Easy Herb Roasted Chicken

This post may include affiliate links from brands we've partnered with. Please read our affiliate poilcy.

This Easy Herb Roasted Chicken is the perfect family dinner! It’s simple to make and the garlic herb butter paired with a bit of lemon makes this chicken incredibly flavorful. It’s gluten free and can be made dairy free as well by using olive oil and it’s perfect paired with The Best Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Sautéed Spinach for the ultra comfort food meal.

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

This has been my family’s go-to recipe for as long as I can remember. I’m not sure exactly who came up with the combination of herbs, garlic, and lemon. But I have a hunch we each had a little something to do with this full flavored roast chicken.

Learning how to roast a chicken is an invaluable skill because it’s one of those recipes that will never fail you, and it can be paired with so many interesting side dishes. One of my favorite things about a roast chicken, is what comes after dinner – first I simmer the leftovers into chicken stock, and from there I make a Homemade Chicken Soup that I never get tired of.

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

Now let’s jump in and make this Easy Herb Roasted Chicken step by step!

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

We’ll get started by chopping up the sage. If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, refer to the recipe notes or the tip below for the dried herbs I like to use in this recipe.

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

This recipe starts with a homemade herb butter. You mash chopped fresh sage, (thyme and rosemary are great too) into salted butter with freshly ground black pepper and minced garlic.

Tip: When I don’t have any fresh herbs in the house, I use 1/2 teaspoon Herbs de Provence that I crush between my fingers before putting it into the butter along with 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning.

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

Getting some of the herbed butter under the skin on the chicken breasts is really key to a super flavorful and juicy roast chicken.

The other thing I like to do when roasting a chicken is to squeeze a half of a lemon over the top after I’ve rubbed the butter in. Then I just place the lemon rind inside of the chicken while it roasts.

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

I add a small amount of water (or chicken stock if I have it) to the bottom of the pan. Depending on the bird sometimes you end up with more or less juices. So I find it’s best to start with a liquid in the bottom just to be sure there’s enough to make a quick gravy if you’d like!

Once it’s golden brown and done you can serve immediately. Or you can carefully pour off the juices and make my Paleo Gravy to go along with your dinner..

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

Serve this roasted chicken with these tasty side dishes!

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

Recipe inspiration for a make-ahead holiday/winter feast:

Antipasto Platter – an appetizer is always optional, but an antipasto platter is really nice because it can be assembled ahead. And it makes for great snacking while you wait for the chicken to finish roasting.

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken – you can prep this recipe to the point where the chicken is ready to go into the oven, then just refrigerate it for an hour or two until you’re ready to roast it.

Simple Mashed Sweet Potatoes – these are the best mashed sweet potatoes I’ve ever made. And best of all they can be made ahead and reheated over low heat.

Spinach Salad with Pomegranate, Feta Cheese and Creamy Chia Vinaigrette. This is my favorite winter salad, it’s full of flavor and looks really festive. The salad and dressing can be made ahead and refrigerated until you’re ready to serve it. Or try my Citrus Avocado Green Salad as well.

Chocolate Mousse Brownies or Deep Dish Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies. Both of these desserts are easy showstoppers that can be made ahead and they never fail to please!

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

I really hope you enjoy this Easy Herb Roasted Chicken. And if you do get a chance to make it, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. I always love hearing from you here! Also for lots more dinner recipes, head on over to the recipe index.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Easy Herb Roasted Chicken | Get Inspired Everyday!

Easy Herb Roasted Chicken


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

Description

This Easy Herb Roasted Chicken is the perfect family dinner! It’s simple to make and the garlic herb butter paired with a bit of lemon makes this chicken incredibly flavorful. It’s gluten free and can be made dairy free as well by using olive oil and it’s perfect paired with The Best Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Sautéed Spinach for the ultra comfort food meal.


Ingredients

Units Scale

1 whole chicken, thawed, 4.5 pounds

1/2 of a lemon

1/4 cup water or chicken stock

Garlic Herb Butter:

4 Tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature

1 Teaspoon ground Celtic grey sea salt, or to taste

1/4 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 sage leaves, minced, 1 Tablespoon, 4 grams (thyme or rosemary are good too)

1 clove garlic, minced


Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Rinse the chicken and pat dry before placing it breast side up in a 9″ pie plate, you can use anything you’d like to roast the chicken, I’ve just found a pie plate to be my favorite.

Make the garlic herb butter by mashing all the ingredients together. Rub the herbed butter all over the top of the chicken. Carefully loosen the skin covering the breast meat and rub some of the herb butter directly on the surface of the meat.

After you’ve rubbed the herb butter on, squeeze the half of lemon over the top of the chicken, being careful not to get any seeds in the dish. Add the 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the pie plate and carefully place the plate in the oven to roast.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour 10-15 minutes or until the juices in the thighs are no longer pink and the internal temperature at the thickest part reads 165ºF on a thermometer. The roasting time will vary each time you roast a chicken depending on the size of your bird.

If you want to make an optional gravy out of the pan juices, simply dissolve 1-2 Tablespoons tapioca starch with 2-4 Tablespoons of water until there are no more lumps left. Place the roasted chicken on a serving platter to carve, and pour the juices into a medium saucepan. Bring the juices to a boil and slowly whisk in just enough of the tapioca mixture to thicken it to the texture you like your gravy. You may need to season it to taste with additional sea salt and pepper.

If you don’t want to make gravy be sure to save any additional pan juices for homemade soup!

Notes

When I don’t have fresh herbs in the house, I use 1/2 teaspoon crushed Herbs de Provence and 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning in place of the minced sage.

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

8 thoughts on “Easy Herb Roasted Chicken”

  1. Hi Kari- I just made this roasted chicken with gravy. It’s delicious! Probably richer than a plain old slat and pepper roasted chicken, but hey it’s the holidays! Haha. I added the other lemon half and sprigs of sage to the cavity… my gravy was lovely! Served with roasted taters and a spinach salad. Thanks as always!






    Reply
    • I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it, I love making this for company because it’s just a little extra good with the herbs! You might like my roast chicken and vegetables on the next go around because it has the potatoes already in the pan. Also I appreciate you taking the time to comment and rate the recipes, it helps so much!

      Reply
  2. I put a chicken to roast in the oven and then I saw your recipe I couldn’t take it out and start over so what I did is use spray pan and the little pump bottle but I had bring up the chicken with lemon juice and then poultry seasoning and salt so I’ll let you know how it comes out

    Reply
    • I sure hope you enjoy it, poultry seasoning makes a great roast chicken, it’s what my mom usually used when I was growing up and everyone loved it!

      Reply
  3. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never roasted a chicken. And it’s a skill I desperately need obviously since we buy at least 2 rotisserie chickens a week. So much cheaper to do it yourself. Ok, would you do me a big favor and nag me to do this? My mother will be proud of me then. My kids love roasted chicken…..who doesn’t?!?

    Reply
    • I will definitely nag you about it 😉 because roast chicken is so good, and I know you’ll find that it’s easy once you’ve done it a few times!

      Reply
  4. I so agree that learning how to roast a chicken is an invaluable skill…it is by far one of my favorite dishes. And I love the combination of flavors in your homemade herb butter! Delicious!






    Reply

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.