The Perfect Weeknight Roast Chicken! Lemon, garlic, and fresh herbs are just a few of the fragrant aromatics that flavor the chicken, which is roasted to golden brown perfection. The perfect dinner!
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Roasted chicken: a dish that every home cook should learn to master!
The versatility and ease that comes with roasting your own chicken is tough to beat. However, it can be considered an intimidating method to some. Admittedly, I didn’t make my own roast chicken for years, relying on a store bought option in place of a juicy and succulent homemade one. While there’s convenience with the store-bought variety, I implore you to sit down, take a few notes, and get in the kitchen to try this recipe! After making it a time or two, I’ll bet that you’ll realize just how worth it it is to make your very own roast chicken at home!
How To Make A Roast Chicken
There are a few things to know about the steps to take when roasting your own chicken: seasoning it properly, (both inside and out), the aromatics you use to stuff the chicken, how to truss the chicken, and the temperature at which you roast it.
1. Seasoning A Roast Chicken
The first step in properly seasoning your chicken is to first and foremost, remove any of the components stuffed into the chicken. Typically, chickens purchased at the grocery store will include the neck and gizzards in a packet, which is stuffed inside the cavity of the chicken. Be sure to remove these! After thoroughly rinsing the inside and outside of the chicken, you’ll season it liberally with salt and pepper. You can choose to add different spices, depending on what flavor you’re going for, but I find that salt and pepper is plenty!
Once the chicken is stuffed (as you’ll read more about below) you’ll rub room temperature butter over the exterior of the chicken. This really helps add flavor, as well as creates a beautiful golden brown exterior after roasting, so I highly recommend not skipping this step! I like to put half of the butter I’m using in between the skin and the breast to encourage extra juiciness and flavor. Use your fingers to separate the skin from the meat, and then spread the butter as much as you can. It will melt under the heat, so no need to be super precise.
2. What To Stuff A Roast Chicken With
Once again, depending on the type of flavor profile you’re intending, the aromatics you use to stuff your chicken can vary widely. Onions, garlic, citrus, and herbs are typically used to add flavor and juiciness. In this recipe – the one that I make time and time again – I use the following ingredients:
- Yellow onions. I always have a bag on hand, and their mellow sweetness offers delicious flavor.
- Garlic. A non-negotiable, for any roast chicken! Some recipes out there will call for a couple cloves, but I want the whole head! I halve it, and tuck each half directly into the chicken along with the other ingredients. It offers a tantalizing savoriness that can’t be replicated!
- Lemon. A universal citrus pleaser, lemon is a common aromatic used in roasted chicken. Depending on the size, you can use 1 to 2 lemons, sliced in half and then quartered.
- Fresh herbs. The sky’s the limit, but my favorites for a roasted chicken include rosemary, thyme, and parsley. Use whatever you like best, or whatever you have on hand!
3. How To Tie A Chicken
The whole point of tying or trussing a chicken is keeping your chicken as compact as possible, which helps with consistent cooking. You can easily do this by using kitchen twine to tie the legs together, and then tucking the wings underneath the chicken so they aren’t sticking out.
However, trussing a chicken (or turkey!) is an important cooking skill that every home cook should know how to do. It’s simple:
- Place a piece of kitchen twine (at least 2 feet), underneath the chicken with the legs facing you.
- Bring the two ends of the twine up and cross them over the legs, which will pull the legs together.
- Take the opposite end of the twine and circle it around the opposite leg, again pulling the string to pull the legs tight to the body.
- Use the remaining twine to horizontally encompass the chicken, tying it to secure it behind one of the wings. Cut excess twine, and viola! A perfectly trussed chicken.
4. How Long (And At What Temperature!) To Cook A Roast Chicken
The key to a beautiful golden brown exterior is cooking your chicken at a high temperature.
While you realistically can cook a roast chicken at just about any temperature, the higher you go, the quicker it will cook! Anything over 400 degrees will also assist in transforming the exterior to golden brown perfection. I opt to cook my roast chicken at 450 degrees, which will typically result in a perfectly cooked roast chicken within 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending or course on the size of the chicken.
The Perfect Weeknight Meal!
This Roast Chicken is going to be your new best friend! Learning how to properly roast your own chicken is something that every home cook should learn how to do. Aside from a delicious and wholesome weeknight meal, it can also deliver excellent leftovers!
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Perfect Weeknight Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 5 lb whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper
- 1-2 small yellow onions, peeled and quartered
- 1 lemon, scrubbed and quartered
- 1 head garlic, halved with any loose papery skin removed
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Rinse the chicken with cool water and dry as completely as you can with paper towels. Season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Stuff the chicken with the onions, lemon, garlic, and fresh herbs.
- Use your fingers to separate the skin from the breast meat carefully. Spread about half of the room temperature butter in between the skin and the breast meat, not minding if it's uneven (it will melt in the oven). Spread the other half of the butter over the top of the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
- Truss the chicken or simply tie the legs. Your goal is to keep the chicken as compact as possible to encourage even cooking.
- Place chicken in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour and 10 minutes. If the chicken browns too quickly, feel free to tent the chicken with tin foil. Ensure the chicken is cooked to 165 degrees when a thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh near the breast, making sure to not touch bone.
- Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before carving and serving warm.
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