This chicken is moist, moist, moist. There, we said it. Not just once but three times. There just isn’t any other way to describe the deliciousness. Besides easy, easy, easy. That’s Threasy! The garlic herb butter is the key to this chickie’s magic and we assure you you’ll agree.
Whole Roasted Herb-Garlic Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- one 4 to 4 ½ lb. whole young chicken
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. olive oil
- Herb-Garlic Compound Butter
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted, high quality butter, at room temperature and soft
- 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves only
- 2 sprigs of fresh sage, leaves only
- 10 sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves only
- 2 large garlic cloves
- ½ tsp. salt
- ground pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock
Let's go
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- In a food processor, pulse together all of the herb-garlic compound butter ingredients for 45 seconds, until it becomes a cohesive spread. Scrape out the herb butter mixture and place onto a long piece of plastic wrap. Roll up in the plastic, shaping into a log. Place in the refrigerator or freezer until you’re ready to stuff chicken.
- Prepare chicken. Dry off and place onto a roasting pan or cast iron skillet, breast side up. Using your hands, start from the top of the breast, closest to the cavity where there the skin is no longer connected, carefully create space between skin and breast meat, making sure not to break the skin off.
- Take the butter out of the refrigerator or freezer and cut off 1-inch slices. Stuff into the breast, moving the butter down the breast from out of the skin with your hands. Adding more as needed. Try to get the butter down into the leg of the bird as well as all over the breasts.
- In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Spread the lemon-olive oil mixture all over the top of the bird. Add ¾ cup chicken stock to the pan.
- Place in oven on the middle rock, and roast for 50 minutes. After 20 minutes, take chicken out of the oven, using a large spoon, baste the juices from the pan on top of the chicken, giving it more moisture. Return to the oven. If it looks like it’s getting too dark, cover with aluminum foil. After another 20 minutes, baste again. If covered with foil, take off for the final 10 minutes of cooking.
- Check temperature of the chicken, it should be 155° F.
- Allow to rest in the pan, covered with foil. The chicken will continue to cook and temperature will rise to 165° F.
- Cut off the meat and serve alongside some of our favorite sides and salads. Here we roasted 2 whole potatoes, cut and drizzle in olive oil, under the chicken.