There are a couple options for the ingredients. You can use either melted butter or olive oil (or preferred cooking oil) to rub the chicken. You can also use either fresh herbs or dried herbs. For this recipe we prefer to use melted butter with the fresh herbs. Since you'll need to heat the butter to melt it, we'll toss in the fresh herbs and the combination of the warm butter with the fresh herbs helps infuse a bit of the herb flavor into the butter. Quite delicious. If you use dried herbs instead of the fresh, most people will substitute only about half the quantity of dried for fresh (1 Tablespoon of dried instead of 2 Tablespoons of fresh).
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr50 minutesmins
Servings: 4servings
Calories: 488kcal
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Ingredients
1whole Chicken
2TablespoonsButter or Olive Oil
2Tablespoonsfreshly chopped Italian Parsley(or other preferred herb-oregano, thyme, tarragon, etc...)
2Lemons, one lemon zested and then cut into 1/4's the other lemon just cut into 1/4's (make sure to set aside the zest to use on the chicken)
Preheat oven to 425°F. Pat dry the chicken. For the crispiest skin- see step 2. For quickest preparation- proceed to step 3.
Sprinkle salt over all surfaces of chicken. Set on a plate, place in fridge and allow to air dry for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Remove from fridge and pat dry water that had come to skin surface.
Combine butter, chopped herbs, and lemon zest in a small saucepan. Melt butter over medium heat until completely melted. Set aside.
Truss the chicken if desired (see video in post for trussing instructions). Place the chicken in a baking dish).
Spread butter mixture evenly over the chicken (the butter will harden as it contacts the cold chicken. Best to work quickly.) Squeeze one lemon worth of quarters over and inside the chicken and place th e squeezed pieces plus one more lemon's worth of wedges in the roasting pan with the chicken. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.
Roast for about 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes or until juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh or the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F when probed with an instant read thermometer. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 10 minutes. Carve and serve as desired.