Best Roasted Chicken Recipe

This is literally the Best Roasted Chicken Recipe ever.

We love to get the whole chickens from Costco and they are awesome. The only thing is they are a little more expensive than the ones you can buy already cooked. However, they are good fresh and fun to make on your own. The kids love to eat the drumsticks and the chicken thighs. With lemon, garlic and butter you can’t go wrong.

Stuffing the chicken with onion, lemon and garlic give it more flavor than you could even imagine. I used the dripping and made a homemade chicken gravy and put it over rice. The carrots were so good and flavorful without even putting a ton of seasoning on them. I would recommend this recipe ten times over.

Ingredients

Whole Chicken – 2 to 5lb chicken – Giblets removed
6 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons minced roasted garlic
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 whole peeled carrots, cut lengthwise and chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped

Stuffed inside

1/2 yellow onion cut in half
1 lemon cut in half
whole garlic bunch with top cut off
1 teaspoon thyme sprinkled inside the chicken

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
To a small mixing bowl add the melted butter, garlic, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
Place the celery and carrots in a cast iron and skillet. Use a paper towel to pat the chicken dry and then place the chicken on top of the veggies, breast side up.
Rub the melted butter mixture under the skin of the chicken as well as inside the cavity of the chicken, being sure to use all of the butter.
Stuff the chicken cavity with the head of garlic, pieces of yellow onion, lemon, and thyme. I squeezed one of the lemons all through the cavity. If you like, use a bit of kitchen twine to tie the drumsticks.
Drizzle the olive oil over the skin of the chicken and then use your hand and rub all over the skin to ensure that it is well coated with oil. Liberally season the chicken with salt and black pepper.
Place the chicken in the oven, on the middle rack, and roast for 1 hour and 15-30 minutes, basting every 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature, at the thickest part, reaches 165 degrees. Mine took about 1 hour and a half it was 5lbs.
Remove from the oven and let rest 10 to 15 min.
I made homemade gravy from the drippings and then poured it over rice and the chicken.