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.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Thessaloniki Home-Pot Kotopoulo Lemonato (Κοτόπουλο Λεμονάτο)
Created by
Thessaloniki's stovetop lemon chicken is plain in the best way: browned pieces, potatoes, oregano, and lemon added after the pot settles, so the sauce stays bright.
Main Dishes
Greek
Weeknight
Comfort Food
One Pot
15 min
Active Time
1 hr 10 min cook•1 hr 25 min total
Yield4 servings
Kotopoulo Lemonato in Thessaloniki's home pot is chicken browned in olive oil, settled with potatoes, oregano, garlic, and lemon until the sauce turns glossy and sharp enough to wake the whole plate. It isn't avgolemono, and it isn't the oven tray with potatoes. This one lives on the stove, where the lid keeps the chicken tender and the potatoes drink the sauce.
The method that decides it is the lemon. Reduce the sauce first, then take the pot off the heat and stir in the fresh juice. Boil lemon hard and you lose its scent, leaving only sourness. Add it to the quiet sauce and it stays bright, clean, and Greek in that plain way no garnish can fake.
Use bone-in thighs and drumsticks if you can. Breast alone has no patience for this pot. My mother Sofia made this on working days in Thessaloniki, with bread beside it and no ceremony, and that's how I keep it here: good olive oil, good lemons, and patience.
Kotopoulo lemonato belongs to the Greek lemonato family, dishes named for a lemon-sharpened pan sauce rather than for one fixed meat; veal, pork, rabbit, and chicken all appear under the same category. This Thessaloniki home-pot version is a mainland stovetop branch, with potatoes or rice taking up the sauce. Its spread through twentieth-century urban homes came from simple market ingredients: a chicken cut in pieces, lemons, oregano, olive oil, and one covered pot.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
Quantity
1.4kg
patted dry
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 tsp
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 tsp
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
75ml
divided
waxy potatoes
Quantity
700g
peeled and cut into 4cm wedges
yellow onion
Quantity
1 medium (150g)
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
thinly sliced
dry white wine
Quantity
120ml
hot water or light chicken stock
Quantity
350ml
bay leaf
Quantity
1
dried Greek oregano (rigani)
Quantity
1 tsp plus a pinch
rubbed between your fingers
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
75ml
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
2 tbsp
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in chicken thighs and drumstickspatted dry | 1.4kg |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 tsp |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 tsp |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oildivided | 75ml |
| waxy potatoespeeled and cut into 4cm wedges | 700g |
| yellow onionfinely chopped | 1 medium (150g) |
| garlic clovesthinly sliced | 3 |
| dry white wine | 120ml |
| hot water or light chicken stock | 350ml |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| dried Greek oregano (rigani)rubbed between your fingers | 1 tsp plus a pinch |
| fresh lemon juice | 75ml |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 2 tbsp |
Equipment Needed
- •heavy wide lidded casserole pot, 28cm
- •citrus press
- •tongs
Instructions
- 1
Season the Chicken
Pat the chicken very dry. Season it with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt and all the pepper, then let it sit while you peel and cut the potatoes, 15 to 20 minutes. Toss the potato wedges with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- 2
Brown the Pieces
Set a heavy wide pot over medium-high heat and add 60ml of the olive oil. Brown the chicken skin-side down until deep gold, 6 to 7 minutes, then turn and brown the second side for 3 minutes. Work in batches if the pot is crowded. Move the chicken to a plate, add the potatoes, and brown them for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the cut sides take a little color.
- 3
Build the Base
Lower the heat to medium. Add the onion to the same pot and cook for 5 minutes, scraping gently, until soft and sweet but not dark. Add the garlic, oregano, and bay leaf for 30 seconds, then pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom.
- 4
Braise Gently
Return the chicken to the pot, skin-side up, and tuck the potatoes around it. Pour in the hot water or stock around the pieces. The liquid should come about halfway up the chicken, not drown it. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer gently for 35 minutes. Uncover and cook 15 to 20 minutes more, until the potatoes yield to a knife and the chicken reaches 74°C at the thickest part.
- 5
Finish with Lemon
Lift the chicken and potatoes to a warm platter. Boil the sauce for 5 to 8 minutes, until glossy and just thick enough to coat a spoon. Turn off the heat and wait 2 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice and the remaining 15ml olive oil. This is what decides lemonato: lemon goes into a calm sauce, not a rolling boil, or its clean scent disappears and only sourness remains.
- 6
Rest and Serve
Return the chicken and potatoes to the pot and spoon the lemon sauce over everything. Let it rest 10 minutes so the potatoes drink some of the sauce. Taste for salt, scatter with parsley and a pinch of oregano if you like, and serve with country bread for the pot juices.
Chef Tips
- •Choose thighs and drumsticks, not boneless breasts. Bone and skin give the sauce body; breast alone goes dry before the pot has done its work.
- •Use fresh lemon juice. Bottled lemon gives you acid with none of the scent, and this dish has nowhere to hide it.
- •If your potatoes are poor, leave them out and serve the chicken with rice or hilopites. Λίγα και καλά: a few things, and good ones.
- •Once the lemon is in, reheat leftovers gently. A hard boil the next day makes the sauce taste flatter.
Advance Preparation
- •Salt the chicken up to 12 hours ahead and keep it uncovered in the refrigerator; it will brown better.
- •You can braise the chicken and potatoes one day ahead without the lemon. Reheat gently, then add the lemon off the heat just before serving.
- •Leftovers keep for 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat over low heat and loosen with a spoonful of water if the sauce has tightened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 500g)
Calories
770 calories
Total Fat
46 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
36 g
Cholesterol
175 mg
Sodium
1400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
38 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
51 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Greek Pork & Poultry
Browse the full collection
Chef Dimitra
Cypriot Afelia (Αφέλια)
Afelia is Cyprus by surname: pork shoulder, dry red wine, and coriander seeds cracked fresh so their resinous perfume survives the long, dark braise.
Chef Dimitra
Galopoula Gemisti Politiki (Γαλοπούλα Γεμιστή Πολίτικη)
Constantinopolitan Greek Christmas turkey, filled with mince, chestnuts, pine nuts, raisins, and rice, is a celebration dish that depends on one plain rule: cook the stuffing first.
Chef Dimitra
Gourounopoulo Roumeliotiko (Γουρουνόπουλο Ρουμελιώτικο)
Roumeli's festival pork is all rind, fat, potatoes, and patience: skin-on pork salted overnight, roasted slowly, then finished hot until the crackling answers the knife.