Simple, straightforward, and so delicious, this Broiled Lemon Chicken is inspired by the legendary Rao’s restaurant in New York City, is one of the tastiest chicken recipes you’ll ever make. The chicken is tender and juicy, and the lemon garlic oregano sauce is divine! Serve with plenty of crusty bread to soak up every last bit.
This post may contain affiliate links. Our disclosure policy.
A Rao’s favorite
The legendary New York City-based restaurant, Rao’s, has been serving up incredible food since 1896, and while most people may know the brand for their sauce, which is now sold in jars, one of the most famous recipes served at the restaurant is broiled lemon chicken, or pollo al limone.
This dish combines a whole chicken that’s cut into pieces, broiled, and finished with a lemon, garlic, and oregano pan sauce that’s finished with fresh parsley. The acidity in the sauce is the perfect match for the juicy chicken.
The sauce is great spooned over the chicken, on top of roasted potatoes, but is especially good with some crusty bread. A green side like my garlic sauteed broccoli rabe or some garlic sauteed spinach would be great as well.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Chicken. I am using an entire chicken for this recipe. You can also use bone-in chicken thighs, bone-in breasts, or drumsticks, or any combination thereof.
- Lemons. I love the combo of chicken and lemons and use it in many recipes, like my Greek lemon chicken and potatoes, and chicken Francese. This recipe for Rao’s lemon chicken calls for both lemon juice and lemon zest. You’ll need 2-3 lemons to yield the amount of juice needed for the recipe. You may also wish to add a few lemon slices at the very end for garnish. Rao’s doesn’t use lemon zest but I think it’s a nice touch to amp up the lemon flavor even more.
- Vinegar. I add a little red wine vinegar to the lemon sauce. If you don’t have red wine vinegar, you can use white vinegar. I don’t recommend using balsamic vinegar for this recipe.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we'll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
How to make Rao’s broiled lemon chicken
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Use kitchen shears to remove the backbone from the chicken and split the chicken in half. Dry very well with paper towels on all sides.
- Salt the chicken on all sides then place skin up on a wire rack and place in the fridge uncovered, overnight. Note: if you’re in a rush, you can salt and roast the chicken on the same day. Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour prior to roasting.
- Whisk the lemon sauce ingredients together and taste test. Adjust salt and pepper as needed and set aside.
- Place the chicken halves into a 14-inch oven safe pan or large roasting pan and drizzle the olive oil on the chicken and season with black pepper. Pour 1 cup of the chicken stock into the bottom of the pan and roast in a 500°F oven for 25 minutes.
- Remove the chicken halves from the oven and transfer to a cutting board.
- Cut the chicken halves into 6 pieces per half, or 12 pieces total.
- Pour out all but 1/3 cup of liquid from the pan and place the chicken pieces back into the pan, skin side up. Pour the lemon sauce all over the chicken and into the pan.
- Turn the broiler to low and once hot, place the chicken on the middle rack to finish cooking. After 10 minutes, the chicken should be charred and completely cooked but use a digital thermometer to ensure the pieces register at least 160°F internally. Note: the legs and thighs can be roasted for an additional 5-10 minutes at 500°F or until they reach an internal temp of 185°F or higher.
- Transfer the broiled lemon chicken pieces to a platter and whisk the cold butter into the pan sauce.
- Add the parsley and pour the sauce all over the chicken. Top with lemon zest and serve with crusty bread to soak up the sauce.
Top tips
- Brine the chicken. I recommend salting the chicken overnight as it will help to dry the chicken exterior out while keeping the interior moist and allow the chicken to get a crispy broiled skin.
- The pan. A 14-inch stainless steel pan or large roasting pan work well for this dish.
- Additional flavor. Though I haven’t personally tested marinating the chicken overnight in the lemon sauce, I suspect it would add even more flavor to the dish. If you wish to do this, be sure to save the marinade for use later in the recipe, and to pat the chicken very dry before roasting in the pan.
More chicken recipes
If you love roasted or broiled chicken, give these other recipes a try!
If you’ve enjoyed this Rao’s Style Broiled Lemon Chicken recipe, give it a 5-star rating.
Watch us on YouTube, follow along on our Facebook Page, and become a Patreon member to receive access to exclusive full-meal videos and content.
Broiled Lemon Chicken (Rao’s Style)
Ingredients
Base ingredients
- 1 small chicken backbone removed and halved
- 4 teaspoons Diamond crystal kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons unsalted cold butter cubed
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 4 lemon slices for garnish
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest for garnish
Lemon sauce
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon Diamond crystal kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we’ll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
Instructions
- Cut the backbone out of the chicken and split the chicken in half. Pat dry with paper towels then season with salt on all sides. Place the chicken halves, skin side up, on a wire rack and into the fridge uncovered, overnight. Note: if in a rush, you can salt the chicken and roast on the same day.
- Preheat oven to 500°F and set the rack to the middle level.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour prior to roasting.
- Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients and taste test. Season with more salt and pepper as required. Set aside.
- Place the chicken halves into a large 14-inch oven safe pan or large roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil all over the chicken and season with black pepper. Pour 1 cup of chicken stock into the bottom of the pan and roast the chicken for 25 minutes.
- Remove the chicken halves to a cutting board and cut into 6 pieces per half chicken for a total of 12 pieces. Pour out all but 1/3 cup liquid from the pan and place the chicken pieces back into the pan, skin side up. Pour the lemon sauce all over the chicken and into the pan.
- Turn the low broiler on and once hot place the chicken on the middle rack to finish cooking. After 10 minutes the chicken should be well charred and crisp and completely cooked. Check that the pieces register at least 160°F internal temp. Note: If you like, the legs and thighs can be roasted for an additional 5-10 minutes at 500°F until they reach an internal temperature of 185°F or higher.
- Place the chicken in a platter and whisk the cold butter into the pan sauce. Mix in the parsley then pour the sauce over the chicken. Top with the lemon zest and serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken. A smaller chicken (broiler chicken) around 3.5-4 pounds works best. Individual pieces such as all thighs or a combination of thighs and legs can be used too.
- Salting overnight. To get maximum flavor and juiciness, I recommend salting the chicken overnight. If you are in a rush, remove the chicken from fridge, pat dry, and salt for at least 1 hour before roasting.
- Pan size. A 14-inch stainless steel pan can fit all of the chicken, but if you don’t have one, use a large roasting pan.
- Leftovers. Broiled lemon chicken can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the microwave or oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Follow Me
The Sip and Feast Cookbook
- 100+ recipes
- Essential tools and ingredients
- Entertaining ides
- Stunning photography
