Chef Dimitra
Attiki Kotopoulo me Patates sto Fourno (Κοτόπουλο με Πατάτες στο Φούρνο)
Attiki's lemon-oregano tray roast: chicken browned above, potatoes cut large below, drinking olive oil, garlic, lemon, and all the Sunday pan juices.
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Peloponnesian Kotopoulo Riganato (Κοτόπουλο Ριγανάτο)
Created by
Peloponnesian oregano chicken is lemon, rigani, olive oil, and crisp skin, roasted dry enough for the herb to toast and the pan juices to stay sharp.
Main Dishes
Greek
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
25 min
Active Time
55 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings
Kotopoulo riganato belongs to the Peloponnesian table in its plainest, strongest form: chicken, lemon, olive oil, and a serious hand with dried rigani, the Greek mountain oregano that gives the dish its name. It isn't a delicate roast. It should smell sharp and green before it goes into the oven, then come out browned, glossy, and loud with lemon.
The method that decides it is dryness. Marinate the chicken, yes, but roast it skin-side up with the pan liquid kept low and to the side. If the lemony oil sits on the skin in a puddle, the oregano softens and the skin never gets its proper bite. Keep the top dry and the herb toasts into the fat. That's the dish.
I like it with potatoes in the same pan when the week is hard and supper must be complete. For a dinner table, serve the chicken alone with horta, feta, and country bread for the juices. Λίγα και καλά: a few things, and good ones.
Riganato, from rigani, belongs to the Greek practice of naming a dish by the herb or finish that marks it. In the Peloponnese and across mainland taverna cooking, lemon and dried oregano became the plain signature for roast and grilled meats in the twentieth century, especially where household ovens and neighborhood tavernas made chicken a regular Sunday dish rather than a luxury. The oregano is not decoration here; it is the ingredient that identifies the food.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole chicken or bone-in chicken pieces
Quantity
1.6kg
cut into 8 pieces
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
70ml
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
60ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
finely grated
dried Greek oregano (rigani)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 teaspoon
sweet paprika
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lemons
Quantity
2
1 sliced and 1 cut into wedges
dry white wine or water
Quantity
120ml
potatoes (optional)
Quantity
600g
cut into wedges
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole chicken or bone-in chicken piecescut into 8 pieces | 1.6kg |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil | 70ml |
| fresh lemon juice | 60ml |
| fine sea salt | 10g |
| garlic clovesfinely grated | 4 |
| dried Greek oregano (rigani)divided | 2 tablespoons |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 teaspoon |
| sweet paprika | 1 teaspoon |
| lemons1 sliced and 1 cut into wedges | 2 |
| dry white wine or water | 120ml |
| potatoes (optional)cut into wedges | 600g |
Equipment Needed
- •heavy roasting dish or metal tapsi, 32cm
- •instant-read thermometer
- •wide mixing bowl
Instructions
- 1
Dry the chicken
Pat the chicken very dry, especially the skin, and put it in a wide bowl or baking dish. If you're using potatoes, keep them separate for now. Dry skin is what gives this dish its tavernaki character: the oregano toasts on the surface and the skin crisps instead of turning soft under wet marinade.
- 2
Make the marinade
Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic, 1 tablespoon of oregano, black pepper, and paprika. Rub it over the chicken, getting some under the skin where you can without tearing it. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight if supper can wait.
Crush the oregano between your fingers as it goes in. Good rigani wakes up immediately. If it smells dusty, use less and buy fresh next time. - 3
Heat the oven
Take the chicken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 220°C. Put the optional potatoes in the baking dish, toss them with a spoonful of the marinade from the bowl, and spread them in one layer.
- 4
Arrange for roasting
Set the chicken pieces skin-side up over the potatoes or directly in the dish, leaving space between them. Pour the wine or water into the side of the dish, not over the skin. Tuck in the lemon slices. The liquid is there for the pan, not for bathing the chicken.
- 5
Roast hard first
Roast for 20 minutes at 220°C until the skin begins to color and the edges of the garlic smell sweet. Lower the oven to 190°C and roast for another 30 to 35 minutes, basting the potatoes once but leaving the chicken skin alone.
- 6
Finish with oregano
Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon oregano over the chicken in the last 8 minutes of roasting. The chicken is done when the thickest part of the thigh reaches 74°C, or when the juices run clear and the meat pulls easily at the joint.
- 7
Rest and serve
Rest the chicken for 10 minutes. Squeeze over the lemon wedges just before serving, so the lemon stays bright instead of cooking flat. Spoon the pan juices around the pieces, not over the crispest skin.
Chef Tips
- •Buy dried Greek oregano that still smells green and peppery when crushed. If your oregano has no scent, no amount of it will save the chicken.
- •Use bone-in pieces. Boneless breast cooks before the skin and potatoes are ready, and then everyone pretends the dry meat is fine. It isn't.
- •If you marinate overnight, hold back half the lemon juice and squeeze it on after roasting. Long lemon marinating can make the surface of chicken tight, while fresh lemon at the end gives the clean bite you want.
- •Serve it with horta vrasta, a slab of feta, or a tomato salad in summer. In winter, boiled greens and bread are enough.
Advance Preparation
- •Marinate the chicken at least 2 hours ahead, and up to overnight.
- •Cut the potatoes up to 4 hours ahead and keep them covered in cold water; drain and dry them before roasting.
- •The cooked chicken keeps well for 2 days, but the skin is best the day it is roasted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 365g)
Calories
760 calories
Total Fat
43 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
33 g
Cholesterol
175 mg
Sodium
1160 mg
Total Carbohydrates
32 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
58 g
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