Roasted Chicken with Garlic Herb Butter is slathered with a garlic, rosemary, sage and thyme infused butter. The whole chicken is roasted until the meat is juicy and tender and the skin is golden brown and crispy.
A whole roasted chicken is one of my absolute favorite dinners to make for my family. My kids love the crispy, salty skin paired with juicy meat. It's one of the only meals that they ask for seconds and thirds of!
As long as you know how to season your chicken correctly and can master your cooking times, this ends up being a pretty "no fail" dinner. It also looks really fancy and like you spent a ton of time in the kitchen. When in reality, you only used a few ingredients and the oven did most of the work!
Serve Roasted Chicken with Garlic Herb Butter with Redskin Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese, Garlic Basmati Rice with Oregano & Fresh Parsley, Vegan Garlic Bread or Sautéed Zucchini and Onions with Sweet Corn.
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Highlights
- Only 8 ingredients - 4 of which are kitchen staples!
- Preps in under 10 minutes
- Gluten free recipe
- High in protein
- Low carb
- Easy to double - make 1 chicken for dinner and 1 extra chicken for lunches
Ingredients needed
- Whole chicken - When selecting a whole chicken from the grocery store, try to find a chicken that is about 4 pounds. A 4 pound chicken will easily feed a family of 4 and will also cook in about an hour. Bring your chicken up to room temperature before cooking and don't forget to remove the bag of giblets from inside the chicken.
- Butter - I have cooked whole chickens with butter and with olive oil. I prefer the taste of butter and I find that butter browns the chicken skin more than olive oil does. I used salted butter for this recipe. If you use unsalted, you may want to add additional salt beyond what I call for in the recipe.
- Fresh sage, rosemary & thyme - Fresh herbs are what really send a recipe over the top (in my opinion)! Sage, rosemary and thyme are a classic combination that are guaranteed to bring back memories of Thanksgiving dinner after inhaling their strong aroma. They pair beautifully with a whole roasted chicken.
- Minced garlic
- Salt & pepper
Kitchen tools needed
- Measuring spoons
- Cutting board & chopping knife
- Large roasting pan - I used this roasting pan from Farberware.
How to make
- Room temp - Remove the chicken and the butter from the fridge and bring both ingredients up to room temperature on your kitchen counter. This usually takes about 30 minutes. You can also soften the butter in the microwave on high for 10 seconds. Remove the chicken from the packaging, remove the giblets from the inside of the chicken and pat the outside of the chicken dry.
- Combine - Combine the softened butter, minced garlic, chopped fresh sage, rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Using a spoon, mix the ingredients together until they are thoroughly combined. The butter should be soft enough for the herbs and seasonings to mix together easily. If you are struggling then the butter needs to soften a little bit more.
- Slather - Using the back of regular sized spoon, slather the butter mixture all over the chicken. The butter should completely cover the top and sides of the chicken. You can also push some butter up under the chicken skin as well.
- Roast - Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast in a 425° F oven for 30 minutes. Rotate the chicken 180°, turn the oven down to 375° F and continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven when the chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve & enjoy!
Serving suggestions
A whole roast chicken can be served with a number of different sides! It is a versatile protein that would go great with
- Veggies - Asparagus, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green peas, green beans, Caesar salad, side salad
- Potatoes - Mashed potatoes, roasted baby potatoes, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes
- Grains - Brown rice, black rice, wild rice, risotto, quinoa
- Bread - Fresh baked bread, rolls, biscuits
A whole roast chicken also makes for great leftovers! Turn roast chicken leftovers into my Classic Chicken Salad with Fresh Herbs or Mediterranean Style Creamy Chicken Salad!
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Top Tips
- Check the inside of the chicken for a bag of giblets before putting it in the oven! Remove the giblets and throw them away if you don't plan on using them for anything.
- Roast the chicken breast side up.
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels prior to rubbing the butter on the skin. The butter will stick to the chicken much more easily if the chicken skin is dry.
- If you want to rub some herbed butter under the chicken skin, gently separate the skin from the meat using your hands. The skin will pop off of the meat as you are working your hands in there. You can do this on the chicken breast and the chicken leg.
- Let the meat rest after cooking. This helps to redistribute juices inside of the meat.
- Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken and ensure that the chicken has cooked all the way through.
- Reheat cooked chicken in the microwave or on the stovetop in a frying pan.
- If you're worried about the wing tips burning during cooking, you can tuck them under the chicken.
📖 Recipe
Roasted Chicken with Garlic Herb Butter
Roasted Chicken with Garlic Herb Butter is slathered with a garlic, rosemary, sage and thyme infused butter. The whole chicken is roasted until the meat is juicy and tender and the skin is golden brown and crispy.
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 4 lb. whole chicken
- 4 tablespoons butter (½ stick)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- A few sprigs each of fresh rosemary, sage & thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Remove the butter and chicken from the refrigerator. Let both ingredients sit out until they are room temperature, about 30 minutes. If the butter is still hard, soften the butter in the microwave for 10 seconds. Remove the chicken from the packaging, remove the bag of giblets from inside the chicken and pat the skin dry with a paper towel. Discard the giblets.
- Preheat the oven to 425° F.
- Separate the fresh rosemary, sage and thyme leaves from their stems and dice the fresh herbs.
- Mix the softened butter, minced garlic, fresh herbs, salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Using the back of a spoon, rub the butter mixture all over the top and sides of the chicken. You can rub it under the chicken skin as well.
- Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast at 425° F for 30 minutes. Rotate the roasting pan 180°, turn the oven temperature down to 375° F and roast for an additional 30 minutes.
- When the chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F, remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Notes
- This is a gluten free recipe.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a sealed, air-tight container for up to 5 days.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes (not including time to bring ingredients to room temp)
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: lunch, dinner
- Method: roasting
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Keywords: roasted chicken with garlic herb butter
Frequently Asked Questions
Bringing a chicken up to room temperature before cooking will decrease the cook time and also cook the chicken more evenly.
When you are roasting a chicken, or a turkey, potato or butternut squash, you are cooking a singular ingredient in it's whole form. If you are baking chicken, then you are cooking a collection of ingredients and turning them into 1 whole dish. So for example, chicken parmesan or a chicken casserole are considered baked because a collection of main ingredients are required to cook the dish. Roasting can also refer to the temperature of the oven during cooking. Roasting often involves a higher temperature and baking requires a lower temperature.
Brining is a process where meat is soaked in a salt water solution for a period of time prior to cooking. Brining increases flavor, texture and the juiciness of the meat.
Chicken giblets are a little package of chicken parts bundled up inside of the cavity of a whole chicken. The bag of giblets usually contains the gizzard, neck, heart and liver. They can be used to add flavor to homemade chicken stock.
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