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Butter Roasted Chicken

Name: Butter Roasted Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds; Salt and pepper; Fresh herbs – my favorite combination is tarragon, thyme, rosemary and sage; 1 lemon, quartered; ¼ cup butter (1/2 stick)

By Lana Stuart 40 Comments

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Butter Roasted Chicken - Roasted chicken seasoned with fresh herbs and lemon, basted with butter for a crispy golden brown skin

I've roasted many a chicken in my time. Many.

First, because it's one of the most delicious meals you can serve your family. And you can change the seasonings to suit your family's tastes. And second, because it's just so easy. Season the chicken, pop it in the oven, and come back later to serve dinner.

I had really never thought that there might be a better method for roasting a chicken until I saw one being done this way recently. I decided to give it a try and wouldn't you know it - I now have a new favorite way to roast a chicken. Of course, I adapted the recipe that I saw to suit myself, but that's what cooking is all about, isn't it?

Butter Roasted Chicken - Roasted chicken seasoned with fresh herbs and lemon, basted with butter for a crispy golden brown skin Click To Tweet

How to Make Butter Roasted Chicken

For this recipe, you'll want a small, tender chicken that's around 4 pounds. I used to find 3 pound chickens, which I really like, but those are rare these days. They're bred to have so much breast meat that it makes the poor little things top heavy and the smallest ones you can find are usually about 4 pounds. Although I have seen some labeled "organic" that are somewhat smaller.

Whatever size bird you choose, just take it out of its package, remove all the "gunk" from the inside (you know, the giblets and the stuff that makes you go ewwww) and then dry the skin really well with a paper towel. Then salt and pepper the chicken really well both inside and outside.

Now take your fresh herbs and stick them...well, you know where they go...

And push those lemon wedges in there, too. At this point, you can truss your chicken if you want to. I like to do it so that it cooks more evenly, but you don't have to!

Now place the chicken on its left leg in a roasting pan or a large cast iron skillet. Put the butter all in one piece on top of the chicken.

Place the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, baste the skin all over with the accumulated pan juices and turn the chicken over on its right leg.

Put it back in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the pan, baste the chicken and turn it breast side down.

Put the pan back in the oven and cook for 15 minutes more. Remove the pan, baste the chicken and turn it breast side up.

Cook for an additional 30 minutes or until the juices run clear at the thigh. Be sure to baste several more times during the final cooking. It makes the skin a beautiful golden brown and so crispy. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Enjoy!

More chicken recipes on never enough thyme

roasted chicken recipes from Other Bloggers:

Herbed Stuffed Roast Chicken from Simply Recipes
Peruvian Roast Chicken on Leite's Culinaria
Dine and Dish's Crispy Roast Chicken
Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken from Budget Bytes

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