Roasted chickens are the quintessential winter comfort food.
They’re ridiculously easy- just season & pop in the oven for an hour and a half.
The result: tender moist meat + crispy delicious skin.
The secret to that ultra-crisp (not fatty or slimy) skin is high heat roasting. It cooks away all the fat in the skin, leaving a savory, crispy delicacy that makes home roasted chickens 500x better than store-bought.
I’ve already posted an awesome recipe for the most basic way to roast a chicken: Classic Roasted Chicken, so it’s time to spice it up!
This chicken is slathered in butter, lemon zest, herbes de provence, and salt and pepper.
Yumm-ay!
What is herbes de provence?
It’s a French spice mixture that you can either buy pre-mixed, or make yourself.
My favorite part is that it includes fragrant & floral dried lavender, which can be hard to find by itself. That special ingredient takes the spice rub to a whole nother level of deliciousness.
Typically, herbes de provence also contains a blend of other dried herbs (the exact herbs used & their proportions vary by brand).
I used O Organics brand, which is a nice blend of basil, fennel, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, lavender, tarragon, and thyme.
These French herbs pair SO well with lemon, garlic, butter, and savory roasted chicken.
It’s a great change up from a basic roasted chicken. Nom Nom.
Check out that crispy skin!!
(You know you can’t resist)
- 1 5-6 lb chicken, giblets removed from central cavity
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- zest of 1 organic lemon (+ the rest of the lemon for stuffing the cavity)
- 2 tablespoons herbs de provence
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the back of a chef’s knife
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
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Place the chicken on a roasting rack in a large roasting pan (or in a large baking dish if you don’t have a roasting pan- this will just result in slightly less crispy skin since there is less air flow around the bird while cooking).
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Pat dry with paper towels, and double check to make sure you got all the giblets out of the chicken’s central cavity! (usually includes the neck, heart, liver, and/or gizzard).
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In a small bowl, mix together the softened butter, lemon zest, herbs de provence, ground black pepper, and kosher salt until evenly blended. Use your hands to loosen the skin from the chicken breast and thighs, then rub 1/3 to 1/2 of the butter mixture under the skin to season the meat. Then use your hands to season the outer skin of the rest of the bird.
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Cut the zested lemon in half and stuff in the cavity of the bird, then add the 3 crushed cloves of garlic. Place the entire roasting pan/bird in the oven and roast, uncovered, for between 1 hour and 30 minutes & 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Remove from the oven and let rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes to let the juices redistribute in the meat. Slices & serve! I recommend serving each of the breasts as 1 serving, and 1 thigh + 1 wing as two more servings.
