Tender and juicy Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken with crispy, golden and flavourful skin!
A Skillet (or Pan) Roast Chicken recipe with so much flavour and easy to find ingredients! Garlic, onions, lemons, olive oil, fresh herbs and a splash of white wine (optional) create the most amazing pan juices loaded with incredible flavour! No dry chicken over here. You’ll be so surprised at how moist the meat is!
THE BEST ROAST CHICKEN RECIPE
You have all loved this Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken recipe so much it was time to give you another one! Lemon juice and garlic marry into the subtle hint of white wine to kick up flavours that rival ANY restaurant. The chicken turns out juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside with THE perfect golden skin!
The pan juice alone is worth a million dollars!
HOW TO ROAST CHICKEN IN A PAN OR SKILLET
This is not a regular old chicken recipe drizzled with a little oil, sprinkled with a sad amount of salt and pepper and roasted until golden. Nope.
This is a mouth-watering, mind-blowing incredible roast chicken recipe with a simple to make garlic-herb mixture used to slather flavour ALL over your chicken, including under the skin for optimal taste and juiciness. The chicken gets roasted on top of lemon slices, onion slices AND garlic slice to infuse even MORE insane flavour through the chicken.
Herbs
We use fresh herbs in this recipe: Thyme, Rosemary and Parsley. You can leave out the ones you don’t necessarily like or substitute them with other herbs, like Oregano, Basil, Dill or Tarragon.
WHITE WINE OPTIONS:
You can use white wine OR chicken broth/stock. If using wine, any dry white wine works with this roast chicken. I always use a good quality dry white wine as opposed to a cheap boxed wine, for example. A $15-$20 bottle usually provides the best flavour. You can choose a:
- Pinot Gris (my favourite)
- Sauv Blanc
- Chardonnay
Don’t be tempted to use a sweeter wine, as they generally alter the taste of the pan juices.
HOW TO BUTTERFLY (SPATCHCOCK) A CHICKEN
Using kitchen scissors, cut down either side of chicken’s backbone. Turn over and place chicken breast side up, then press down on breastbone to flatten.
HOW LONG TO ROAST CHICKEN
This roast chicken recipe is different in that we use a butterflied (or spatchcocked) chicken to create a uniform thickness so it cooks quicker and evenly. Butterflying a whole chicken helps reduce cooking time, meaning you can have a roast chicken on the dinner table within a fraction of the time!
- Take your chicken out of the refrigerator 20-30 minutes before roasting to shave off another 5-10 minutes cook time!
- Roast at 450°F (or 230°C) for 45-55 minutes, depending on the size of your chook, until the internal temperature of the thickest part of breast reads 165 degrees F (75°C) and juices run clear.
- Broil for an extra 5 minutes or so until you get a beautiful golden crisp skin.
LOOKING FOR MORE ROAST CHICKEN RECIPES? TRY THESE!
Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken
Butterflied Portuguese BBQ Nandos Chicken
Roasted Asian Glazed Chicken Thighs
Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 4 teaspoons salt divided
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper adjust to your taste
- 1 lemon halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick (see note)
- 1 onion halved and sliced 1/4-inch-thick
- 3 large garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 4-5 pound whole chicken backbone removed and butterflied
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (such as Pinot Grigio) -- or low sodium chicken broth/stock
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Thoroughly pat chicken dry all over with paper towel.
- Combine the oil, minced garlic, parsley, thyme, rosemary, 3 teaspoons salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Arrange the lemon slices, onion slices and garlic slices in the base of a 12-inch cast-iron skillet (or oven-proof pan). Place the chicken, skin-side down, on top of the lemon/onion slices. Pour over half of the oil/herbs and rub all over the meat. Turn the chicken over (skin-side up) and pour over remaining oil/herb mixture, rubbing the oil into the meat under the skin as well. Pour the wine and lemon juice into the base of the pan.
- Season chicken skin with remaining salt. Roast for 45-55, 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 5-10 minutes until golden. Remove the chicken from the oven, cover skillet tightly with foil and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving, allowing the juices to recirculate through the meat.
- Cut the chicken into quarters or eighths, sprinkle with a little extra salt and pepper. Serve, drizzled with pan juices and cooked onions/garlic.
Sheila Fabre says
Can i use Cornish Hen for this recipe? If so, how long should i cook it with that temperature in the recipe?
Jan says
Delicious recipe. I was worried about the garlic burning and it did. Next time I think I’ll try mashing it or adding it about 10 to 15 minutes before the chicken is done. I might thicken the pan juices a little also. Very moist, lovely flavor.
Tom says
Delicious! Like most recipes on this site.
Maria Kember says
Can I make this using Chicken pieces?
Cindy says
Yes I made this with split breast pieces, and it turned out wonderful. Like others have said, I was also able to skip the broiling part because my chicken pieces were already browning. The only change I would make was to reduce the amount of salt. It seemed a little salty for my taste. Enjoy….this is an absolutely wonderful recipe!!
Marie says
This recipe is super delicious! The only thing I would change is omitting the minced garlic in the oil and herb mixture, it burned on mine! I ended up having to pick the pieces of garlic off the top. I whisked a couple teaspoons of flour into the lemon juice and broth mixture which resulted in a thicker sauce to pour over the chicken at the end. Yum!
Naa says
This roast chicken was/is sooo delicious, literally contained my favourite flavors so potently! Like you said the pan juices alone are mouthwatering. My husband was impressed, cant wait to make it again ! I also didnt need to broil as it was already getting the the charred stage when I took it out.
thank you !
Tina says
Made this twice already! Amazing. Didn’t need to broil as the top was already a golden brown color. The second time I took the find off for the lemon slices as it made the juices bitter the first time. My husband requested this several times since then! Thank you!
Debbie Lynn says
I made the roasted lemon and garlic chicken and it was possibly the best chicken I have ever made! The skin was crunchy and the inside (including the breasts) were unbelievably moist and flavorful. This one is a keeper and is on the rotation!
Alyssa says
I never leave comments but I made this the other day and my 7 year old who usually hates chicken said ‘now This is the chicken for me’. He even asked for leftovers the next night! This may be my single greatest cooking victory of all time. Thank you! (Also the rest of the family loved it too)
Julie says
Wow! This recipe is so amazing. I cannot cook, like at all and for some reason this came out so delicious I even managed to impress my chef mother in law!
Debbie Williams says
This was so juicy and delicious flavors. I cooked this along with your recipe for creamy garlic parmesan brussel sprouts and my family loved both. Thank you for sharing your recipes.