This post contains affiliate links.
Our simple Roast Chicken recipe is moist, flavorful, and makes a beautiful meal with little effort. It only takes 15 minutes to prep and is baked in a pan with roasted vegetables.
If you make chicken recipes as much as we do, try our Garlic Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken, Grilled Chicken Sandwich, and Tahini Chicken Bowls!
Roast Chicken simple enough for a cozy weeknight.
I love how effortless and fool-proof it is to make a beautiful roast chicken at home. All you need to a simple herb butter and some chopped veggies; there's no brining or complicated culinary steps involved. Best of all it's a meal your whole family will love! Remember to keep the leftover chicken carcass to make homemade chicken stock for other recipes, like our chicken noodle soup!
How to Roast a Chicken:
Prep Chicken: If using a frozen chicken, it needs to be completely thaw before using. Remove raw chicken from packaging. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity (discard them away or use them to make chicken gravy). Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
Make herb butter by combining butter, lemon zest, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Gently lift the skin near the chicken breasts and smear herb butter under it, on top of the breasts meat. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the outside and spread with more herb butter over the outside. Smear any leftover butter inside the cavity. Cut lemons in half and place inside.
Roast: Add chopped vegetables to the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish and drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Place chicken on top of vegetables and roast chicken uncovered at 450°F for 10-15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F then cook for 20 minutes per pound, or until the chicken is 165°F on a food thermometer. The chicken should be golden brown and the juices should be clear and sizzling. Remove it from the oven, tent with foil to keep warm and rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
Carve and Serve: Carve the crispy roast chicken and serve with the roasted vegetables. Use the pan drippings to make chicken gravy. We love to serve roast chicken dinner with my favorite homemade rolls and apple pecan salad.
How to Carve a Whole Chicken:
- Separate Chicken Legs: Gently pull one leg away from the body then slice through the leg meat and skin. With a little more force, pull the leg away from the body until you hear the hip joint pop out. Place a sharp knife between hip bone and the body then cut. Repeat for the other leg.
- Remove Drumsticks and Thighs: Place knife on the natural line that separates the drumstick and thigh then cut through the joint. Repeat for other leg.
- Chicken Breast: Slice along one side of the breast bone to remove one side of breast meat. Remove full breast and then slice into portions by laying skin side up and slicing into thin portions. Repeat with second breast.
Serve With:
- Cornbread Dressing
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower
- Balsamic Roasted Carrots
- Pomegranate and Pear Salad
- French Green Beans
- Broccoli Salad
Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 4 Tablespoons butter, , softened
- 1 lemon
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, (or 2 tsp dried rosemary, finely chopped)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3-4 large carrots, , chopped
- 1 onion, , chopped
- 1.5 lbs baby red potatoes, , halved
- chicken gravy, (optional)
Instructions
- Prep Chicken: If using a frozen whole chicken, thaw completely (1-2 days in the fridge) before cooking. When ready to roast chicken, preheat oven to 450 degrees F and adjust your oven rack so the chicken will sit in the center of the oven. Remove neck and giblets from inside the cavity of the chicken and pat dry all over with paper towels.
- Herb Butter: In a bowl combine softened butter, lemon zest and chopped rosemary. Season the outside of the chicken and inside the cavity with salt and pepper.
- Apply Herb Butter: Use your fingers to loosen and lift the skin above the breasts (on the top of the chicken) and smooth a few tablespoons of the herb butter underneath. Microwave the remaining herb butter mixture for 5-10 seconds, until softened, and smear the remaining herb butter all over the outside of the chicken, legs and wings.
- Finish: Cut the lemon in half and place inside the cavity of the bird. Add the onion, carrot and potato to the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Drizzle a little olive oil over the veggies, season them with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Place the chicken on top, and tie the legs together with kitchen twine if desired (not required).
- Roast the chicken, uncovered, at 450 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and roast for 20 minutes per pound, or until internal temperature (inserted on middle of thigh and breast) reaches about 165 degrees F. Skin should be golden brown and the juices should run clear. *Check the chicken about halfway through cooking and if the skin is getting overly brown you can cover it with a piece of tinfoil to protect the breast meat from overcooking.
- Rest: Remove chicken from the oven and tent with aluminum foil to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.
- Serve with the cooked vegetables at the bottom of the pan. Reserve the drippings in the roasting pan, if desired, to make chicken gravy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Text me new recipe ideas!
Simple, tasty ideas sent once a week. No spam.
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe December 2013. Updated August 2019, September 2022 and September 2024.
Lauren, this was the most wonderful roast chicken that I’ve ever made! THANK YOU for this recipe!
It was so easy and turned out perfectly!
The time and temps were spot on…it was perfectly cooked..usually, when my cooking time is up, it’s nearly burnt on top but still pink in leg joints and juices are not running clear..
This is a Dream ComeTrue recipe!
THANK YOU!
Do you recommend NOT to wash poultry when you remove from packaging?
I am using this recipe tonight for dinner, I see that it is supposed to rest under aluminum foil? It didnt Say to cover this? Now after 90 minutes (weight of bird 5.77lbs), it still isn’t done?
Resting the chicken comes after it is cooked but before you cut it it to eat. So after you it is done cooking, pull it out of the oven and loosely cover it with aluminum foil and let it rest for a several minutes (10 minutes as per this recipe) and then carve and serve.
Also wanted to add that the recipe states approximately 20 minute cook time per pound. 5.77lb * 20 minutes is approximately 115 minutes.
I know this is way late but it needs to cook 20 minutes per pound so almost 2 hours for that size bird. Hope it turned out for you!
I have made this chicken several times, and it comes out perfect every time.
The butter with rosemary adds so much flavor and it does not require any other seasonings.
The higher temp at the onset of roasting makes for a juicy chicken.
Thanks for this recipe!
What an amazing recipe. My chicken turned out so tender and delicious! I did use an Organic Free Range Chicken. I give this a five star! It was so easy too!
I loved this recipe! Fresh lemon and fresh rosemary gave it such a bright flavor and not bland or boring. The veggies also had a lovely flavor from cooking in the same pan. I did used the drippings for gravy- yum! Thanks for this great recipe!
Delicious! I followed your recipe exactly, using fresh rosemary from my garden. I made stock and the gravy also. I love being able to get so much out of one chicken!
(I had never in my entire life roasted a whole chicken before, and this recipe made it simple. I’ve used this recipe at least 6 times in the last few months – thank you so much!)
The chicken tasted fine, but the veggies should probably be described as braised rather than roasted, due to the large amount of drippings that they end up cooking in. My family prefers roasted vegetables that have a crisper outer coating and tender centers.
I like to put my veggies back into the oven while the chicken is resting. This help crisp them up a bit.
Came out perfectly, and I received so many compliments!
Fantastic recipe! The lemon and rosemary throughout the chicken was so delightful! Easy to follow recipe with tons of flavor! The chicken was super moist and the veggies tender! Definitely saving this recipe for the future! Thank you so much!
Tried the recipe instead of my usual roast chicken one. It’s ok but I find that my usual recipe is better. I won’t be using this recipe again. Thanks anyway!
I made this roast Chicken. It was simple to follow. I liked using the herbed butter. I think it gave a rich flavor. I was out of carrots so I just used the potatoes and some celery on the bottom of the pan. The potatoes tasted so good. Full or the flavor from the herbed butter. This roast chicken will be my go to from not on.