I must be in a nostalgic mood these past few weeks because I’ve been craving dishes from my past that I haven’t had in decades, like this cheesy zucchini rice, no bake cheesecake and now lemon hot salt chicken!! It’s fun reliving the past through food isn’t it? I’m not sure if lemon hot salt chicken is the real name for this chicken but it’s what we always called it.
It’s a simple, no-fuss type dish that comes together with few ingredients. I’m really starting to get into retro recipes from the housewife era. I love how they have such few ingredients, come together quick, and taste great.
Growing up, we always had lemon hot salt chicken on Wednesdays, not sure what that was all about. Maybe because it was so quick to make. I had to dig deep for this recipe, even my grandmother couldn’t remember the exact measurements. Thank God for those old church fundraiser cookbooks. They never let me down. If you’re ever in Goodwill go to the book section because people are always dropping off those cookbook gems.
Anyway, this chicken is spicy, smokey, salty and so juicy and moist. If you’ve never used hot salt before then you’ll probably start after having this chicken. It taste good on anything that you want to give a smokey, salty taste to. I love it on this sweet grilled corn!
You can make your own hot salt, which is what I did for this recipe since I couldn’t find any Morton Hot Salt which I love. I think it was discontinued but you can order it online from Amazon, which is what I’ll be doing next time because I just freakin love that stuff and had forgotten all about it.
Watch me make this lemon hot salt chicken from start to finish!
Lemon Hot Salt Chicken
Ingredients
- MILD HOT SALT MIX
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/2 teaspoon hickory salt or any other smoked salt I used applewood smoked salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 whole chicken cut up (about 4-5 lbs)
- 1/2 cup butter melted (can use less)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Mix the hot salt spices together. Set aside.
- Add lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the hot salt to the melted butter and stir to combine.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the butter mixture.
- Place chicken on a roasting pan or grilling pan.
- When all the chicken has been dipped in butter, sprinkle generously with more hot salt. Really get it covered up!
- Add the extra butter if desired.
- (You can let it marinate in the fridge to maximize the flavors or throw it right into the oven)
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until juices run clear.
- Turn on the broiler the last few minutes of cooking to crisp the skin more if desired.
- Let chicken rest for 5-10 minutes when it comes out of the oven.
- Serve hot or cold. Taste great either way!!
Notes
Don't wanna make the homemade hot salt? No prob! You can buy hot salt in the spice section. I've only used Mortons and I think it was discontinued, but there are several other brands as well.
The homemade hot salt recipe is Mild in taste. I prefer is really hot but my Iittle one would never eat it. Feel free to increase the smoked salt and add cayenne if desired.
I have made this dish multiple times and it never disappoints. I sub the poultry seasoning for the thyme. And, since I can’t seem to find hickory salt, I just use kosher salt. I add a touch of cayenne and it turns out great. Thank you for an awesome recipe.
Just came across your site and I’m goin nuts!!!!!!You got it goin on and you keep it so real in the kitchen…KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK..
Hi … your recipes are off the hook. I keep seeing the Red Pepper flakes called for in the Recipes! Is this the same as chillie peppers?
I absolutely love your site and your recipes!! I have make this next week, it looks delish! Keep ’em coming!
Can I slow cook this chicken. Like 250 for two hours?
I about to try this with the mix seasonings, but wanted you to know that the Morton website still sells the hot salt in two pack. I’m glad I found your web site!!
What is mild hot salt mix?
This recipe was another hit. Paired with rice and green beans…. sooooo delicious. The hint of lemon was divine. Can you start a meal plan? Like what you pair your dishes with. Instead of smoke salt I used liquid smoke. I mixed the liquid smoke with melted butter and lemon juice and a little bit of of the dry seasonings. Then followed the recipe as you suggested.
Another hit in my house. I could not find the smoked salt or hickory salt and just used table salt and the seasonings still came out perfect. I will be making this again and will take the recomendation of letting it marinate overnight. Will def be making for Labor Day weekend!
Xini Zin
I’m trying to reduce my salt intake so I make my own blend as a salt substitute
6 teaspoons onion powder
3 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons ground oregano
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 tablespoons mustard powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
This blend will serve as the 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt.
Lovely ! Really !!! You do it very funny and happy and your recipes are very nice and tasty ! I love your Iced Tea !!! I tried this chicken too and it was SOOOO GOOD !
So thank you allot !
I LOVE YOU 🙂
plz tell me how can i substitute all these different kinds of salts as we dont get any special salts here in India. we only get plain salts.
Just use the regular salt; its still SOOO good
Do you have a recipe for lemon pepper wings?
Just wanted to tell you THAAAAANKKK YOU!!!! I don’t know what it is about you, your recipes and youtube videos, but I’m hooked and inspired!!! I’m a 24 y.o. male who, just a month or two ago would complain about how I did NOT like cooking “It’s boring…takes too long…blah blah blah.” Surprisingly, I want Food Network ALLLL the time, however it was your YouTube videos that have allowed me to find the fun in cooking. The recipes are fairly simple, yet flavorful…which makes it fun for me!! I Instigram all my kitchen feats nowadays just because I’m proud to be doing something in the kitchen!! So I just wanted to thank you for sharing your passion and igniting my fire! With that being said I cooked my first full meal yesterday! Lemon hot salt chicken (by the way I spent 30 mins looking for hot salt and then smoked salt and people thought I was crazy because they didn’t know what I was talking about and no stores carry it so I had to home make it using liquid smoke instead), cabbage (I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook this!–EASY!!), and twice baked sweet potatoes (I pulled mine out too early so I messed it up a little, but they ended up pretty good…will be trying again soon!)!!! It was sooo good, my roommate is definitely enjoying my newfound addiction in the kitchen LOL. Oh and today I made the peach cobbler….it was tasty (although I’ll probably add more peach juice next time) and all my facebook friends were surprised and proud of me LOL. Next up: mac ‘n cheese, banana pudding….and I’ve gotta find a veggie and meat to go with it! Ok, I’ve rambled on tooooo much but, again, I just wanted to thank you and tell you to keep the recipes coming!! Oh yea, and keep on shouting us fellas out too in the vids! Makes me feel less like a diva…which is a good thing! LOL God Bless You!
Thanks Juwon for the recommendation of Liquid Smoke. I searched for weeks for the Smoked Hot Sauce.
Hi Monique I really want to make this recipe but I have no idea where I can find hot salt or hickory smoked salt. Do you have ideas I’m from Philly.
Thanks
It looks soooooo yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I halved the recipe (used 5 thighs). I used the same amount of seasoning (because I love seasoning) and used about half the butter mixture and marinated overnight. This was very good!
I cooked this for me and my husband he loved it!
This is simply ahhhh-mazing! In our Facebook group Sistahs Can Cook we are going crazy over this recipe!
This was soooooo good! Thank you so much!
I am trying this recipe tonight. I’m still thinking about what to pair it with *hmmm* Thanks Monique!
Thanks Diva for finding and sharing this recipe. It looks well worth it!