the chicken and rice for extra flavour

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Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with this recipe: