Recipe
Oven Roasted Chicken
Crisp skin, juicy meat, and enough leftovers to carry you into a second dinner.
Why I love this one
A roast chicken is the most forgiving dinner I know. It looks like you tried very hard and it costs less than takeout for five people, and the carcass becomes broth the next morning while I answer emails.
This is the Sunday meal in our house. I salt the bird in the morning, slide it into the oven at four, and by the time everyone drifts into the kitchen, dinner is essentially finished. Leftover meat becomes quesadillas or soup on Monday.
Oven Roasted Chicken — Recipe Card
Prep 15 minutes · Cook 1 hour 20 minutes · Total About 1 hour 45 minutes · Serves 4–6
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, 4–5 lb, patted very dry
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 yellow onion, cut into thick wedges
- 1 lb baby potatoes, halved
- 3 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- 1.Dry brine: Pat the chicken completely dry. Rub the salt and pepper all over, including inside the cavity. Refrigerate uncovered 4–24 hours if you have time, or move straight on if you do not.
- 2.Preheat: Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the lower third.
- 3.Herb butter: Mash the softened butter with the garlic, thyme, and rosemary.
- 4.Season: Loosen the skin over the breasts with your fingers and push half the herb butter underneath. Rub the rest over the outside of the bird.
- 5.Stuff and tie: Put both lemon halves in the cavity, tie the legs together with kitchen twine, and tuck the wing tips under.
- 6.Vegetables: Toss the onion, potatoes, and carrots with the olive oil and a pinch of salt, and scatter them in a cast iron skillet or roasting pan. Set the chicken on top, breast-side up.
- 7.Roast: Roast 70–85 minutes, until the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F and the juices run clear. Baste once with pan drippings at the 45-minute mark.
- 8.Crisp: If the skin is not deep golden at the end, run the oven at 475°F for a final 5 minutes and watch closely.
- 9.Rest: Move the chicken to a board and let it rest 15 minutes before carving. Do not skip this — resting is what keeps the breast meat juicy.
- 10.Serve: Carve and spoon the pan juices over the meat and vegetables.
Kitchen notes
- Simmer the carcass with an onion, a carrot, and 10 cups of water for 4 hours for the best free broth you will ever make.
- No twine? Cross the legs and tuck one ankle behind the other.
- Leftover meat keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes well for 3 months.