Belly Full on a Budget
I made some lemon pepper ribs some time last year and they were phenomenal. I decided that I need to create a full meal on a budget using chicken and a similar lemon pepper sauce. The best part; it uses one bag to marinate it all, and one sheet pan to cook it. It yields juicy chicken with a creamy sauce full of pepper, garlic, and lemon flavors. keep reading to see the full recipe.
It was not hard to settle on boneless skinless thighs. Yes, it’s not the cheapest cut of the chicken, but it is half the price of the boneless skinless breast. And if you want a dish that uses pure chicken meat and no bone? Then boneless skinless chicken thighs are your friend. And I know it’s even cheaper to buy the thighs with skin and bone and debone and skin yourself. But what you save in cost you make up for with time and at the end of the day, time is money. Wings were another budget-breaking option. While I considered a whole chicken, (which gets you all parts of the bird and costs sometimes under $1000 per chicken, the most bang for your buck) to feed my household I generally need two chickens and that would bring the cost too high.
This dish is heavy on the garlic, but that suits my palate and I find the garlic and lemon and pepper work beautifully well together. If you are not into it being super spicy save some coins and use less black pepper and red pepper flakes. Black pepper can be pricy, but a must in this recipe.
The lemon gives
it a fresh light taste, feels almost healthy. This is for sure a meal prep
recipe. It has the carb and the protein all in one delicious bite. This served
around 7 in my household, but I calculated the cost of serving 6, so it's two pieces
of chicken per person plus some slices of potato. It’s a healthy homemade bellyful
indeed for under $350 per person.
Ingredients (printable recipe)
3 large potatoes
12 skinless boneless thighs
marinade
½ cup onion
1 small lime or lemon
½ cup oil
¼ cup lemon juice
8 cloves shredded garlic
1 ½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon lemon or lime zest (or peel if you
have it)
3 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon onion powder
sauce
pan drippings
½ cup water
1 ½ tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
6 cloves garlic shredded.
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon lime/lemon zest
½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and clean the chicken cut off excess fat.
- peel the potatoes and slice them into thick discs.
- roughly chop the onion and a small lime/lemon
- in a bag combine lime/lemon, onion, oil, lemon juice, shredded garlic, salt, chicken stock, lime zest, sugar, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and onion powder.
- Mix to combine squeezing the onions and pieces of lime/lemon.
- add the chicken and potatoes to the bag.
- mix to combine and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1-4 hours (at least 1 hour)
- preheat oven to 400-degree F.
- pour the contents of the bag chicken potatoes and all liquid into a lined pan.
- remove the lime/lemon and discard.
- bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- remove from oven flip, and bake for another 30 minutes.
- the chicken and potatoes should have soaked up almost all the liquid.
- remove cooked chicken and potatoes and set aside. pour water into the sheet pan to release all the flavors and burnt-on bits from the pan bottom.
- pour into a saucepan along with, sugar, lime/lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and black pepper.
- allow this to cook for a few minutes and reduce to a thick sauce.
- pour the sauce over the chicken and potatoes and serve.
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