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Home Collections Roasts

Roast Chicken

By:Nagi
Published:18 Jan '19Updated:6 May '20
677 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Roast Chicken slathered with a garlic-herb-lemon butter then oven roasted to golden crispy perfection.

Juicy on the inside, and served with liquid gold pan juices loaded with flavour, this is THE Roast Chicken recipe you’ll make over and over again!

Overhead photo of Roast Chicken in a roasting pan with garlic-herb-lemom butter, fresh out of the oven

The best Roast Chicken recipe is….

….. juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside with golden skin that’s buttery and herby and garlicky with just a subtle perfume of lemon to remind you it’s there without overwhelming.

It creates its own pan juices that’s 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!

Lemon butter white wine pan juices being poured over sliced Roast Chicken.

How to make the BEST roast chicken!

The best roast chicken has garlic herb butter under and on the skin, is stuffed with lemon and herbs, roasted until it’s crispy and deep golden on the outside, and juicy on the inside.

It’s really easy to prepare a whole chicken for roasting. The trick is to use an upside down dessert spoon to loosen the skin – the shape hugs the curves of the chicken and it doesn’t tear the skin.

Then simply spoon the garlic-herb-butter under the skin then spread it from the outside. OR hold it upright and drizzle in (see photos below) – whatever you find easier!

TIP: Use most of the butter under the skin, that’s where you get the most bang for your buck. Plus, garlic burns on the skin so you don’t want too much on the surface.

After the chicken is all buttered up, place it on a bed of garlic and onion. This serves two purposes:

  1. Elevates the chicken off the base of the pan for more even cooking (otherwise the underside sits in the pan juices and will cook faster); and

  2. Adds extra flavour into the pan juices used as the sauce for this recipe. OR used for gravy!

How to make the best roast chicken

How to make Oven Roasted Chicken

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

I like to stuff the chicken with a wedges of lemon and a couple of sprigs of rosemary. Not so much for the flavour, because in truth, you can just barely taste it. It’s more for the perfume you get when you cut into the chicken so it seems like you can taste it.

And this is the reason why I do not put garlic inside oven roasted chicken. There’s no point – it doesn’t get hot enough to make any difference to flavour and just steams.

Flavour bomb set, now it’s time for the easy part – roasting.

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

10 minutes at 220C/450F, then 1 hr 15 minutes at 180C/350F until the internal temperature is 75C/165F or until juices run clear.

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

 

Close up of cut crispy skin Roast Chicken with garlic herb lemon butter juices running down the side.

But….. I want gravy!!

OK OK, hold the tantrum! It’s all good! I have the gravy recipe in the notes.😇

But really, give the liquid gold a go one of these days…. It’s crazy good! I mean, it’s garlic butter. Infused with herb flavours and a hint of lemon. Mingling with roasted chicken juices.

Watch the video. It tastes even better than it looks! – Nagi x


More whole chicken recipes

  • Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken (set and forget!)

  • Jamie Oliver’s Chicken in Milk (seriously delish!)

  • Thomas Kellers’ Brine for Chicken

  • Coconut Pot Roasted Chicken

  • Chicken Noodle Soup – from scratch!

What to do with leftovers?

Use it to make epic Bread Bowl Sandwich, Chicken Pasta Salad, Chinese Chicken Salad or toss it into a Frittata or Omelette! salad

Overhead photo of golden Roast Chicken with crispy skin, fresh out of the oven, bathed in garlic-herb-lemon butter.

Best of Sunday Supper Roasts

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Roast Chicken recipe
Watch how to make it

Sometimes it helps to have a visual – so watch me make this Roast Chicken recipe!

Roast Chicken recipe originally published May 2016, improved May 2018. Updated for housekeeping matters January 2019, no change to recipe. It’s perfect as is! 🙂

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Overhead photo of golden Roast Chicken with crispy skin, fresh out of the oven, bathed in garlic-herb-lemon butter.

Roast Chicken

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 1 hr 30 mins
Total: 1 hr 45 mins
Dinner, Roasts
4.98 from 220 votes
Servings5
Tap or hover to scale
Print
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RECIPE VIDEO ABOVE. Slathered with a garlic-herb-lemon butter, this roast chicken is juicy on the inside with crispy golden skin on the outside. An all round flavour bomb with the most incredible liquid gold pan juices to use as the sauce! See notes for gravy option and cook times for other chicken sizes. 

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 , finely chopped (Note 1)
  • 2 tsp rosemary , finely chopped (Note 1)
  • 1 tbsp parsley , finely chopped (Note 1)
  • 1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper

Under Chook:

  • 1 cup / 250 ml dry white wine , or low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 onion , quartered (Note 2)
  • 1 garlic bulb , halved horizontally (Note 2)

Instructions

  • Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
  • Preheat oven to 220C/450F (standard) or 200C/430F (fan/convection). Put shelf in the middle.
  • Mix together Butter ingredients. Add juice from 2 wedges of lemon.
  • Place chicken in a roasting pan. Use a dessert spoon to loosen skin from chicken (see video). Do the top (the breast) and the drumsticks – not the underside.
  • Prop chicken upright, drizzle butter under skin, using most of the garlic/herb sludge, but saving a bit of butter for the skin (Note 3).
  • Drizzle / smear remaining butter all over surface of the chicken. Squeeze over juice of 2 lemon wedges.
  • Stuff used lemon wedges and rosemary inside chicken.
  • Tie drumstick ends with string and tuck wing tips under the chicken.
  • Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.
  • Place onion and garlic in the pan, place chicken on top. Pour wine around, drizzle chicken with oil.
  • Transfer to oven. Roast for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 180C/350F (all oven types). Roast for a further 1 hr 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 75C/165F or until juices run clear when pierced at the join 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 juices (see video for how to carve). I discard onion but use the garlic in the pan. See notes for side suggestions & how to use 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 flavoured dried herbs like thyme, oregano, sage, mixed herbs, tarragon or 3 tsp of light flavoured dried herbs like dill, parsley, dill)
2. Onion and garlic: These serve 2 purposes: elevate chicken out of liquid a bit and they add tons of flavour into 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 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 minimise the garlic sludge on the skin.
4. GRAVY option:
50 g / 3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp / 40 g flour (any white)
2 cups / 500 ml liquid from pan topped up with low sodium chicken broth
Melt butter over medium heat, add flour, stir for 1 minute. Add half the liquid while whisking. Once incorpoated and lump free, add remaining liquid. Continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring regularly, until gravy thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. COOK TIMES: 10 minutes at 220C/450F, then 20 minutes for every 500g/1lb at 180C/350F until the internal temperature is 75C/165F or until juices run clear. This assumes the chicken was taken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. If it’s fridge cold, add another 10 minutes to the cook time.
6. TYING DRUMSTICKS: I find it easiest to use one piece of string, wrap string around one leg, then yank the other leg closer and wrap string around that one to. Then once string is around both of them, it's much easier to handle to use the string to pull then together then wrap the string around both of them tightly so they are crossed over each other.
7. CARCASS and leftover bits/juices: Scrape it all into a pot or slow cooker, add water so water is about 2.5cm / 1" above chicken. Add 2 tsp Vegeta or chicken stock powder or 2 crumbled cubes, celery, carrot and a few garlic cloves (chunky pieces) and 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. Use as incredible broth for Chicken Noodle Soup or Chicken Rice Soup.
8. SIDES: Roast potatoes (cut, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs, roast under chicken for 40 minutes), mashed potato or cauliflower, or garlic bread. Also try Potatoes au Gratin or Easy Cheesy Potato Bake - can make ahead then reheat in oven quickly. 
Pictured on the very edge of photo in post is this Kale Quinoa Salad (I often have it on hand as it lasts for days and days). Other great salads: Corn Salad with Avocado and Tomato, Roast Pumpkin Spinach Salad, a garden salad with Italian or French Dressing.
9. Nutrition assumes 1.2kg / 2.4lb of meat, remainder is bones discarded. Also assumes all pan juices are consumed which they probably won't be, also you lose some in the onion/garlic/discarded chicken.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 399gCalories: 505cal (25%)
Keywords: roast chicken
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life of Dozer

Like a mohawk – gone wrong. (Aftermath of a knee operation he had back in May 2018 when this recipe was first published…)

Dozer the golden retriever with a shaved rump

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

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677 Comments

  1. Jen Rodriguez says

    October 17, 2018 at 7:58 am

    Hi, how much salt do you add to a 4lb chicken? If you use 1/2 tsp for the butter mixture, should I put about 3 1/2 tsps. of salt n the outside?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 17, 2018 at 8:43 am

      HI Jen! For a chicken that size use the ingredients per the recipe 🙂

      Reply
  2. Kerryn says

    October 13, 2018 at 7:15 am

    Nagi – have you got a video somewhere on how to cut & serve a whole roast chicken?

    Reply
  3. Barbara says

    October 11, 2018 at 11:06 am

    5 stars
    It is cooking now. My home smells like heaven. When done I am transporting it in the cookpot to another place for dinner. I already know the smell in the car will drive me mad! Won’t be doing gravy but the juices will be very well used. But oh, my, goodness, it smells so divine in here.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 12, 2018 at 12:53 pm

      Ba ha ha I can relate! driving with freshly made delicious food is TORTURE! 😂

      Reply
  4. Kurara says

    October 7, 2018 at 3:22 am

    5 stars
    Hi Nagi, thanks for the recipe! Can I substitute butter with olive oil?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 7, 2018 at 3:41 am

      You sure can!! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Bar says

    October 4, 2018 at 9:08 am

    5 stars
    Best Sunday night roast chicken ever! Gravy using herb butter and pan juices was “drop the fork” delicious.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 5, 2018 at 2:00 pm

      Love hearing that Bar! Thanks for letting me know! N x

      Reply
  6. Mike BB says

    October 1, 2018 at 7:55 am

    5 stars
    My go-to chicken recipe. Big hit with the family!

    Reply
  7. Jen says

    September 26, 2018 at 4:39 pm

    5 stars
    I have this in the oven now, except I have 2 birds in one roasting pan. If you see this in time, will this alter the times by a huge amount? Do I count the two birds together? Or is it basically the same because the birds are 2 small ones?
    I really should have asked this prior to starting lol
    I’m gonna go ahead and give you 5 stars because this smells AMAAAAZING cooking, I’ll just check the temps with a thermometer as I go 😉

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 26, 2018 at 8:08 pm

      Sorry I missed this message while they were in the oven! 🙂 If you have 2 birds, roast for the time of the larger bird PLUS about 20% extra time. That’s my rule of thumb as a starting point! N x

      Reply
  8. Greg says

    September 14, 2018 at 10:37 am

    5 stars
    Did not disappoint. It was delicious. Putting the butter mixture under the skin made it so tender. And the juice. Don’t get me started. Well done.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 14, 2018 at 8:37 pm

      That’s so great to hear Greg!! So glad you enjoyed this, thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x

      Reply
  9. Kayla says

    September 13, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    5 stars
    I’ve gotten bored with simple salt and pepper roast chicken and was happy to stumble upon this recipe. It was super yummy! I cheated and used storebought garlic butter and the results were scrumptious.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 14, 2018 at 9:21 pm

      That’s so great to hear Kayla!! So glad you enjoyed this, thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x

      Reply
  10. Bird says

    September 2, 2018 at 1:22 pm

    Can I roast it with a dove inside for addad flavor?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 3, 2018 at 12:22 pm

      I would LOVE to know how that goes!!

      Reply
  11. Joann Roberto says

    August 4, 2018 at 6:23 am

    Love that chicken you roasted. The ingredients are all In your kitchen and the best part is preparation is easy. I will be making that for dinner. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      August 4, 2018 at 12:34 pm

      Hope you enjoy it Joann! N x

      Reply
  12. Montrealgal says

    July 24, 2018 at 1:46 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious! From the moment it went into the oven I became extremely hungry, haha.

    I misread a few instructions so it had burnt a tiny tiny tiny bit but it was still delicious.

    Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 25, 2018 at 7:59 pm

      Glad you loved this Montrealgal!! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x

      Reply
  13. Kathleen says

    July 16, 2018 at 12:16 am

    5 stars
    Loved this recipe! So easy and really tasty!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 16, 2018 at 8:50 pm

      Love hearing that Kathleen! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️

      Reply
  14. Trisha says

    June 26, 2018 at 8:14 am

    Do you think it would be possible to prepare the chicken, freeze it then defrost and roast? I live in South America and friends are coming. I’d really like to have stuff frozen and ready to go.

    Reply
    • Walter says

      July 8, 2018 at 8:21 am

      5 stars
      Yes. I’ve done that before.

      Reply
  15. Betty Mixon says

    June 26, 2018 at 7:27 am

    Tried recepie smells great. Only thing didn’t brown like yours had to turn oven to 400.

    Reply
  16. Sara says

    June 25, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    5 stars
    Winner winner! Made this tonight and it was so succulent and tasty. I have been looking for a go- to roast chicken recipe for years and I’ve finally found it!

    Reply
  17. Mona says

    June 22, 2018 at 1:19 pm

    Hi Nagi
    Can you suggest some dairy free options to butter? Thanks a lot.
    Love your recipes!
    Mona x

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 22, 2018 at 9:53 pm

      Hi Mona! Extra virgin olive oil will be a terrific sub! 🙂

      Reply
  18. Linde says

    June 19, 2018 at 6:49 am

    5 stars
    Made this yesterday. Boneheaded me, I forgot to baste it so it didn’t have that gorgeous crispy skin. But I gotta tell ya, that meat was moist and juicy like i’ve never seen before. Your process using a spoon to loosen skin and just pouring the MELTED butter goo under the skin is ingenious! Gone are the days of up to my wrist inside a chicken to baste! Ugh. Thanks, N for another great recipe and a new technique!

    Reply
  19. Aniza says

    June 19, 2018 at 1:34 am

    5 stars
    This is the best roast chicken I ever made following not 100% to your recipe in term of herbs but my whole family loves it. I used 2 chickens in about 1.3kg each so that we can get lot of crispy tasty skins. Love your method drizzle the melted garlic butter herbs under the skin. Brilliant!

    Thank you so much for the recipe.

    Reply
  20. Denise says

    June 16, 2018 at 10:21 am

    Once I season it like the directions above, Can i marinate In the refrigerator for 24 hours before cooking it?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 18, 2018 at 9:03 pm

      Hi Denise! You can if you like, and that will essentially dry brine it, making it even juicier! However, just note that it does affect how the skin comes out, it is crispy but if kind of comes out thinner. Hard to describe. Still very tasty! And the flesh will be noticeably juicier! N x

      Reply
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