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+ servings
Roasting pan with roast chicken inside and lemon slices and rosemary with a dark blue napkin to the side
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5 from 4 votes

Garlic Butter Roast Chicken

The BEST Roast Chicken recipe with garlic herb butter for a flavorful meal that wins every time. Tender, juicy meat with perfectly crispy skin.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Main Dishes
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1 whole chicken
Calories: 400kcal
Author: Julia

Ingredients

  • 1 4-pound whole chicken
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp avocado oil*
  • 5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary minced
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 tsp sea salt to taste
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 lemon quartered

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 
  • Remove the chicken from its packaging and remove the organ meats that are inside the cavity. You can cook these organ meats separately, or you can discard them. Transfer the chicken to a large casserole dish, roasting pan, or to a baking sheet.
  • Melt the butter in the microwave, then stir in the avocado oil, fresh garlic, herbs, and sea salt.
    Ingredients for garlic herb butter in a white bowl
  • Use a spoon to get underneath the skin so that you can easily distribute the garlic herb butter mixture between the skin and the muscle. The skin should peel away easily without much effort.
    Whole chicken in a roasting pan with a spoon between the skin and the flesh
  • Scoop a generous amount of the garlic butter mixture underneath the skin so that it’s covering much of the breast.
    Inserting the garlic herb butter underneath the skin using a spoon
  • Pour the rest of the garlic butter mixture over the whole surface of the chicken. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the sliced lemon and use kitchen twine to tie the legs together (if you have it. If not, leave the legs untied).
    Raw whole chicken in a roasting pan with garlic herb butter spread all over it with legs tied with kitchen string and a lemon inside the body cavity.
  • Place the chicken on the center rack of the preheated oven and roast for 40 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven and baste it using a spoon or baster, ensuring you cover the whole surface liberally with the juices.
    Baste the chicken after 40 minutes using the juices at the bottom of the roasting pan
  • Move the oven rack to the bottom shelf (so that the chicken will be farther away from the top heating element) and place it back in the oven for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F. For the best results, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature.
  • Once the chicken is finished, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing into it. During this time, you can continue basting it if you’d like.
    horizontal photo of finished garlic butter roast chicken fresh out of the oven
  • Serve roasted chicken with your choice of side dishes, and enjoy!

Video

Notes

*You can also use olive oil if you prefer.
After the initial basting, you can baste the chicken any time you check the temperature. Doing so will result in incredibly moist, flavorful chicken!

Nutrition

Serving: 8ounces | Calories: 400kcal | Protein: 53g | Fat: 21g