Roasted Chicken

 

Roast Chicken

Experience golden crispy perfection with our garlic-herb-lemon butter roast chicken!  Juicy inside and drizzled with liquid gold pan juices, this is the roast chicken recipe you'll crave repeatedly!  

Pro Tip: Use an upside-down dessert spoon to sneak that buttery goodness under the skin without tearing it. 

Place your masterpiece on a bed of garlic and onion for even cooking magic!

Adds extra flavor to the pan juices used as the sauce for gravy!

Stuff your chicken with lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs for that heavenly aroma! While the flavor is subtle, the scent will make every bite unforgettable.  

Skip the garlic—there's no magic in steaming it inside! 

Now for the fun part: roasting!  

Start by roasting at 450°F for just 10 minutes.

Then, lower the heat to 350°F and let it cook for 1 hr 15 min or until those juices run clear.

Remember: you're aiming for that juicy internal temp of 165°F!

Craving gravy?

Dive into this liquid gold – it's a game-changer! Imagine garlic butter, infused with herbs and a splash of lemon, all mingling with roasted chicken juices. Use my chicken gravy recipe at https://potpourrioffrugality.blogspot.com/2026/02/chicken-gravy-mix.html

 Cook:  1hour hr 45minutes mins

Servings5

 Ingredients

3.5 – 4lb whole chicken, patted dry

Salt and pepper

2 tsp olive oil

1 lemon, quartered.

3 rosemary sprigs

Butter:

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp sage, finely chopped

2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper

1cup dry white wine, or chicken broth

1onion, quartered

1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally

Instructions

Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.

Preheat oven to 450F or 430F. Put a shelf in the middle.

Mix together the butter ingredients. Add juice from 2 wedges of lemon.

Place chicken in a roasting pan. Use a dessert spoon to loosen skin from chicken. Do the top (the breast) and the drumsticks – not the underside.

Place chicken upright, drizzle butter under skin, using most of the garlic/herb sludge, but saving a bit of butter for the skin.

Drizzle/smear remaining butter all over the surface of the chicken. Squeeze the juice of 2 lemon wedges.

Stuff used lemon wedges and rosemary inside the chicken.

Tie drumstick ends with a string and tuck wing tips under the chicken.

Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.

Place the onion and garlic in the pan, and place the chicken on top. Pour wine around, and drizzle chicken with oil.

Transfer to the oven. Roast for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350F. Roast for a further 1 hr. 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 165F or until juices run clear when pierced at the joint between the drumstick and the body. Baste twice (30 min then at 1 hr), spooning pan juices over skin.

Rest for 15 minutes – don’t cover, skin becomes wet.

Serve with pan juice or Gravy. I save both the garlic and onion with leftover drippings and put in a pot, and use the carcass for incredible homemade broth!

Recipe Notes:

1. Herbs – Rosemary and sage are classic pairings with chicken; parsley adds more green specks in the butter and a tiny touch of freshness. Feel free to use herbs of choice. Go easy with more rosemary – it’s a strong herb.

Can also sub with 2 – 3 tsp of dried herbs of choice (use 2 tsp of strong-flavored dried herbs like thyme, oregano, sage, mixed herbs, tarragon, or 3 tsp of light-flavored dried herbs like dill, parsley)

2. Onion and garlic: These serve 2 purposes: elevate the chicken out of the liquid a bit, and they add tons of flavor to the pan juices used as the sauce. I don’t bother peeling the onion because I usually discard it – because it sits under the chicken, it gets slimy and very oily. Feel free to use a peeled onion and eat it.

3. Garlic-herb-butter: Get most of the garlic-herb sludge under the skin because if it’s on the surface of the skin, the garlic burns. So minimize the garlic sludge on the skin.

GRAVY option:
Use my chicken gravy recipe at https://potpourrioffrugality.blogspot.com/2026/02/chicken-gravy-mix.html

CARCASS and leftover bits/juices: Scrape all into a pot or slow cooker, add water so water is about 1″ above carcass. Add 2 tsp chicken bouillon or 2 crumbled cubes, celery, carrot, and the garlic and onion from the roasting pan, plus a few sprigs of fresh herbs like thyme/rosemary/parsley OR 1 tsp dried herbs. Simmer 1 hour / slow cooker 6 hours, strain. Pick out/off bits of chicken to use in soup.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with 40 years of experience in writing, 12 of which are in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts degree in Business Management, a bachelor’s in mass communication and cyber-analysis, a master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft, and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, gouache, and pastels. As a political operative who has worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs ranging from art to life coaching, food, writing, Gardening, and opinion or history pieces each week.

Passover Recipes, Kilbride, Jewish Cuisine, Potpourri of Frugality