Do you make your own roast chicken at home? It’s pretty easy. I like to use a fresh organic, local chicken and fresh, high-quality ingredients. The process of roasting a chicken is simple. You want to make sure to remove the giblets inside the cavity and you want to pat dry the chicken with paper towels to remove extra moisture before adding seasonings. There is no need to rinse chicken. In fact, it’s better not as you can just spread germs which increase food poisoning risks.

When you roast a chicken, you want to get juicy, tender meat, and a beautiful golden-brown color on top. If you really want a crispy skin, you will have to start roasting your chicken at higher temperature (450 F) for 10-15 minutes and then reducing heat at 350 F for the rest of the cooking.

If you don’t know how to truss a chicken, check out this blog post.

What Kind of Chicken do I get?

I always suggest getting organic poultry, and for many reasons. It’s just healthier for us and better for them too – they have much better living conditions. I get organic chicken from a small, local farm. Thats what I suggest getting. Otherwise, if you can’t afford organic, I would just get chicken from a small local farm.

The weight of the chicken will depend on how many people you will feed or if you want a lot of leftover chicken or not.

A whole 3 to 4 pound chicken will usually feed 4 to 6 people.

Do I brine my chicken?

No. I don’t have time for that and it’s not needed in my opinion. I usually only brine my turkey during the Holidays. Enough work, haha!

How do I know When My Chicken is Done?

It’s ready when a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the bird (close to the bone but not touching the bone) reaches at least 165F.

The temperature of the meat will keep raising as you remove the bird from the oven.

Other Chicken Recipes on the Blog:

• Coconut Lime Chicken
• Chicken Stir-Fry
• Teriyaki Chicken
• Cilantro Lime Chicken 

Now.. Let’s get to the recipe:)

Print Recipe

Herb Garlic Roast Chicken

Organic chicken is roasted and served with a garlic, herb and butter sauce. Serve the chicken with cauliflower mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 (3-4 lbs) whole chicken, gizzards removed
• 3 tablespoons unrefined salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons organic cold butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Pat dry chicken with paper towels.
• Truss chicken.
• Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika.
• Place chicken in roasting pan, cast iron skillet or baking dish and put in the oven. Count about 20 minutes per pound plus an additional 15 minutes. When internal temperature from the thickest part reaches 165F and the juices run clear, chicken is ready. Remove from oven, cover with aluminum paper and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
• To make the sauce, use drippings from your skillet or pan. If you made the chicken in a skillet, just use that skillet on the burner. Otherwise transfer drippings into a skillet.
• Heat to medium low heat and add garlic and thyme to skillet. Cook until fragrant, about a minute.
• Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer to reduce liquid.
• Put heat to lowest setting and add butter, one tablespoon at the time. Whisk to incorporate. Then add lemon juice and parsley.
• Serve sauce with chicken.

Notes

If you like add extra herbs under the skin. If you want a really crisp skin, start roasting your chicken at higher temperature (450F) for 10-15 minutes before continuing at 350F.