It’s that time of the year to turn on your oven! Try out this Easy Zesty Lemon Roasted Chicken. You’ll love smelling the chicken while you get cozy on the couch on a cold day.
HOW TO ROAST A WHOLE CHICKEN
It’s surprisingly easy to roast chicken. Most chickens come all ready to go, just don’t forget to remove the bag of organs they sometimes put in the chicken. If there’s a neck put it aside and save it to make chicken stock.
Start by preheating the oven to 425º F. While the oven gets to temperature you can make the herb butter.
In a bowl, mix the butter or ghee, garlic, thyme, rosemary and zest from 2 lemons. Add a little salt and pepper.
Rub the herb butter over and under the skin. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
WHAT TO PUT IN THE ROAST CHICKEN
Adding herbs inside the chicken will make your chicken extra flavorful. In this recipe, the chicken has a Mediterranean flair with lemon and thyme.
Cut a lemon in half and insert it into the cavity. You can also add some chopped onions, garlic, fresh thyme, and rosemary.
OVEN
Once the chicken is stuffed and buttered up put it in the oven for about 40 min. When the juices run clear or the internal temperature reaches 165F take the chicken out. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.
INSTANT POT
Pressure Cooked Chicken
In a hurry! Don’t fret you can actually cook a whole chicken in the instant pot! It will be super juicy but it will not be crispy. You can put it in the oven once cooked to broil for 5 minutes if you’d like crispy skin.
Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of your instant pot and trivet. Place seasoned chicken on top.
For every pound of chicken, you will need to pressure cook for 6 minutes and then let the steam naturally release for 20 minutes.
- 3 pound chicken: 18 minutes on high pressure
- 4 pound chicken: 24 minutes on high pressure
- 5 pound chicken: 30 minutes on high pressure
- 6 pound chicken: 36 minutes on high pressure
Slow-Cooked Chicken
- Cook the chicken breast-side up for 4 to 5 hours on the high setting, or 6 to 8 hours on low.
- Once the juices run clear or the internal temperature hits 165F you can take out the chicken.
- Let the chicken rest for 10-20 minutes before carving to keep it extra juicy.
PRO TIP
Don’t toss the bones! Instead, make some chicken broth. There’s no better feeling than using the whole animal.
Take a look at this post to learn how to make broth and what you can do with it.
WHAT TO SERVE THE ZESTY LEMON ROASTED CHICKEN WITH
Lemon Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole organic chicken, about 4 pounds
- 3 tbsp ghee or butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 2 lemons
- 1 small onion, cut into wedges
- Salt, pepper and paprika to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425º F.
- Zest both lemons. In a bowl mix together the ghee, garlic, lemon zest, thyme, and rosemary.
- Pat chicken dry. Rub ghee mixture all over the chicken and under skin if you can detach the skin without breaking it.
- Cut one lemon in half and insert both halves into the cavity of the chicken. Add the onion quarters and a few springs of thyme and rosemary.
- Sprinkle some salt, pepper, and paprika on chicken. Roast at 425F for about one hour or until juices run clear. The internal temperature should be 165F.
- Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes. It will keep the chicken extra juicy.
Hi Sonia
I love roasted chicken, and this is very delicious. Not only it taste good, but it looks healthy as well because of the herbs you added.
Is one hour enough to make the chicken a bit crispy? I made roasted chicken using a conventional oven, and I cook for 180 C for 1 hour, and then 30 minutes for 200 C. So that is 1.5 hours total. Nonetheless, your roasted chicken is absolutely mouthwatering.
Thanks for sharing the recipe
Saif
Thanks so much, Saif! It actually gets pretty crispy. I even have to cover it sometimes with some aluminum foil so it doesn’t get too crispy!