This tender, juicy Butter Roasted Chicken is seasoned with fresh herbs and lemon, then basted with butter for a crispy golden brown skin.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Servings 8servings
Ingredients
1whole chickenabout 4 pounds
Salt and pepper
Fresh herbs – my favorite combination is tarragonthyme, rosemary and sage
1lemonquartered
¼cupbutter(1/2 stick)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Remove the giblets from the chicken and dry it the skin well.
Thoroughly salt and pepper the chicken both inside and out.
Place the herbs and lemon wedges inside and truss if you wish.
Place the chicken on its side in a roasting pan or a large cast iron skillet. Sit the butter on top.
Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, baste the skin all over and turn the chicken on its other side.
Cook for 15 more minutes, remove from oven, baste the skin all over and turn the chicken breast side down.
Cook for 15 minutes, remove from oven, baste the skin all over and turn the chicken on its back (breast side up).
Return to the oven and cook an additional 30 minutes or until juices at the thigh run clear and the internal temperature reaches 165F. Be sure to baste several more times during the final 30 minutes of cooking.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.
Notes
Use an instant read meat thermometer to check for doneness. Check the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh being careful not to allow the thermometer tip to touch a bone when reading. Chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165F.
To store any leftover chicken, wrap it tightly in plastic or foil. Like most leftover foods, roasted chicken can be kept for about three days in the refrigerator. After that, the risk of food poisoning increases. If you won’t use your leftovers within three days, freeze them instead of refrigerating.