There’s nothing more traditional than a Sunday dinner of juicy Dutch Oven Roasted Chicken. Juicy, tender and flavors of lemon, rosemary and thyme make this a meal you can re-purpose all week.
My favorite part about this recipe is that the leftovers will carry you throughout the week on topped on a salad, paired with sides or used in a soup. Don’t forget to save the bones for chicken stock!
Make it a Meal with these Recipes:
How to Make Dutch Oven Roasted Chicken
Instead of a roasting pan, I use a heavy dutch-oven pot for cooking. You can even use this same recipe for a Thanksgiving turkey!
To begin: Remove the giblet bag from inside of the chicken. Rinse and pat the chicken dry.
- Smear the butter underneath the skin of the chicken.
- Place the fresh herbs underneath the skin as well.
- Squeeze both halves of the lemon over the chicken and place inside the cavity.
- Season with salt and pepper. If desired, place an onion, carrots, celery and/or potatoes inside and around the bird. Arrange remaining herbs around the chicken.
TIP: In order to keep your chicken moist while cooking, baste regularly! During the cooking process, pull the chicken out of the oven and fill your baster with juices from the bottom of the pan and carefully baste them onto the chicken.
How to Smear Butter Underneath the Skin
- Gently lift up the skin and place the butter inside, pushing the butter down and all over the chicken skin from the outside as well.
- Room temperature butter works best for this step.
How do I make my chicken skin crispy?
Two words: Butter & Basting.
To get the best and crispiest chicken skin, lots of butter is required. By smearing the butter underneath the skin of the chicken, you will get beautifully browned and crispy outer skin. I can’t even describe the amount of flavor this gives the entire recipe.
Oven-Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Herbs
Ingredients
- 4 oz. good butter at room temperature
- 1 4- lb. chicken whole
- 1 lemon halved and seeded
- Several sprigs of sage and rosemary or a mixture of the two
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Mix room temp butter and garlic in a small bowl. Smear the butter with your hands all over the bird and underneath the skin. Put the chicken breast side up in a Dutch Oven that will accommodate it with room to spare.
- Carefully, slide herbs underneath the skin. Put the remaining herbs and onion halves inside the cavity.
- Squeeze out both lemon halves over the bird and place inside cavity. Season with salt and pepper.
- Roast the chicken, basting every 20 minutes in the oven for about 3 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 165. The bird should be golden brown all over with a crisp skin and have buttery, lemony juices of a nut-brown color in the bottom of the pan.
Susie says
I LOVE oven roasted chicken! I will definitely have to try this recipe asap.
DeAnna says
Do you cover with foil? Or leave it open the entire time?