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–+ servings
Carving roast chicken with lemon and herbs.

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs

5 from 3 votes
How to roast the perfect chicken in a few easy steps ~ so much better than rotisserie!
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Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time:1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • roasting pan or baking sheet

Ingredients
 

  • 4-5 lb young whole chicken
  • 1 lemon, scrubbed and cut into wedges
  • fresh herbs such as rosemary, parsley, thyme, tarragon
  • 1 head garlic, sliced in half crosswise
  • 1 shallot, optional, peeled and rough chopped or halved
  • olive oil
  • sea salt
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp honey

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425F and make sure to allow it to reach full temperature.
  • Unwrap your chicken and remove the bag of giblets, if present. Drain any juices from the cavity and set in your roasting pan (do not rinse.) Pat the surface dry with paper towels. Stuff the cavity with the lemon quarters and bunches of fresh herbs. Add the garlic halves. Upend the chicken and drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into the cavity. If I have a shallot I'll throw that in too!
  • Tie the legs together with kitchen string. Season liberally with coarse salt. Use your fingers to dab/spread butter over the surface of the chicken. I give it a final drizzle with olive oil as well.
  • Slide the chicken into a preheated 425F oven. Set a timer for 70 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the chicken and brush lightly all over with honey and drizzle with more olive oil if it has not released any juices.
  • Return to the oven and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 160F. I like to baste the chicken with accumulated juices once or twice during this period.
  • USDA says: chicken must reach 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part to be safe. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.
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Course: dinner
Cuisine: American
Author: Sue Moran
Keyword: chicken, dinner, fall

Nutrition

Calories: 461 kcal · Carbohydrates: 9 g · Protein: 32 g · Fat: 32 g · Saturated Fat: 10 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 6 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 14 g · Trans Fat: 0.3 g · Cholesterol: 138 mg · Sodium: 144 mg · Potassium: 334 mg · Fiber: 0.02 g · Sugar: 9 g · Vitamin A: 330 IU · Vitamin C: 3 mg · Calcium: 21 mg · Iron: 2 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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