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Home Collections Roasts

Roast Chicken

By:Nagi
Published:18 Jan '19Updated:6 May '20
656 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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  • See all Roasts

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! 🙂

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

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 200 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 @RecipeTinEats.

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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656 Comments

  1. Zinia says

    May 5, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    5 stars
    I made this recipe tonight, it was absolutely amazing! The whole family loved it. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 6, 2022 at 3:21 pm

      Awesome Zinia!! Enjoy! N x

      Reply
  2. Tamara says

    May 3, 2022 at 8:48 am

    Hi Nagi, I’m keen to try this, but wondering if I did two chicken in one large scanpan at the same time (economies of scale, family of 6, also for when we have visitors) how much time should I add? What about 4 chickens in two trays?
    Thank you 😊

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 4, 2022 at 3:54 pm

      As long as the air can circulate around the birds you shouldn’t have to add time – four whole chickens will cook in a similar time to 1 whole chicken as long as you aren’t smashing them together in the pan. N x

      Reply
  3. Agnes Ramsay says

    April 24, 2022 at 7:24 am

    5 stars
    I’ve made this recipe several times now, in fact I will never use another recipe for roasted chicken ever again it is so juicy and delicious! I don’t use sage or parsley, but otherwise stick to the recipe. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 24, 2022 at 2:10 pm

      Woo hoo!!! That’s great Agnes!! N x

      Reply
  4. Sasha says

    April 21, 2022 at 11:24 am

    5 stars
    This was INCREDIBLE. The flavor was spectacular, and the skin was delectable and the meat was so juicy and flavorful. I was out of garlic so I subbed garlic powder and still turned out amazing. I used potatoes under the chicken along with the onion and they tasted pretty good! The only thing I’d change is I would use an actual roasting rack next time. The chicken kept sliding off the vegetables into the liquid and some if the skin turned out a bit soggy/rubbery bc of that.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 21, 2022 at 2:37 pm

      Thanks for that feedback Sasha! I’m happy you enjoyed it! N x

      Reply
  5. Kelly says

    April 20, 2022 at 10:41 am

    5 stars
    Made this tonight, loved it!! Definitely going to be a staple in my repertoire. Thank you for so many practical and beyond-delicious recipes!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 20, 2022 at 4:06 pm

      Sometimes the classics are the best!! N x

      Reply
  6. Nicola says

    April 17, 2022 at 9:28 pm

    Made this for Easter lunch and it was amazing. Best roast chicken ever. Thank you so much x x

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 17, 2022 at 10:56 pm

      I am thrilled that you liked the chicken Nicola!! N x

      Reply
  7. Minnie says

    April 11, 2022 at 8:09 pm

    Hey Nagi, okay to brine the chicken in a buttermilk /salt mix for 24hrs first?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 12, 2022 at 2:27 pm

      Yes Minnie you could do that. I generally brine in buttermilk before frying but I guess it would work for roasting as well. You really don’t need to brine this one though – it’s very juicy! N x

      Reply
  8. S says

    April 11, 2022 at 7:51 am

    What is the name of the music track? It is very catchy.

    Reply
  9. Esther says

    April 11, 2022 at 6:11 am

    5 stars
    WOW WOW WOW 500/5 🤩
    That gravy!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Simply delicious thankyou.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 11, 2022 at 7:22 pm

      Woo hoo!!! Yes Esther!! It’s the bomb!! Wait til you see the new one I have coming in the cookbook!! N x

      Reply
  10. Evelyn S Novak says

    March 28, 2022 at 6:08 am

    Recipe looks delicious. I’m going to make it tomorrow

    Reply
  11. Ryan says

    March 14, 2022 at 1:03 am

    How would you roast baby reds with the chicken?

    Thank you

    Reply
  12. Allison says

    March 7, 2022 at 9:35 am

    5 stars
    I didn’t have any fresh herbs so I used dried herbes du Provence. Otherwise I stuck to the chicken recipe. It was amazing! Instead of using broth for the gravy made with juices, I blended in roasted garlic cloves from under the bird. Also super GOOD! Nagi’s recipes are wonderful. My fav recipe site!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 7, 2022 at 12:52 pm

      I am so happy you liked it Allison! N x

      Reply
  13. Dora Szakmary-Lacey says

    February 11, 2022 at 10:35 am

    5 stars
    Excellent! I love the idea of using the carcass for soup.

    Reply
  14. Linda says

    February 8, 2022 at 8:01 am

    Fantastic!! Followed the recipe exactly. I did however brine it in salt water first, not sure needed it with the butter mixture under the skin. Thank you also for the Chinese all purpose stir fry sauce, perfect as well.

    Reply
  15. Claire says

    February 7, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    5 stars
    So good! Easy to follow and perfect

    Reply
  16. Carole says

    February 7, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    This was excellent; will certainly do it this way again and again.

    Reply
  17. Judy says

    January 29, 2022 at 7:48 pm

    The best roast chicken but must have the gravy..
    last week it was Pea & Ham Soup
    Oven Risotto
    Rissoles
    Your hamburgers are the best.. so simple

    Nagi you are the best

    Reply
  18. Melissa says

    January 23, 2022 at 12:23 pm

    Can I marinate ahead of time? If so, for how long?

    Reply
  19. Nancy Sylvain says

    January 17, 2022 at 12:12 pm

    5 stars
    This was the juiciest chicken ever and it was full of flavour! Thank-you for a great recipe. I will definitely be making this again.

    Reply
  20. Allie says

    January 14, 2022 at 11:23 am

    I loved the recipe insofar as to flavour (ingredients/measurements) and technique, but something must be seriously off in terms of timing. I had a ca. one pound bird (980g), and it took more than 2h to get it up to temperature in the oven. No, I did not cook it fridge cold. Not to mention that potatoes in general need a lot more than 40 min in 180 wet heat to cook, but I spotted that immediately and made adjustments.

    You must have some crazy ovens in Australia, that’s all I can say.

    Still love your blog though. (Have tried/been inspired by lots of recipes, with great outcome.) And at least I know I’ll make a spectacular chicken noodle soup from the leftovers tomorrow.

    Reply
    • Allie says

      January 14, 2022 at 11:25 am

      Sorry, 2 pound bird of course.

      Reply
    • Allie says

      January 14, 2022 at 11:29 am

      Not one pound bird but two pounds. Sorry.

      Reply
    • Judy says

      January 29, 2022 at 9:24 pm

      Cooked this tonight with 1.75 kg chicken
      10 minutes 200c
      1 hour 15 minutes 180c
      Rest 15 … Perfect
      Exactly as the recipe states

      Reply
    • Michaella says

      January 31, 2022 at 3:34 am

      Hi Allie, It seems you may have tried to cook your bird at 180C (CELCIUS) rather than 350F (FARENHEIT). The recipe gives the temps for both so we can choose what to use depending on where we live. Easy to mix them up if not overly familiar with cooking and not paying attention. Hope this helps.

      Reply
      • Kat Williams says

        March 10, 2022 at 1:21 pm

        180 C = 350 F

        Reply
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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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