Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken

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This incredibly easy roast chicken is a staple in my recipe box. It is a breeze to prepare and perfect not only for a weeknight family meal, but easily elevated to serve to your dinner guests.

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken lead photo with chicken on a plate with sauce in a pitcher

The chicken cavity is stuffed with cut up lemons and a handful of herbs. Here I used parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme because I had them in my garden. (And I like the way it sounds... 🎵) After roasting the chicken, a pan sauce is created by adding the juice from the lemons into the pan drippings along with chicken stock to create a flavorful pan sauce.

Unlike a rotisserie chicken that is cooked using a spit -- like the kind you find prepared in grocery stores -- my lemon and herb roasted chicken is cooked in a roasting pan using the dry heat of an oven.

And not one to waste, the leftovers will be used for curried chicken salad or quesadillas. The giblets and the carcass will be used to make chicken stock. (Consider adapting my recipe for Roast Turkey Stock!)

Ingredients

roaster chicken
lemons
kosher Salt
fresh ground pepper
parsley
sage
rosemary
thyme
chicken stock

See recipe card for quantities.

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Instructions

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken being prepared for stuffing

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Remove giblets from chicken.Rinse chicken and pat dry. Generously salt the inside and the outside of the chicken with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken in roasting pan and cavity trussed

Place the quartered lemons and herbs into the chicken cavity.

Truss the chicken if desired. Place a rack inside a roasting pan, and position chicken on top.

Roast for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting while roasting until the juices run clear.

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken with thermometer showing 165

And a meat thermometer registers 165°F.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and remove the rack from the pan. Remove herbs and lemons from chicken cavity reserving lemons.

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken preparing stovetop sauce

Place the roasting pan on a stove burner over medium heat, add chicken broth. With a wooden spoon, scrape up browned bits. Squeeze reserved lemons into the pan and bring to a boil and cook until reduced and slightly thickened.

Serve chicken with reduced sauce.

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken with chicken on platter with sauce

Substitutions

Citrus - instead of lemons, consider using oranges
Herbs - while I used parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, you don't need to use all of them. Or you can swap in other herbs such as tarragon or marjoram. (I think tarragon would work nicely with oranges.)
Gluten Free -- even if you aren't GF, perhaps a guest is!

Equipment

roasting pan or 13" x 9" x 2" inch baking dish
roasting rack or two ramekins
meat thermometer

If you don't have a roasting rack, invert two or three ramekins and rest the chicken on top of the ramekins.

Storage

Store roast chicken in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days and store in the freezer for up to six months

Top Tip

When making roast chicken, target getting a 5 lb. roaster chicken. Typically "roasters" are young chickens -- less than 8 months old. They retain moisture when cooked, resulting in tender flavorful meat. Larger chickens are older and have a tendency to be tougher after cooking.

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken roasting in oven

FAQ

Do I need to truss the chicken?

You do not need to truss the chicken, but it can enhance the flavor and moisture of the chicken. If the cavity remains exposed, the hot air in the oven will circulate into the chicken cavity, potentially drying it out.

Here I used trussing pins and twine to "lace up" the cavity. The same effect can be created by simply tying the legs together tightly over the cavity. I've been known to run out of kitchen twine and have resulted to using anything from magenta yarn to unflavored dental floss. You get the idea.

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken cut up chicken on a platter with sauce

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