One of my husband’s favorite meals is a Classic Roasted Chicken over potatoes. It’s so simple and satisfying, but the best part is that my husband and I can’t eat a whole chicken. So, we are especially excited for this meal, because the meals I can make with the leftovers guarantee home cooking for a least a few days. I know what your thinking, “Diana, you cook for a living, don’t you always have great home-cooked meals?” The simple answer is, no. Despite the fact that I do this for a living, some days, especially after cooking for a lot of other people all week, it’s hard to keep the ball rolling. I think I experience what a lot of other people do in this department. Some nights, I’m the random meal MacGyver. No plan, no problem! Other nights, I open the fridge around dinner time and think “pizza?”. It really is nice, on those “pizza” nights to instead, open the fridge and see food ready to eat. Roasted chicken is by far my best way to show you how one nights prep can beget many meals, stretch your budget, and save you lots of time.
Perfectly roasted chicken with crisp skin and moist juice meat, flavored with garlic and lemons.
Raw ingredient preparation. Before handling the chicken, I prepare everything I need to stuff and season the bird.
Whole Chicken pat dry and seasoned with compound butter and stuffed with onion, lemons, and fresh herbs.
Preparing The Chicken Properly is the Key to Crispy Skin and Juicy Meat.
Pat the chicken with a paper towel to make sure the skin is dry. Soften the butter and mix in herbs and spice. butter the entire chicken making sure to get under the wings and inside the body. Then tuck the wings, stuff lemons, onions, and garlic inside and tie up or skewer the legs together. Roast on 425° for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350° for an additional hour. By Starting at a high temperature, you are causing the skin to sear and seal in all of the moisture.
Perfectly Roasted Chicken with crisp skin and juicy meat. The pan dripping can make a delicious gravy.
Perfectly Carved Roasted Chicken
Carving a Roast Chicken Perfectly Is Easier Than you Think.
I carve the chicken by removing the leg and thigh at the joint. They should come away from body by simply twisting them upwards towards the breast and using butcher knife to help separate the joint. Remove the wings the same way. Then use your knife to the breast meat. Bring your knife in as close to the breast bone as possible and cut away one whole side of the breast. Then cut it into slices. Do the same to the other side.
If you liked this recipe try Lemon Sage Braised Chicken Thighs.
What to do With Leftover Chicken: Leftover Makeover
To make sure nothing goes to waste, I make up this awesome Waldorf Chicken salad to use up the leftovers.
“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” Arnold H. Glasow
Classic Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 Whole chicken Remove neck and giblits
- 1 Stick Butter
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary Removed From Stem Dry is ok 2 tsp
- 2 Tsp Cracked Pepper
- 1 Red Onion Thick Slices
- 2-3 Lemons
- 2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Red Onion Thick Slices
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 °F. Prepare a roasting pan or baking dish.
- Remove Chicken from package, take out any extra parts left in the body cavity, and pat dry with paper towels.
- Make a compound butter by softening (not melting) 1 stick of butter. Crush or finely chop garlic cloves. Strip washed rosemary from stem. Add Salt and Pepper. Squeeze 1/2 lemon in and combine.
- Rub down the inside of the chicken with a small amount of compound butter, then spread the remaining butter evening over the chicken.
- Cut lemons in half and place inside the chicken with rosemary to retain moisture. Lay thick slices of onion on the bottom of the pan to place chicken on during roasting.
- Put chicken in the oven on a low rack at 425 ° for 20 minutes.
- Lower the temperature to 350° and finish cooking for about 1 hour.
- The only way to know if a chicken is done is to get a thermometer and stick into the breast. Find the meatiest part possible and measure from there. If you hit bone quickly it will not be a good reading. The finished temp should be 165°
- Remove from oven and let rest, covered with foil for 20minutes.
- Carve and serve.
This sounds to die for!! Pinned! 🙂
Thank you! I made it twice this week so I can make a chicken salad. Recipe coming.
Thanks so much for sharing this awesome Roasted Chicken with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you are having a great weekend and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
I enjoyed my visit. I will surely return. Great contributors and a great blog!