Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken packed with unbelievable flavours, crispy skin, and so juicy!
Nothing beats an easy to make and even easier to prepare homemade oven roasted chicken! Especially when roasted with garlic butter, rosemary, parsley, lemon, and a hint of white wine. This garlic herb butter roast chicken definitely beats the pants off of any store-bought rotisserie chicken!
THE BEST ROAST CHICKEN
Juicy on the inside, crispy skin on the outside with full-flavoured liquid gold pan juices. When we roast chicken, we don’t do it with just a sprinkling of salt. No, no, no…we do it with FLAVOUR. To get the most out of our roast chicken, we not only lather garlic butter and herbs onto our chicken, but underneath the skin. This ensures that every bite of roast chicken carries a generous mouthful of flavour!
If you’re not looking for a lavish roast like our pork roast with crackle or our roast beef tenderloin, this garlic butter roast chicken is the way to go! The best part? It’s extremely easy to prepare.
WHAT YOU NEED
Easy to find ingredients you likely already have in your fridge or pantry.
- Garlic + Butter = Garlic Butter
- Olive oil
- A touch of lemon
- A hint of dry white wine (optional, but adds so much flavour to the meat while keeping it juicy)
- Rosemary
- Parsley
Not only is this roast chicken loaded with flavour… it boasts crispy skin and juicy meat which pairs perfectly with any one of our delicious sides including our creamy mashed potatoes, honey garlic butter roasted carrots or our grilled asparagus.
HOW TO ROAST A CHICKEN
Preheat oven.
Rinse and pat dry chicken with paper towel.
Combine olive oil, melted butter, wine (if using) and lemon juice together, rubbing all over the chicken, under the skin and inside the cavity.
Season chicken outside and inside with salt, pepper and parsley. Don’t be afraid to use generous amounts!
Rub the minced garlic over the chicken and under the skin. I do this separately as the last step to maximise the garlic taste.
Stuff the garlic head into the chicken cavity along with the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halve. You can also use sprigs of thyme or any other herb.
Roast chicken, basting half way through cooking time, until cooked through.
Broil until golden and crispy!
I like to go in the carcass, over the chicken and under the skin with all of my ingredients to ensure maximum flavour. You want every inch covered in garlic herb butter.
HOW LONG TO COOK ROAST CHICKEN
Over one hour, depending on the size of your bird. This 4lb (2kg) bird took one hour and 20 minutes cooking time, then a resting time of 10 minutes to retain all of those juices before slicing.
Usually I’ll pass on chicken breasts because juicy, crispy chicken legs are my favourite, but with this roast chicken recipe, I eat it ALL. The breasts come out so moist. There will be absolutely NO sign of dry meat on your plate.
Do you see that crispy skin? That’s the part we fight over at the dinner table. PLEASE tell me we are normal and your family fights over crispy skin too?
SOOOO soft and juicy inside!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH ROAST CHICKEN
- Mashed potatoes. Hands down, I am a full blown mashed potato and roast chicken person. Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes, Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes OR Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes.
- Sweet Potato wedges or Potato wedges
- Roast Green Beans
- Avocado Corn Tomato Salad
- Roast Carrots
- Smashed Potatoes OR Smashed Sweet Potatoes
- Roast Asparagus
- Mediteranean Pasta Salad
- Balsamic Chickpea Avocado Feta Salad
- Honey Dijon Apple Salad
Pretty much anything! Add a good glass of wine. My favourite at the moment is a Chardonnay/Moscato mix.
Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 pound whole chicken at room temperature giblets and neck removed from cavity
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine optional - use a dry wine like a Sauv blanc or Chardonnay
- 1 lemon halved
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 head garlic head of garlic roughly peeled and cut in half horizontally through the middle, crosswise
- 3 fresh rosemary whole sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 430°F | 220°C (400°F or 200°C fan forced). Line a baking tray with foil, or lightly grease a roasting pan.
- Discard neck from inside the cavity and remove any excess fat and leftover feathers. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Pour the olive oil, melted butter, wine (if using) and the juice of half a lemon over the chicken, under the skin and inside the cavity. Season chicken liberally on the outside and inside the cavity with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the parsley.
- Rub the minced garlic over the chicken, mixing all ingredients together over the chicken and under the skin.
- Stuff the garlic head into the chicken cavity along with the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halve. Tie legs together with kitchen string.
- Place breast-side up into baking tray or roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour and 15-20 minutes, basting half way through cooking time, until juices run clear when chicken thigh is pierced with a skewer.
- Baste again, then broil for a further 2-3 minutes, until golden.
- Remove from the oven, cover with foil and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve, drizzled with pan juices and remaining lemon half cut into wedges or slices.
Tam says
Awesome recipie, makes a juicy and delicious chicken!
Tam says
This recipie is awesome, makes me want to roast a whole chicken more often!
Tam says
This is a wonderful recipe, it makes me want to roast a whole chicken every week! Thanks for this!
Rhonda Millican says
This is an amazing recipe. I cooked mine in my stoneware dish and it was so tender, juicy and flavorful. My family couldn’t stop raving about it. My daughter usually uses some kind of dip or hummus when she eats a rotisserie chicken. She put some on her plate to eat with this chicken recipe and didn’t use the hummus because she said it didn’t need anything else. Definitely a keeper dish for our family.
Justina Carney says
Super easy and delicious. I left out the wine (forgot to stop for it) and parsley, still turned out amazing. This will definitely be a recipe I come back to and now I understand all the 5 star reviews. Thank you!
Terre says
Made this twice last year for Christmas and Thanksgiving turned out great for both and the guests loved it! Making it again this year and was worried that I would not be able to find it. Love this chicken and I’ve never whole roasted a chicken prior to last year and it turned out great. Plus the sauv blanc makes for a great glass of wine while cooking.
Karina says
Hi Terre, it brings me such joy to hear that the recipe was a hit for both Christmas and Thanksgiving last year, and that your guests loved it! The fact that you’re making it again this year is fantastic. Whole-roasting a chicken can be so rewarding, and I’m glad it turned out great for you. Enjoy that glass of Sauvignon Blanc — that’s the best way to cook!
Greg Taylor says
Great recipe. The moistest chicken I ever tasted. And tasty too.
Recipe land says
Amazing recipe
Scott says
I have had to share this recipe multiple times. It’s just so good and so easy!
Rakel says
Me and my family had this for dinner yesterday, the only change that we made was doing chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken, it was absolutely gorgeous and I will be making this again, thank you for sharing. Have a good week.