Easy lemon herb roast chicken
One-pot lemon herb roast chicken and potatoes is so easy and delicious. Served with a simple side salad, it makes the very best family dinners.
Is there anything as wonderful as having a whole roasted chicken in the oven? Roast chicken is without-a-doubt my absolute favorite easy home-cooked comfort food because there are very few people who don’t love a juicy, roast chicken. This recipe for lemon herb roast chicken is the one I go back to time and time again because it is so easy, requires minimal prep and results in a chicken so flavorful, you will be licking your fingers, guaranteed.
I make a marinade/cook-in sauce kind of thing before rubbing it all over the chicken, making sure I get the flavoring into all the nooks and crannies. I also like to gently lift the breast skin and get some of the marinade under it, flavoring the chicken breast meat directly.
The rest of the marinade gets poured over the chicken as it is in the roasting dish before potatoes are added. Now, the potatoes are completely optional but I would seriously suggest you add them because there is just nothing better than potatoes roasting alongside a chicken. It absorbs some of the chicken juices and just becomes so good, I could an entire dish of them.
Using a spatchcock (or butterflied) chicken makes it so much easier. Not only does the chicken roast in just more than half the time it roasts a whole chicken but carving is also made effortless. I also love that more of the skin is exposed resulting in crispy, gnarly, sticky bits of flavor.
Table of Contents
How to spatchcock (butterfly) a whole chicken
Start by placing a whole chicken breast-side down on a large cutting board. Using sharp kitchen shears or scissors, cut down either side of the back-bone, removing it. Flip the chicken over so that the breast-side is up and push the chicken down to flatten it.
How long to roast a chicken
A 1.5kg/3.3lb whole chicken that has been butterflied should roast in 45 minutes – 1 hour in a preheated 200°C/390°F oven. If the chicken is left whole and not butterflied, the chicken may take 20-30 minutes longer to roast. A chicken is cooked when the juices run clear when cooked or when it reads 75°C/165°F on a thermometer.
What to do with leftover roast chicken
What to serve with roast chicken
- Crispy salt and pepper smashed potatoes
- Cucumber, tomato and red onion salad
- Easy side salad with lemon dressing
Easy lemon herb roast chicken
Ingredients
For the marinade
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- ½-1 tsp chilli/red pepper flakes
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
For the chicken
- 1.5 kg spatchcock/butterflied chicken
- 1-2 tsp salt
- 4 cups potatoes cut into chunks
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/390ºF.
- To spatchcock the chicken, start by placing the chicken breast-side down on a large cutting board. Using sharp kitchen shears/scissors, cut down either side of the back-bone, removing it. Flip the chicken over so that the breast-side is up and push the chicken down to flatten it.
- Combine all the marinade ingredients and mix well.
- Place the chicken in a roasting dish and season with salt, then spoon over half of the marinade. Make sure to rub the marinade all over the chicken. Lift the breast skin and spoon some of the marinade onto the breast meat.
- Place the chicken breast-side up and pour over the remaining marinade. Add potatoes to the roasting dish. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and place in the oven.
- Allow to roast for 45 minutes-1 hour or until the chicken is cooked. I like to spoon the juices over the chicken every 20 minutes or so to aid in the browning of the chicken.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
