Best Roast Chicken Recipe

The best Roast Chicken recipe is….

On the inside, it’s juicy, and on the exterior, it’s crispy, with golden skin that’s buttery, herby, and garlicky, with just a hint of lemon to remind you it’s there without being overpowering.

It creates its own pan juices that are used as the sauce for the chicken. This stuff is liquid gold!

This is the chicken version of the Herb and Garlic Butter Roasted Turkey Breast I shared for Christmas / Thanksgiving last year. I’ve lost count of how many messages there were asking for a chicken version – and I’m finally sharing it! 

How to make the BEST roast chicken!

The greatest roast chicken has garlic herb butter under and on the skin, is packed with lemon and herbs, and is roasted until the outside is crispy and deep golden, and the inside is juicy.

Preparing a whole chicken for roasting is simple. The technique is to loosen the skin with an upside-down dessert spoon – the shape hugs the curves of the bird and doesn’t tear it.

Then spoon the garlic-herb butter beneath the skin and spread it from the outside. OR, if you prefer, hold it upright and sprinkle it in.

TIP: Put the majority of the butter under your skin to get the most bang for your dollars. Garlic also burns the skin, so don’t put too much on the surface.

Place the chicken on a bed of garlic and onion once it has been buttered. This accomplishes two goals:

1. Elevates the chicken off the pan’s bottom for more equal cooking (the underside would normally sit in the pan juices and cook faster); and
2. Increases the flavor of the pan juices used in this recipe’s sauce. OR it can be used to make gravy!

How to make the BEST roast chicken (cont’d)

I like to fill the chicken with a few rosemary sprigs and lemon wedges. Not for the flavor, because in reality, you can hardly detect it. It’s mainly for the aroma that comes out when you cut into the chicken, making it appear as though you can taste it.

And it’s for this reason that I don’t use garlic in my oven-roasted chicken. It’s pointless because it doesn’t get hot enough to change the flavor and only steams.

Now that the flavor bomb has been created, it’s time to move on to the simple part: ROASTING!!

How long does it take to roast a 2 kg chicken?

10 minutes at 220°C/450°F, then 1 hour and 15 minutes at 180°C/350°F until internal temperature reaches 75°C/165°F or juices run clear.

The recipe is as follows: 10 minutes at 220°C/450°F, then 20 minutes at 180°C/350°F for every 500g/1lb until the internal temperature reaches 75°C/165°F or the juices run clear.

But….. I want gravy!!

OK Hold the tantrum, please! Everything is fine! In my notes, I have the gravy recipe.

But seriously, try the liquid gold one of these days… It’s incredible! It’s garlic butter, after all. Herb flavors and a dash of lemon are infused into this drink. mingling with the juices of grilled chicken

Read the blog. It’s even amazing than it appears! 

Ingredients

• 1.75 – 2 kg / 3.5 – 4lb whole chicken , patted dry
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 3 rosemary sprigs
  

BUTTER:

• 100 g / 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp sage
• 2 tsp rosemary
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper
  

UNDER CHOOK:

• 1 cup / 250 ml dry white wine
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic bulb

Instructions

• 30 minutes before cooking, remove the chicken from the refrigerator.
  
• Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius (450 degrees Fahrenheit) (conventional) or 200 degrees Celsius (430 degrees Fahrenheit) (fan/convection). Place the shelf in the center.
  
• Combine the ingredients for the Butter. Add the juice from two lemon slices.
  
• In a roasting pan, place the chicken. To loosen the skin from the chicken, use a dessert spoon (see video). Do the top (breast) and drumsticks, but not the bottom.
  
• Drizzle butter under the skin of the chicken, using most of the garlic/herb sludge but saving a little for the skin (Note 3).
  
• Drizzle or smear the remaining butter all over the chicken’s surface. 2 lemon slices, squeezed over the top
  
• Inside the chicken, lemon wedges and rosemary were used.
  
• Tuck the wing tips under the bird and tie the drumstick ends with twine.
  
• Season with salt and pepper all over.
  
• Place the chicken on top of the onion and garlic in the pan. Pour wine all over the chicken and sprinkle it with oil.
  
• Place in the oven. Roast for 10 minutes before lowering the temperature to 180°C/350°F (all oven types). Roast for another 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 75°C/165°F and the juices run clear when pierced at the drumstick-to-body joint. Baste twice, once after 30 minutes and again after 1 hour, spooning pan juices over the skin.
  
• Rest for 15 minutes without covering; if you do, your skin will become damp.
  
• Serve with any remaining pan juices (see video for how to carve). I throw out the onion but keep the garlic in the pan. See the notes for side dish ideas and how to make wonderful homemade broth with the carcass!