Lemon and Herb Roasted Whole Chicken
If you’re looking for a delicious, easy, inexpensive, yet fancy dinner LOOK NO FURTHER. This lemon and herb roasted chicken recipe will not only impress your dinner guests, but keep your bank account nice and happy.
I absolutely love cooking with a dutch oven, and my go-to is the Staub Dutch Oven. I love Staub because they produce reliable, high-quality cast iron cookware that will last you for years. Their 4 qt. dutch oven was my first piece of my ever-growing Staub collection, and I can say it’s definitely my favorite and by far my most frequently used piece. Bread, roasts, soup– you name it, this baby does it. I used my 4 qt. dutch oven for this whole chicken recipe, and it kept the chicken nice and moist while achieving a perfectly even cook.
I love whole young chickens because they’re cheap, easy, and always delicious. This recipe is super versatile, and can be altered in so many ways! Feel free to swap out the herbs, and/or omit the lemon. For this whole chicken rendition I used rosemary, thyme, and lemon and it did not disappoint.
As always, I like to start out with a recipe overview:
- Preheat oven, prep ingredients, and make lemon herb butter.
- Stuff chicken, add lemon herb butter, cover and cook.
- Remove lid, baste, then finish cooking in oven uncovered.
- Remove, rest, serve, and enjoy!
Sounds easy enough, right?! Plus there’s plenty of down time while the chicken is in the oven, so you’re able to whip up a side dish while you’re waiting. I paired this recipe with baked potatoes and broccolini, but you could really serve this chicken with just about anything!
Start by preheating the oven, laying out all your ingredients, then move on to prep. If you store your butter in the fridge, be sure to get butter resting in a bowl on the counter before you start to cut and prep the rest of the ingredients. This will allow the butter to soften and make it easier to mix into a yummy lemon herb butter.
When you remove chicken from package, make sure you rinse it in the sink, then pat it dry with paper towels. After drying fully (this might take a few paper towels) season it with a lot of salt and pepper. Like seriously though… use a LOT of salt and pepper.
One key component to delicious, crispy skin is starting out with a well-seasoned, dry bird. Dry then topped with lots of butter. Trust me, you don’t want to skimp on the butter.
Prepare the bottom of the dutch oven with veggie oil, lemon, garlic, and herbs. Stuff chicken with remaining lemon wheels, herbs, and garlic then place into prepared dutch oven. Top the chicken with that super delicious lemon herb butter we made earlier. Don’t be shy– get in there! Make sure chicken will be completely covered with butter once it melts and starts to drip.
Start cooking the bird with the lid on for the first 30 minutes, then baste, remove the cover, and finish cooking for another 35 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. It will continue to cook while you let rest for at least 10 minutes. Chicken must be at 165 degrees to be safe to eat, and pulling the chicken out just before it reaches 165 will ensure it cooks fully while remaining super moist.
If you’re felling spunky, feel free to get a little creative with your own recipe! I love the combo of rosemary and thyme, (and I also just so happened to have them in my pantry already) but you can seriously use just about any fresh herb on chicken and have it be fantastic. Let me know if you find a cool rendition of this recipe in the comments down below! 🙂
Lemon and Herb Roasted Whole Chicken
Equipment
- Cast Iron Dutch Oven
- Zester
Ingredients
- 4 – 5 lb whole young chicken
- 3 tbs butter
- 1 head garlic 10-12 whole cloves
- 6 sprigs rosemary divided in half
- 6 sprigs thyme divided in half
- 1 whole lemon we'll use the zest from half, then cut into 10 lemon wheels
- 1 tbs vegetable oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Set 3 tbs butter aside in bowl to allow to come to room temperature. You'll be using this "butter bowl" to make a lemon herb butter in a few minutes.
- Remove chicken from package, and rinse with water. Pat dry with paper towels, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Chop half of the rosemary and thyme and add to the "butter bowl."
- Zest half lemon into "butter bowl" with herbs and butter and stir to combine.
- Thinly slice zested lemon into approximately 10 lemon wheels.
Roast Chicken
- Line the bottom of dutch oven with veggie oil, a couple cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary and thyme, and 4 lemon wheels.
- Stuff chicken with remaining herbs, lemon wheels, and garlic cloves.
- Evenly rub chicken all over with lemon herb butter, then place into dutch oven on top of lemon wheels, herbs, and garlic.
- Put lid on dutch oven, place into preheated oven, and cook covered for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove lid, baste chicken, and return to oven uncovered.
- Cook chicken uncovered 35-45 minutes (or until internal temp reaches 160° F) longer, basting occasionally. Chicken will begin to turn a beautiful golden brown.
- Remove chicken from oven, and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. Internal chicken temperature needs to read at least 165° before serving.
- Serve with sides for a complete meal. Enjoy!
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