Oh boy! This Roast Chicken is everything you need for your soups, sandwiches like my Chicken Avocado Melt, enchiladas, chimichangas and so much more. It's packed full of such simple flavors and yet so flavorful.
What Makes The Chicken So Moist?
One word: DRY RUB! More specifically--simply dry rub a generous amount of sea salt or kosher salt all over the chicken. Salt is magical and ensures that your chicken once roasted and cooked, is perfectly tender and moist. When rubbed on meat, it extracts the moisture and draws it to the surface, changing the structure of the meat. This results in a crispy chicken with the meat so tender and moist. Especially if you've struggled with your chicken breast drying out, you will love this technique even more!
How Long Do I Need To Marinate the Chicken?
There are two steps to fully marinating the chicken. Step 1 involves the dry brining in salt. This requires at least 8-12 hours of refrigeration, uncovered. Leaving overnight in the fridge is best. Make sure that your chicken is rinsed and completely patted dry for the salt to stick. Step 2 involves rubbing the chicken all over, inside the cavity, under the skin covering the breast with the delicious herb butter. That marinade is packed with simple ingredients but bursts with tons of flavor. This isn't a spicy chicken so don't expect any heat. Once rubbed in, truss up the chicken and it's ready for the oven.
How To Prevent Uneven Browning of the Roast Chicken?
Because we are not cooking on a spit/rotisserie which rotates for an even heat circulation, the chicken we cook in residential ovens can be susceptible to uneven browning/spotting where pieces that aren't too exposed to heat such as under the wings, can be left a little pale. That's okay and happens. I always turn on the broiler setting towards the end to get a deep color on the chicken. You can also cover areas crisping up too quickly with a bit of aluminum foil.
Garlic, Lemon Herb Butter Roast Chicken
Ingredients
Dry Brine
- 1 whole chicken approx 4.5 lbs
- 1 tablespoon salt sea salt or kosher salt is recommended
Garlic Lemon Herb Butter
- 2-3 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoon thyme and rosemary chopped
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon black pepper coarsely ground is better
- 1 lemon
- ½-3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Remove giblets, clean, rinse and pat dry chicken well. On a baking sheet, place the chicken and rub salt generously all over and inside the cavity. Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.
- When ready to roast, preheat oven to 425F and make the Garlic Lemon Herb Butter by combining all the ingredients listed above. Rub this really well into the chicken, under the wings, inside the cavity, and try to slide some under the skin covering the chicken breast.
- Stuff the cavity with the lemon you squeezed, herbs stalks leftover and half a bulb of garlic (just slice down the middle), Truss up the chicken with oven safe kitchen twine around the legs and wings and roast in a pan at 425F for 55 minutes breast side up. Halfway through, flip the chicken, breast side down. Once the 55 mins are up, turn the broiler back on, and flip the chicken, breast side up once again and let it crisp up.
- Let chicken rest for 15 minutes to allow the juices to settle and then carve.
Notes
- I typically bake over a roasting rack, but if you don't have one the lay a bed of veggies (potato wedges, slices onions) and rest the chicken on top for an even heat circulation.
- If chicken is browning too quickly, you can tent the are with aluminum foil.
- Don't skimp on the salt for the dry brine. 1 tablespoon may seem like a lot but we're roasting a a whole bird.
- Avoid using iodized salt for at least the dry brine as it can leave a rather metallic taste.
- Don't be tempted to add too much garlic to your herb butter because garlic will burn. Also, make sure you chopped it very fine.
Nudizzzle
Hi Izza, if I were looking to marinate this in 2 lbs of chicken breast how (or if) would I do this differently? Also, would I just half the seasonings for 2 lbs, since your recipe calls for 4.5 lbs.
Maiublue
One of my favorite recipes!! so easy and it turns out amazing every single time. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Rookie With A Cookie
thank you for your review! I'm so happy you found this just as delicious as I did:)
MS
I have made it three times already and it’s always moist and flavorful. I usually do a layer of veggies under the chicken and it works well.