This Spicy Lemon Garlic Chicken is my favorite thing to get at Chicken Maison in OC! It’s so flavorful, juicy, tender, and unlike anything I have ever tried before. You should make this, immediately!
I’ve been trying to crack this recipe for SO long, and I think I got this pretty close. If you try it please let me know in the comments what you think!
Ingredients:
Whole chicken- Chicken Maison makes rotisserie chickens, so I’m making this recipe with a whole chicken for a couple of reasons. I think roasting a whole chicken in the oven is the closest way to replicate juicy, tender rotisserie chicken, and we will also need the pan juices for the spicy lemon garlic sauce.
To save time, you can use a store bought rotisserie chicken and just make the spicy lemon garlic sauce, but it will not be as good.
Seasoning- a mix of salt, black pepper, chicken bouillon, cayenne pepper, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. This will be used to season the chicken, stuffing, and the fat, which I will talk about later.
Stuffing- this really isn’t for eating but for stuffing the cavity with some aromatics to flavor the chicken throughout. Sauté some onions, serrano peppers, garlic, and some of the seasoning mix in butter until nicely browned, then deglaze with apple cider vinegar.
Spicy lemon garlic sauce- pan drippings from roasting the chicken, chopped cilantro, chopped green onion, minced garlic, and Lee Kum Lee chili garlic sauce.
The Shortcut Recipe
If you don’t want to make the chicken, you can definitely use a rotisserie chicken instead! This will cut out a significant amount of time. It won’t be as good, but close enough with minimal effort.
You would just need to make the spicy lemon garlic sauce with olive oil + chicken stock instead of the pan drippings. Including chopping time, this should only take you between 5-10 minutes if not less!
Skip to step 14 below if you are making this shortcut version instead!
How to make Spicy Lemon Garlic Chicken from scratch:
Below are step-by-step instructions with photos. For the full recipe including ingredients & measurements, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
Step 1:
Before you start anything, make sure you take your chicken out of the fridge to come to room temperature for about an hour. Roughly chop the onion, garlic, and serrano peppers for the stuffing.
Step 2:
Over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and saute the onions until they begin to brown.
Step 3:
Add 1 more tbsp of butter, then add the garlic, serrano peppers, and 1 tsp of the seasoning mix. Saute for a couple minutes.
Step 4:
Deglaze with 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar, scraping any brown bits on the bottom. Remove from heat and let the stuffing cool completely.
Step 5:
Once cool, add the stuffing to the cavity of the bird along with 2 lemon wedges
Step 6:
Remove the piece of fat near the cavity and season it with about 1 tsp of the seasoning mix. If you don’t have any fat on your bird, you can use 2-3 tbsp of softened butter instead (mix it with 1 tsp of seasoning mix)
Step 7:
Put the seasoned fat pieces under the skin. It will completely dissolve and spread over the chicken, cooking it in it’s own fat.
Step 8:
Drizzle 1-2 tbsp of olive oil all over the chicken, then sprinkle the rest of the seasoning mix all over.
Step 9:
Tie the legs together using butchers twine or aluminum foil. Put the chicken into your roasting pan and a little bit of white wine, water, or chicken stock. Don’t put too much in the beginning (about 1/8 inch high in the pan) we need it to evaporate so that the bottom gets brown and glossy which adds so much flavor!
Step 10:
Roast in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about and hour and a half for a 4.5 lb chicken. Add more water to the pan about halfway through (about 1/2 cup)
Step 11:
Take the chicken out of the over when the breast registers about 160 degrees Fahrenheit with a meat thermometer. Let it rest in the roasting pan, uncovered for 10 minutes to collect the juices.
Step 12:
Scrape the pan drippings
Step 13:
Then strain it into a cold pan. There should be at least 1/2 cup of pan drippings.
Step 14:
To the pan drippings add the chopped green onion, cilantro, garlic, chili garlic sauce, and fresh lemon juice.
*If you’re using a rotisserie chicken and only making the spicy lemon garlic sauce to pour over it, use 1/4 cup of olive oil + 1/2 cup of hot water mixed with 1 tsp of chicken bouillon (or 1/2 cup of chicken stock), instead of the pan drippings.
Step 15:
Mix together and cook over medium low heat for a couple of minutes until it thickens and comes together. Turn off the heat and keep it covered.
Step 16:
Break down the chicken (don’t throw away the carcass and stuffing- these will make a super flavorful chicken broth!)
Step 17:
Pour the spicy lemon garlic sauce all over the chicken and enjoy!
How I eat spicy lemon garlic chicken
Enjoy this chicken however you’d like- it goes well with rice, veggies, hummus, etc.
Chicken Maison serves this on a plate with 2 sides of your choice, pita bread, and toum (Lebanese garlic spread). For my sides, I usually get 2x sweet & spicy slaw, so that I can make pita sandwiches.
I used this recipe to make the toum, but it still comes out too sharp every time I have made it. I fixed this by mixing in some mayo to cut the sharpness, which seems to do the job but I will be trying to come up with my own recipe soon!
For the sweet and spicy slaw, you can use a pre-cut bag of slaw, or just thinly cut up some green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots. Wash thoroughly then remove all the water before mixing in the sweet & spicy dressing:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of salt
I get my pita bread from Sprouts, but I’ve also seen very similar ones at Trader Joes.
Just heat in the microwave for 10 seconds, then I spread the toum inside the pocket and stuff it with the spicy lemon garlic chicken (shredded), and the sweet and spicy slaw.
This is SUCH a flavor bomb! A bit of work to shred the chicken and stuff the pita pockets, but its definitely worth it.
Spicy Lemon Garlic Chicken (Chicken Maison Copycat)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4.5 lb whole chicken rested on kitchen counter for 1 hour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- seasoning mix (below) reserve 1 tsp for the stuffing and 1 tsp for the fat
Seasoning mix
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp chicken bouillon
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper optional (spicy)
Stuffing
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 serrano peppers
- 1 tsp seasoning mix
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 lemon wedges
Spicy Lemon Garlic Sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 juicy lemon
- 3 tbsp chili garlic sauce Lee Kum Kee
- pan drippings from chicken
Instructions
Make the stuffing
- Before you start anything, make sure you take your chicken out of the fridge to come to room temperature for about an hour. Roughly chop the onion, garlic, and serrano peppers for the stuffing.
- Over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and saute the onions until they begin to brown.
- Add 1 more tbsp of butter, then add the garlic, serrano peppers, and 1 tsp of the seasoning mix. Saute for a couple minutes.
- Deglaze with 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar, scraping any brown bits on the bottom. Remove from heat and let the stuffing cool completely.
- Once cool, add the stuffing to the cavity of the bird along with 2 lemon wedges
- Remove the piece of fat near the cavity and season it with about 1 tsp of the seasoning mix. If you don't have any fat on your bird, you can use 2-3 tbsp of softened butter instead (mix it with 1 tsp of seasoning mix)
- Put the seasoned fat pieces under the skin. It will completely dissolve and spread over the chicken, cooking it in it's own fat.
- Drizzle 1-2 tbsp of olive oil all over the chicken, then sprinkle the rest of the seasoning mix all over.
- Tie the legs together using butchers twine or aluminum foil. Put the chicken into your roasting pan and a little bit of white wine, water, or chicken stock. Don't put too much in the beginning (about 1/8 inch high in the pan) we need it to evaporate so that the bottom gets brown and glossy which adds so much flavor!
- Roast in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about and hour and a half for a 4.5 lb chicken. Add more water to the pan about halfway through (about 1/2 cup)
- Take the chicken out of the over when the breast registers about 160 degrees Fahrenheit with a meat thermometer. Let it rest in the roasting pan, uncovered for 10 minutes to collect the juices.
- Scrape the pan drippings
- Then strain it into a cold pan. There should be at least 1/2 cup of pan drippings.
- To the pan drippings add the chopped green onion, cilantro, garlic, chili garlic sauce, and fresh lemon juice. *If you're using a rotisserie chicken and only making the spicy lemon garlic sauce to pour over it, use 1/4 cup of olive oil + 1/2 cup of hot water mixed with 1 tsp of chicken bouillon (or 1/2 cup of chicken stock), instead of the pan drippings.
- Mix together and cook over medium low heat for a couple of minutes until it thickens and comes together. Turn off the heat and keep it covered.
- Break down the chicken (don't throw away the carcass and stuffing- these will make a super flavorful chicken broth!)
- Pour the spicy lemon garlic sauce all over the chicken and enjoy!
This Post Has 31 Comments
How long does the spicy garlic lemon sauce last in the fridge? I made some to stock up since I could out that on anything but then realized that idk how long it’s good for.
It should last 4-5 days in the fridge but you can also freeze it to extend the shelf life by at least 1 month.
Is there a recipe to make the garlic sauce from chicken Maison? I also use that when I order this chicken
Thanks!
Are you talking about the delicious condiment they give you on the side- the toum? I don’t have a recipe for it posted on my blog yet, but I will work on one 🙂
I gotta try this one. I lived in socal for a majority of my life before moving to Az and chicken maison was one of the Mediterranean restaurants I would frequent
Wanted to try a new chicken dish & this dish turned out delicious! Will definitely be adding it to my weekly rotation! Thanks!
I made this recipe last week and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing and developing this recipe. Will definitely keep making this.
Obsessed with maison and this taste exactly like it. I don’t normally submit reviews but I was totally blown away. It’s in the rotation in our house regularly.
My husband recently started following you and has been sending me your recipes and I finally decided to try this out. My whole family loved it and couldn’t get enough though I wished I could have gotten more sauce out of this dish.
Love this recipe! Been using it since I moved from LA to Bay Area cause I miss chicken maison sm!
Such a great recipe!! Turned out amazing and my family loved it.
Thanks!
this is my favorite recipe because I love the spice and the tang from the lemons. absolutely delicious
I have never tried Chicken Maison so I can’t compare, but regardless this is one of my favorite go-to recipes. I’ve made it for family and friends and they constantly talk/rave about it! I made this 3 weeks in a row when I first discovered the recipe and crave it from time to time. Definitely keeping it in rotation. The sauces are great, the chicken is so flavorful, and although it is good using rotisserie chicken, it’s that much better making the chicken yourself. Love the balance of crunch, sweet, spice, and salt. It IS a bit on the salty side on its own as another review mentioned, but when you add it on pita with toum/garlic aioli and slaw, it’s *chef’s kiss*! The sweet and spicy slaw is my favorite part about it though. Sometimes I make that on its own. Tysm for the recipe, Stella! 🫶🏽
Looks delicious and well developed. Gonna add to my recipe list! Go Stella! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I took the short cut and bought a rotisserie chicken from Sprouts then made the sauce. We loved it, thanks for sharing your recipes!
love this copy cat recipe! shortcut method is a game changer. you got a recipe for the lemon basil? thanks!
Absolutely bussin! So good! I’ve made this 3 times now!
This is my favorite recipe from you! I can’t believe I get to make chicken maison at home. Thank you!!
Omg! This is to die for! Best recipe everrr!!
One of the best and easiest recipes I’ve ever tried and gotten right! All the flavors and pan drippings! Myyyyyy gaaaaaaaaahhhd! I ate it with homemade tortillas!
Thank you so much for all of your creations.
I live around many Chicken Maisons so I was really excited you made your own recipe for the spicy lemon garlic chicken! Tbh, I think it tastes BETTER than CM 🙂 I have only attempted this recipe, dongchimi kimchi, and the healthy dog food recipe, but I plan to attempt your pozole verde next and much much more after. Thanks Stella!
tried this recipe along with your grapefruit honey iced tea with my wife and we loved it. thank you very much for the very easy to follow and detailed instructions. Can’t wait to try another recipe.
delicioso recipe, made for me and my girlfriend and loved it!
My sauce came out way too salty the pan drippings didn’t taste that salty is it the chili garlic sauce that added so much salt? I added the 3T of the lee kum kee sauce like the recipe stated is it supposed to be 3teaspoons?
Hi Jade, I’m not really sure why yours came out too salty, especially if the pan drippings were not too salty to begin with. The only thing I can think of is if you added the chicken bouillon to the sauce, which was part of my instructions if you were using a store bought rotisserie chicken- NOT if you are roasting the chicken yourself. Hope that helps!
I’ve loved every single thing I’ve made using your recipes so when you say you love this dish, I can’t wait to try this. I will definitely try the original way by roasting a whole chicken but if I wanted the shortcut version, what do you think about using the juices that come from grocery store rotisserie chicken to sub for pan drippings to make the sauce?
Hi Eunyoung, thank you for your kind comment! If you can get enough juices from a rotisserie chicken then yes, that would work well! I don’t buy them often so I can’t remember if they usually have any. Hope this helps!
You nailed it! Tastes Exactly like Chix maison. Great work!!!
This is great to hear- thank you so much for the feedback!
I always want to go to Chicken Maison but it’s so out of the way for us I’m so sad BUT no longer!! I can have that satisfaction right at home. I made it with rotisserie chicken & it’s seriously so easy AND YUMMY that it’s going to be a regular rotation in our home.
Thank you for sharing!!
Hi Gina, thank you so much for leaving a comment! I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe 🙂