Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken
Simple but mouth-watering garlic butter roasted whole chicken.
Ingredients
Garlic butter
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon fresh rosemary or thyme or sage or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
The chicken
- 4 pound whole chicken no giblets or removed
- ½ lemon or ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425°F and cover a large baking dish with aluminum foil (heavy duty is best for avoiding messes).
- Combine all garlic butter ingredients in a small bowl.
- Rinse the inside and outside of the chicken briefly with cool water, then pat it dry with a paper towel. Place the chicken on your baking dish breast side up. Use your fingers to separate the skin from the chicken and push butter into the space. Squish the butter through the skin to move it further down the chicken until it's well spread. Then put the extra butter in the cavity.
- Pour the olive oil over the chicken and spread it as evenly as you can over the surface of the chicken. Then, squeeze the lemon or lemon juice over the top of the chicken. If you are feeling fancy, use some kitchen twine to tie the legs together...or don't bother.
- Roast the chicken for about 1 to 1 ½ hours, basting it twice during cooking with the extra juices from the pan, until a meat thermometer reads 165°F. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before digging in.
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