San Francisco is famous for its food scene. There are endless outstanding restaurants, each with a unique concept and a standout dish. Even the food trucks in San Francisco are featured on the Cooking Channel, including one that sells roasted meats. The owner is a butcher who sells marinated pork, chicken, and other meats on a spinning roast in the back of his food truck. The best part? He places potatoes on the bottom of that roast where it slowly cooks in the fat drippings from the meats. I wanted to replicate this idea in my own home so I prepared a spiced roasted chicken with amazing lemon garlic potatoes cooked in the chicken's drippings. I may not have a spit roast but I'm willing to try anything to make those potatoes!

Recipe

Print Recipe

Spiced Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Potatoes

Total Time2 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken

Servings: 4

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Spiced chicken

• 4-5 lb whole chicken
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic divided
• 2 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon coriander
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper
• 1 whole shallot
• 1 lemon halved

Potatoes

• 1 lb yukon gold potatoes halved
• 1 lemon sliced
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1 head garlic top removed
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Rub olive oil on the chicken. Chop 4 cloves garlic until minced. Combine the garlic with paprika, cumin, coriander, and oregano in a small bowl. Rub the seasoning mix on the chicken, making sure to coat all of the sides. Season both the cavity and outside of the chicken with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the remaining 4 cloves garlic, shallot, and lemon.
• Place the halved potatoes in a cast iron pan or baking pan. Place lemon slices, rosemary, and garlic in the pan with the potatoes and drizzle with 2 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Place the chicken on a wire rack and place the rack on the cast iron with the potatoes. Loosely cover the chicken with foil and roast for 45 minutes, stirring the potatoes halfway through. Remove the chicken and potatoes from the oven, discarding the foil.
• By now, the potatoes should be done but the chicken will still need more time. Place the chicken on a baking sheet and continue to roast for another 45 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees F. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest 15 minutes before carving. Remove the lemon from inside the cavity of the chicken and squeeze juices onto the potatoes. Serve.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

This spiced roasted chicken is fairly basic but the potatoes are pure genius. Start by placing all the ingredients for the potatoes in a cast iron or baking pan, seasoning generously with salt and pepper.

Season the chicken and stuff the cavity with shallot, garlic, and lemon. Make sure to season the cavity with salt and pepper as well as the outside. Place the chicken on a wire rack and put that wire rack on top of the cast iron with the potatoes. By placing the chicken on top of the vegetables, the juices will drip down to the potatoes, adding a ton of flavor.

After about 45 minutes, check on the potatoes and see if they are ready. If they are fork-tender, remove them from the oven but continue to roast the chicken. Since the chicken is only on a wire rack, go ahead and place it in a baking dish or sheet pan. Once the internal temperature reads 160 degrees F, it's ready.

Now take that lemon that you stuffed the chicken with and squeeze the juices all over the potatoes. Are you drooling yet?

Squeezing that lemon onto the potatoes adds extra flavor and zing; just delicious! The chicken was perfectly roasted and moist while the potatoes, man o man, the potatoes! Try this recipe with lamb or stuffed pork loins for a simple but fantastic dinner.

For more chicken inspiration check out this one skillet lemony chicken with orzo recipe!