Easy Whole Roast Chicken

This easy whole Roasted chicken with melted butter tastes rich, savory, and aromatic, featuring a golden chicken with incredibly moist, tender meat. The melted butter combined with chicken drippings creates a natural, luxurious sauce. We like to stuff the chicken with lemon, garlic and herbs, brush melted butter all over it and sprinkle over a seasoning blend and herb blend - we usually like to use lemon pepper seasoning and Italian herb blend but you can use any of your favs. We love how quick easy and delicious this recipe is. Serve it for dinner or make it ahead for any of your favorite recipes that call for rotisserie chicken like soups, pastas and all sorts of salads.

Whole Roast Chicken Ingredients

• BUTTER: Melted unsalted butter helps give the chicken delicious flavor and golden-brown rich color. The milk solids in butter brown, providing a rich, nutty, and savory taste. It is excellent for basting. I prefer it for this recipe over olive oil but olive oil (or neutral oils) are generally better for achieving a deep, dry crispy skin, especially at high temps. If you prefer to use olive oil that is no problem - you can substitute the butter with it but you don’t need a much. Simply use 2-3 tablespoons as needed to brush or rub the chicken all over.
• CHICKEN: You will need a 3 ½ - 4 ½ lb chicken. Look for a plump chicken with meaty breasts and drumsticks. Another consideration is to buy organic if you can – they’re often more tender and flavourful. Neck + giblets removed and excess fat removed or cut off. One last thing is to always bring chicken to room temperature for 30-60 mins before roasting. This ensures it will roast evenly. Feel free to use a larger chicken if you prefer but it will affect cooking times ad you may need a little extra seasoning.
• HERBS: Other than salt and black pepper, we season the chicken with some Italian seasoning. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, just sprinkle of mix of individual spices such as dried basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary or use your favourite one. We also use a small bunch of fresh herbs to stuff the cavity with (fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, parsley, sage etc).
• SEASONING BLEND: Along with the salt and Italian seasoning I like to use a seasoning blend. My go to is Lemon pepper but cajun would work well or even a good old all purpose seasoning. I usually use one with no salt or I reduce the amount of salt I use to season the chicken.
• LEMON & GARLIC: I like to use 1 small lemon and one small bulb of garlic. I halve the lemon and the garlic and stuff them in the cavity of the chicken. Not only do they add flavor and moisture but without any science to back this up, I also find stuffing the cavity also helps keep the bird upright. Other option is to use a half of a small onion or shallot. It is optional though so feel free to omit if you prefer
  
  

How To Make This Easy Whole Roast Chicken Recipe

1. Preheat Oven & Prepare Skillet: Lightly grease the skillet when roasting chicken to prevent sticking and ensure even browning.
2. Pat Chicken Dry & Season With Salt: To get rid of any excess moisture. Season inside of cavity with salt and outside.
3. Stuff Chicken & Truss Legs: Stuff cavity with garlic and lemons and feel free to tie the drumsticks together and tuck wings of the chicken underneath the chicken.
4. Brush Chicken With Butter & Season: Brush the chicken with ½ of the melted butter and sprinkle over the seasoning blend and herb blend.
5. Roast Chicken: Roast the chicken 20 mins, carefully remove chicken from oven and brush with the rest of the butter. Return chicken to oven and continue to cook another 25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 162-165.
6. Rest, Carve & Serve: Rest for a few minutes so that the juices redistribute and the meat fibers relax. This results in a more tender, juicy, and flavorful chicken. Serve with Pan juices
   
   

Tips For Roasting Whole Chicken

• Position rack so chicken is at the centre of the oven when you place skillet in the oven - not too close to either end of the burner. For example when testing I realized for my oven - cooking the chicken on the middle rack caused it to brown the skin too quickly. I had to cook it on the Lower third for the chicken to sit truly in the middle. Place the pan in the oven and test it out to see if you need to shift the racks around for the chicken to cook evenly.
• 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 with the rest. Allow the chicken to sit uncovered in the refrigerator. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to roasting. Salting and leaving chicken uncovered in the fridge overnight acts as a “dry brine,” which helps improve skin crispiness and juiciness of the chicken. The salt draws out moisture, then dissolves and reabsorbs, deeply seasoning the meat while the cold, dry fridge air dehydrates the skin to prevent rubbery results
• If my chicken is a bit uneven or isn’t sitting flat in the skillet I like to even it out or prop up the side that needs it with shallot slices or halves. They also melt in the pan juices and are so delicious as they caramelize in the rendered chicken fat.
• If you don’t have kitchen twine to truss the legs, it is ok. You can still roast the chicken and just the legs fall open. It may cause the chicken to cook a little faster so make sure to check on the chicken 10 to 15 minutes earlier.
  
  

What To Serve With You Roasted Chicken

• Roasted Potatoes
• Roasted Vegetables
• Rice
• Salad
• Pasta
  
  

What to Do With Leftover Roast Chicken

If you have leftovers or are like me and always make double this recipe just for the extra shredded chicken you can use it in plenty of other recipes just like you would with store-bought rotisserie chicken. Gotta love that!

• Add it to Enchiladas like my chicken enchiladas
• Add it to quesadillas like my sheet pan quesadillas
• Throw it into soups like my chicken gnocchi soup
• Throw it into salads like my chickpea avocado salad
• Throw it in any casserole like my chicken tetrazini casserole
• Throw it in to pasta dishes like my zesty lemon pasta
• Make it into a Sandwich like my classic chicken salad sandwich
• Make a Dip like my Buffalo chicken dip
  
  

Roasted Whole Chicken Make Ahead, Storage & Freezing

• MAKE AHEAD: This recipe really comes together quickly so I don’t think there is much need to make ahead but if you wanted to make it ahead you could season the chicken with salt allow it to dry brine uncovered in the fridge. This gives the chicken some time to allow all the seasoning to penetrate more deeply for crispier skin and juicer chicken. Allow chicken to sit at room temperature as you preheat the oven to cook it.
• STORAGE: Cooked chicken can keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Reheat in the oven, stovetop or in the microwave.
• FREEZING: Cooled chicken can be wrapped tight and stored in an airtight container or freezer bag and frozen for up to 1-3 months. Thaw in the fridge (not at room temperature) then reheat in the oven stovetop or microwave.