This one hour whole roasted chicken will knock your socks off! Crispy, buttery skin that’s seasoned with a few select herbs and roasted with lemons and garlic. Homemade roasted chicken is tender, juicy, flavor-packed, golden, and delicious. The aromatics really make the chicken, though. We stuff the belly full of lemons, garlic cloves, sage, thyme, and pretty much any other kind herb you’ve got on hand. Brush on melted butter and sprinkle the bird with lemon pepper seasoning. It’ll make the whole house smell delicious and it’s easy enough to make if you’re hosting an intimate dinner. If you’ve never roasted a whole chicken before and find the idea daunting, let me walk you through a few things. Trust me; it’s not that bad. This isn’t like trussing a giant 20-pound roasted turkey for Thanksgiving. We’ll get to that a different day. Let’s take baby steps. The best part about this roasted chicken recipe is that you don’t have to truss the chicken at all if you don’t want to. I just tie the legs together using a snippet of kitchen twine because it makes the chicken look prettier for pictures, but it’s not something you have to do. Once you’ve mastered this, give the spatchcock chicken recipe a try! It’s delicious and comes together super quickly.
What do you need to make roasted chicken?
Chicken: You’ll need a whole bird with the neck and giblets removed. You can use anything from a 3 ½ pound to 4 ½ pound chicken for this recipe. Just keep in mind that the 4 ½ pounds will take a little over an hour to roast.Lemon: one lemon cut in half and stuffed inside the chicken lends a delicious lemony scent Head of garlic: garlic adds flavor and acts as an aromatic. This makes the whole house smell so delicious!Fresh herbs: fresh herbs are used in a couple of ways. The first is to stuff inside the chicken while it roasts. The other is sprinkled on top to flavor the chicken. I’m using thyme, rosemary, and parsley inside the chicken and sprinkling a few thyme leaves on top to flavor the skin.Butter: Melted butter is used to baste the chicken while it roasts. It helps the chicken develop that delicious looking brown crust when the milk solids on the butter roast up.Lemon pepper seasoning: a sprinkle of lemon pepper is added to the chicken so that it has that delicious flavor on the skin.
How to make the best whole roasted chicken recipe:
How long do you roast a whole chicken?
3 ½ pound chicken: I’ve made this recipe several times in a few different ovens (always guided with an oven thermometer) and my chicken always takes a full 45 minutes to roast.4 ½ pound chicken: This will take 10-15 minutes more than the 3 ½ pound chicken, so I estimate it will be about 55-60 minutes.
Recommended equipment:
Cast iron skillet or cast iron casserole dish Oven thermometerMeat thermometer Kitchen twine Basting Brush
What to serve with homemade whole roasted chicken:
Cheesy Mashed Potatoes or My 20 Minute Mashed PotatoesRoasted Garlic Focaccia BreadBrown Butter Honey Glazed Carrots1-hour Garlic and Herb Dinner RollsSmashed PotatoesEveryday Kale Crunch SaladSautéed Herb Garlic MushroomsCreamy Sour Cream Chive Potato SaladGarlicky Extra Crispy Roasted PotatoesCrispy Cacio e Pepe Sprouts or Garlic Butter Brussel SproutsSlow Cooker Creamed CornPerfect Baked PotatoesSouthern Buttermilk BiscuitsCreamy Green Bean CasseroleTwice Baked Potatoes CasseroleInstant Pot Mac and CheeseRoasted Garlic Italian Couscous Salad
Bonus points if you use the pan drippings to make a gravy! This recipe was originally shared in Dec. 2014, updated with minor recipe changes, new pictures, and a new post in Sept. 2020.
If you have the time, I suggest salting the chicken for 1 hour-24 hours in advance. Salt the cavity with ½ teaspoon of salt and the top of the bird with 1 ½ teaspoon of salt. Allow the chicken to sit covered in the refrigerator (if done earlier.) Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to roasting. This will make homemade rotisserie chicken 100000x better!I used a 3 ½ pound chicken and it took exactly 45 minutes to roast. I let the chicken rest for 20 minutes prior to carving. If you’re using a 4½ pound chicken, you will need to add an additional 10 -15 minutes of roasting time.Please keep in mind this recipe was not tested on an organic chicken. I find that they sometimes take longer to roast (so a 3 ½ pound chicken might take you closer to 1 hour.) The best thing to do is monitor for doneness in the thickest portion of the chicken using a meat thermometer at 45 minutes and then again every 7-10 minutes until it reaches 165ºF.
