Lemon Basil Chicken
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We picked up a free range chicken from Gills & Beaks Game Farm at the Oshkosh Farmer’s Market over the weekend and it was great! I strongly encourage you to buy fresh local food whenever you can.
Ingredients
- One whole Chicken
Rub
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- Hint of Cinnamon
Marinade
- Approx 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 big bunch Basil
- 5-6 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon Rub (recipe above)
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 2 tablespoons Honey
Basting mixture
As you can see this is a lot of basil.

Mix all of the seasonings together to make the rub. This will go into the marinade and the basting mixture as well. Blend all of the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor. Put all of the ingredients for the basting mixture in a small sauce pan and set it aside.

One of the easiest ways to grill a whole chicken is to butterfly it. To butterfly the chicken, you just need to cut the back bone out with a knife or a pair of poultry shears and press it down flat. By doing this, we maximize the grilling surface of the chicken and cut down on cooking time since it is flat. Season the bird with the remainder of the Rub.

Coat both sides of the chicken with the marinade and get it under the skin. Refrigerate for 4 - 6 hours or overnight.

Grill the butterflied chicken indirectly at about 400 - 450 degrees for about 30 - 45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. 
For the last 10-15 minutes grill over direct heat and baste with the butter mixture.


Andy -
Thanks for the comment on BasilandGinger.com! The recipes you’ve posted look great. Lemon and basil recipes seem to be all the rage this Summer. Epicurious.com even had a recipe for basil lemonade. Susan and I will definitely try a version of this lemon basil chicken.
Thanks! Our farmers market has so much fresh great basil on the cheap we just can’t pass it up. basil lemonade sounds like it might be good.
Your pictures are really great…I love the smothered green ‘lil chicken
Everything is looking awesome and tasty!!!
What are the round things in that last picture? Looks really good.
meeso,
Thanks for the kind words.
He’s my ‘lil green buddy.
John,
Breaded and fried zucchini. I ran out of breadcrumbs so I crushed up some pita chips for the breading and it actually worked out nicely.
This looks lovely! In my opinion, you can never have too much basil!
wow!!! my mouth’s watering…
My boss’s garden is overflowing with basil. I had better scoot over there this weekend!! The chicken looks amazing. Lemon and basil are a great marriage of flavours!!!