Whole Roast Lemon Chicken with Veggies
Delicious, simple, and so comforting. Roasting an entire chicken at home is so satisfying yet surprisingly straightforward once you know what to do.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 2.5-4 pounds
- 1 pound whole carrots
- 1 large red onion
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 full head garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 lemon
- 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme rosemary, or oregano
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Remove chicken from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.1 whole chicken
- Prep the veggies. Peel the carrots, cut in half lengthwise, and chop into pieces 3-4 inches in length. (If the ends of some carrots are very thin, those don’t need to be cut in half lengthwise. The idea is just to make all the pieces roughly the same thickness for even cooking.)1 pound whole carrots
- Peel the red onion and chop into chunks. Reserve one or two wedges of the onion for the inside of the chicken, then toss the rest together with the carrots in the bottom of a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven.1 large red onion
- Prep the butter mixture. In a large liquid measuring cup, melt the butter. Pull 3-4 cloves off the garlic, peel and mince them, then stir the minced garlic into the butter. Add the 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and about 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Stir well.1/4 cup butter, 1 full head garlic, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, kosher salt and black pepper
- Gather the aromatics. Slice the top off the rest of the head of garlic, so one edge of the cloves is exposed. Slice the lemon in half, and prepare your sprigs of fresh herbs.1 lemon, 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme
- Prep the chicken. Remove all packaging from the chicken and discard the package of giblets from the cavity. Use paper towels to pat the chicken dry, immediately discard those, then place the chicken on top of the carrots and onion, breast side up.
- Gently pull up the skin of the chicken with one hand. With the other hand, pour all of the melted butter mixture under the skin, letting some of it run into the cavity of the chicken, as well.
- Tuck the reserved onion wedges, head of garlic, lemon halves, and fresh herbs into the cavity of the chicken. Don’t worry if it doesn’t all fit—just tuck in what you can.
- Brush and sprinkle the skin. After washing your hands well, drizzle olive oil over the outside of the chicken. Spread the oil with a pastry brush to be sure the skin is evenly coated. Sprinkle the top of the chicken really generously with more kosher salt and black pepper.3 Tablespoons olive oil
- Tie the drumsticks together with kitchen twine and tuck the wings under the bird, if desired. (I actually don’t always use twine. Some consider this a crime, but I confess I haven’t actually noticed much of a difference.)
- Roast. Place chicken in the oven to roast for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. Begin checking the temperature around 50 minutes. It usually takes 1 hour and 15-25 minutes for about a 3.5 pound chicken to roast in my oven, but this will vary depending on the size of your chicken, how your oven holds and distributes heat, etc. The chicken is done when the thickest part of the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. (If testing temperature, be sure you’re sticking your thermometer into the actual chicken meat — if it pokes through to the cavity, the lemon, garlic, etc. will remain cooler even when the chicken is fully done.)
- Rest. Let the chicken rest out of the oven, still in the skillet, for about 10 minutes. This is crucial to let the juices reabsorb so you get moist, tender meat.
- Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted carrots, onions, pan drippings, and other sides as desired. Enjoy!
Last step!Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked the recipe. This helps my small business thrive and continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Nutrition Estimate
Calories: 446 kcal, Carbohydrates: 11 g, Protein: 25 g, Fat: 34 g, Saturated Fat: 11 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 15 g, Trans Fat: 0.4 g, Cholesterol: 116 mg, Sodium: 203 mg, Potassium: 536 mg, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 5 g, Vitamin A: 13051 IU, Vitamin C: 17 mg, Calcium: 52 mg, Iron: 2 mg