Roasted Chicken Legs Recipe with Lemon, Thyme and Garlic

Cold pan roasted chicken legs with lemon and thyme served with pesto potatoes and broccoli.

Roasted Chicken Legs Recipe with Lemon, Thyme and Garlic

The cold pan method of browning chicken is glorious at creating the most incredibly crispy skin, these legs are then roasted with garlic, lemon and thyme to create the most wonderful centerpiece for a meal.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Modern British

Keyword chicken and thyme, cold pan chicken, crispy oven baked chicken legs, roasted chicken with lemon and thyme

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 55

Total Time 1

Servings Servings

Calories 377kcal

Author Brian Jones

Ingredients

2 Large Chicken Legs Approx 600g Total
½ teaspoon Salt
1 Lemon
4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
4 Garlic Cloves
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper Freshly ground

Instructions

Season the chicken legs with salt and place them, skin side down, in a cold 25cm or 10" frying pan. Place the pan on the hob, set the temperature to low-medium and let them sit for 25-30 minutes.
DO NOT MESS WITH THE CHICKEN AT THIS POINT: The chicken should slowly begin to render off its fat and get a fantastic, golden, crispy skin.
Whilst the chicken is crisping up, pick the leaves from the thyme sprigs.
Zest and juice the lemon, keeping them separate.
Finely chop the garlic.
When the chicken has had 25-30 minutes, flip it over, sprinkle over the lemon zest, thyme and black pepper.
Pour the lemon juice into the pan, and add the garlic, making sure that you don't add these to the top of the chicken legs. Then transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes at 200°C or 395°F or until the chicken reaches at least 73°C or 165°F.
I prefer to cook my chicken legs to a temperature up at around 80°C or 175°F.
Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with a little of the garlic and lemon roasted juices poured over the top.

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