Roast Chicken
How To Roast a Whole Chicken
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 3 to 4 lbs. whole chicken
- 2 lemons cut in half crosswise
- 2 garlic heads unpeeled, cut in half crosswise
- 1 large shallot unpeeled, cut in half crosswise
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter melted + more if needed**
- 2 to 3 tablespoons mixture of fresh herbs: parsley rosemary, oregano diced
- kosher salt
- pepper freshly cracked
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place whole chicken on a cutting board and pat dry with a paper towel. Truss your chicken with some sturdy kitchen twine or butchers twine.
- Transfer chicken, breast side up, to a baking dish or large cast iron skillet. Arrange lemons, garlic and shallot cut sides down in the skillet around the chicken.
- Drizzle the melted butter all over the chicken (**If you want more flavor, feel free to use more butter and rub some butter under the skin as well). Sprinkle the finely diced fresh herbs over the chicken and season generously with salt and pepper. Make sure you get every surface of chicken with a generous amount of salt and pepper.
- Transfer to oven and roast until chicken is nicely browned and cooked through, checking for doneness after about 55 minutes. To check, carefully remove skillet from oven, poke a knife into leg joints, and pierce the meat. If the juices run clear, your chicken is done. If you see a rosy pink color, it needs more time. Continue to roast, checking every 5 minutes, until juices run clear.
- Let chicken rest in skillet for at least 15 minutes before carving. Transfer chicken to a platter. Top with pan juices and serve with roasted lemon and garlic. Enjoy or pack into air tight containers to be used for recipes throughout the week!
Video
Notes
Make sure you are working with a room temperature whole chicken if you can. The chicken will cook more evenly if it's room temp before going into the oven.