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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.
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.
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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 planning to use this recipe for an 8lb 11 oz chicken for Thanksgiving. Any adjustments for a bigger bird?
You’ll definitely need to adjust roasting time. Roast 20 min. per lb.
Easy and tastes wonderful.
I followed the directions exactly. Top of the chicken cooked, bottom came out half raw after 1hr 20 mins. Never again.
The instructions are clear for this one because ovens and sized of chicken vary. Roast the chicken, uncovered, at 450 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Then reduce the 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.
Hi! I made this chicken recipe last night for dinner. It was delicious and I’ll be making it again in the near future. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Sincerely. Ginny W.
This came out perfect. Usually I baste with pan juices when roasting a chicken but this time I followed the recipe and didn’t do that at all. The chicken came out so juicy without basting. I didn’t have a lemon so I halved an orange into the middle instead. I made a spice mix containing about 1/2 of the spices in my cabinet and I mixed that all up into the softened butter. I tossed sweetpotatoes, parsnips, and carrots underneath. Oh man, the pan juices at the end were to-die-for!
Nice crisp skin and smelled so good while roasting.
Made this once with a 4lb chicken and it was extremely good! Super juicy.
Trying again with two 5lb chickens (they are in the oven right now!!) 🥰
Melon, soooo how did it turn out this time?? Any other tips for the newcomers?
This is the perfect recipe for roasted chicken, and I have tried many over the years. The result was phenomenal. The rosemary, lemon zest, and butter mixture under the skin and slathered on the outside made for a wonderfully tender and flavorful chicken. I roasted a 6 pound chicken and followed the directions for starting at 450′ for 15 min, then decreased to 350′. My 6lb chicken was done (@ 165′) after an additional hour and 15 minutes, for a total of 1.5 hours (90 min) roasting time. I covered it with foil after halfway done or about 45min, when it was light golden brown. Let it roast for half an hour under the foil tent, then uncovered it the last 10-15 min to finish browning and to get nice and crisp (skin softens from the moisture under foil). The skin crisped up beautifully and was a lovely golden brown, picture perfect. The meat was so incredibly tender, falling off the bones, and infused with so much flavor and deliciousness. I doubled the butter mixture and veggies since it was a larger chicken. I used 2 lemons, added an orange, the red potatoes, carrots, and added a couple stalks of celery. Generously seasoned bird and veggies with fresh ground black pepper and coarse Kosher salt. I added about half a cup of chicken stock to the bottom of pan with the veggies. Made a lovely gravy with the pan drippings for son, who prefers the traditional, savory flavor. For MY and daughter’s sweet tooth, I made a cranberry, orange, lemon, and cherry compote. Stuffing on the side complimented the meal with green beans and slivered almonds. Everyone raved and I wished I had made two chickens, for leftovers. Next time, for sure.
I really appreciated the tip saying that basting is an unnecessary step. It makes perfect sense. The chicken was absolutely the best, and it cooked faster and more tender than it would have if I had been opening the oven and basting it.
I’m thrilled with how this recipe turned out, it’s my new gold standard. The only one I will ever need or use for roasted chicken recipes, as it is flexible and allows room for any differences or substitutions you like.
This recipe was so good 👍 😋
Wonderful easy roast chicken!!!