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Crispy, juicy, and full of flavor, this Lemon Garlic Oven Roasted whole Chicken is a delicious twist on the classic chicken roast. It’s so easy to make and the perfect weekend dinner!
This roasted chicken recipe is a recipe that we like to always have in our back pocket and we think you should too! If you don’t need a roast a whole turkey or want to deal with baking a turkey then this roast chicken is perfect for you! It’s so easy to make, the chicken comes out so moist and tender, and it only takes about an hour in the oven. It’s simple enough to make that you won’t be stressed out but looks good enough to impress your guests. Tender and juicy chicken made with a handful of simple ingredients and roasted to perfection.
Table of Contents
- Why this Oven Roasted Chicken is the best
- Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Chicken Roast
- How to Make this Easy Oven RoastEd Whole Chicken
- FAQ’s
- What’s the Secret to Crispy Golden Skin?
- Storage Tips
- Sides to Serve with This Lemon Garlic Chicken
- More Chicken Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Lemon Garlic Oven Roasted Whole Chicken Recipe
Why this Oven Roasted Chicken is the best
- It’s flavorful: trust us when we say the lemon garlic marinade for this roasted chicken is the best. You’re going to want to make this chicken all the time and the marinade will be your go-to for cooking chicken.
- Your family will love it: this roasted whole chicken is delicious enough that even picky eaters will love it.
- It’s only 8 ingredients: You most likely have all the ingredients in your fridge and pantry for this easy chicken dinner!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Chicken Roast
Whole chicken
Olive oil
Garlic cloves
Salt & Pepper
Lemons
Herbs: thyme and rosemary
How to Make this Easy Oven RoastEd Whole Chicken
Prepare the oven: preheat the oven to 375°F and place a rack on the center on the oven.
Prepare the chicken: whisk together oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper to a bowl then rub the chicken all over with it. Season the inside of the chicken cavity with salt and pepper then place crushed garlic, whole lemon, thyme, and rosemary into the cavity. Tie legs with a
string if needed to keep everything inside.
Roast the chicken: transfer the chicken to a large oven dish and roast for an hour or until it is cooked through.
Serve: let rest for 15 minutes before cutting and serving with the lemony gravy that formed at the bottom of the dish.
FAQ’s
To check if your chicken is done, use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken. It should read 165°F on the thickest part of the chicken. Either chicken the breast or the thigh.
Yes – you can marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge and roast the chicken when ready. Marinating overnight will add more flavor to the chicken as well.
For this oven-roasted chicken, we used fresh thyme and rosemary. However, if you don’t have fresh herbs, you can substitute them with dried herbs or other herbs you may have on hand for fresh thyme and rosemary. (Substitute one tablespoon of dried herbs for each teaspoon of fresh herbs.)
What’s the Secret to Crispy Golden Skin?
The secret to crispy golden skin on an oven-roasted chicken is making sure your chicken is dry before you season and bake it. If it’s wet or there’s moisture, it’ll steam up in the oven and your skin won’t be as crispy. So we recommend you use a paper towel and give the chicken a quick pat down to remove any traces of moisture.
Storage Tips
If you have leftovers, store as much of the chicken in one piece as possible in the fridge. If you cut it, it increases the chances of it drying out when you reheat it. Be sure to store in an airtight container! If you plan on using the rest of the chicken to make a soup, remove all meat from the bone and store in a container in the fridge.
Sides to Serve with This Lemon Garlic Chicken
- Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- Parmesan Zucchini Corn Salad
- Creamy Garlic Mushroom
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Black Bean Tabbouleh Salad
- Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
- Low Carb Cauliflower Mash
More Chicken Recipes You Might Enjoy
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Lemon Garlic Oven Roasted Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, approximately 41⁄2 pounds
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, 2 minced & 2 crushed to place inside the chicken
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 lemons, 1 whole & 2 juiced
- ½ bunch thyme
- ½ bunch rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and place a rack on the center on the oven.
- Whisk oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper into a bowl. Rub the chicken all over with the marinade. Season the chicken cavity with some salt and pepper.
- Place crushed garlic, whole lemon, thyme, and rosemary into the cavity. Tie legs with a string if needed. Transfer the chicken to a large oven dish.
- Roast for about 1 hour, or until the skin is nicely golden brown and a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 165°F. Once done, remove the chicken from the oven.
- Spoon over the lemony gravy formed into the bottom of the dish. Let the chicken rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
- Carve and serve with the gravy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recommend this marinade for whole roast chicken. I used it for the first time and it was a amazing. The flavours were lovely
Thanks James. Its a good one
This chicken is delicious and easy to-boot! I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and the fat on the really crisps up nicely, and the bottom of the chicken gets golden.
Check paragraph -what herbs to use.. last line says dried herbs for fresh herbs.
Fixed it. Sorry about that.
Do you recommend pulling back the skin on breast and seasoning under skin also or just use marinade on outside of bird and skin ?
You could certainly pull back the skin, but I don’t feel its necessary. It is optional