Grilled Lemon Chicken with Limoncello Vinaigrette

Summer is here in all it’s glory.  Gardens are bursting, tans are forming, and cold desserts and beer are always on the menu.  The first glimmer of sunshine always sends me straight to the grill, and that translates into it being  it high time to make some Limoncello chicken.  This is not your ordinary lemon chicken – we’ve got the ultimate lemon infused marinade, but that’s not where this story ends.  An after-grilling generous drizzling with a creamy lemon vinaigrette that has both Limoncello and the juice of grilled lemon halves takes this one over the top.  Heaven on a barbecueThe first order of business is marinating the chicken. Olive oil, Limoncello (of course), and lots of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.  There are a ton of herbs in there as well.

Time for the grill!!  If you are using boneless and skinless chicken breasts like I’m doing here, go for medium high heat but keep your eyes peeled on those guys!!  They cook really fast, and there isn’t much worse in the chicken world than a tough, overcooked chicken breast.  Your instant read thermometer should read 165 degrees.  If you don’t have one, you might want to put it on your Christmas list because it will save your bacon in the kitchen many times over.  If you don’t, you might want to cut one open and take a peek – it should looked uniformly cooked through from top to bottom, and feel fairly firm to the touch if you have the courage to stick your finger on it over a hot grill.

Remember in the intro when I chatted about grilled lemons in the dressing?  Well, here they are..  Legend has it that grilling makes lemons more mellow, so I took a big bite of one….um…not true.  However, grilling gives the lemons a definite grilled taste which adds a lot of personality to the dressing.

See how easy that was?  The secret to this entire recipe is the vinaigrette. You will definitely taste lemon in the chicken without it, but holy cow, that vinaigrette makes a huge difference.  It’s got just the right balance of smokey, sweet, and tart flavors, and any leftover is great on salads, grilled seafood, or just about anything else you can think of.  Here’s a little trick:  You can place your hot grilled chicken directly onto a platter of spinach, then add the dressing.   The spinach wilts just a little bit, and you end of with your main protein and a nice side dish all on one platter.  All you need is some crusty bread for soaking up all of those juices or some rice and you are good to go!!

Grilled Limoncello Chicken

Roberta Reynolds

This is not your ordinary, every day lemon chicken. This recipe provides the double whammy of a Limoncello and fresh lemon-infused marinade and a drizzling of Limoncello and fresh lemon vinaigrette before serving. To add a mellower note to the vinaigrette, grill the lemons right along side the chicken. Not too shabby.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings 6 Servings

Ingredients

  

• FOR THE CHICKEN
• Your choice of chicken: boneless skinless thighs or breasts work just fine. This recipe should easily accommodate 3-4 pounds of chicken
• 2 lemons
• FOR THE BRINE This step is optional
• ¼ cup water to every quart of cold water
• FOR THE MARINADE:
• 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 cup Limoncello
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt only if you did not brine the chicken
• FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
• 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ½ cup Limoncello
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Zest from 2 lemons
• Juice from the 2 grilled lemons listed in the ‘For the Chicken section of this recipe)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• FOR THE CHICKEN
• The day before serving, brine the chicken for one hour in the brine mixture noted above. Drain and set aside when time is up. (NOTE: THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL)
• When ready to grill: Heat grill to medium-high. Place reserved lemon halves on the grill and grill until softened and grill marks appear. Remove chicken from marinade and grill until internal temperature reaches 165 for breasts, and 180 for thighs
• FOR THE MARINADE
• While chicken is brining, make the marinade. Combine olive oil, Limoncello, lemon juice and garlic. Place chicken in a zip lock bag and pour in marinade. Lay flat in a glass dish and turn every once in awhile to make sure marinade gets a chance to infuse into all of the chicken. You can do this up to 24 hours in advance of grilling.
• FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
• Remove the zest from the lemons, cut in half and set aside. Combine the zest with the Limoncello and Dijon mustard. SLOWLY drizzle the Extra Virgin Olive Oil into the other ingredients. This is much easier if you happen to have a blender handy, but doing it the old fashioned way with your bare hands works too. You want to give the oil enough time to get to know that mustard and form a thickened emulsion. If you go too fast, they won't get together very well and your vinaigrette either won't be thick and rich, and it might look curdled or broken. Translation = Patience is a big deal here.
• Set aside once you've gotten that far.
• When your grilled lemons come off the grill, squeeze their juice into the vinaigrette and mix well.
• Check for seasonings and add salt and pepper if needed.
• When chicken is cooked and comes off the grill, drizzle generously with Vinaigrette before chowing down.