One of my favorite things to make in the fall is a whole roasted chicken on top of a bed of carrots with the delicious combination of lemon, garlic and thyme. It’s such an easy meal to put together that serves perfectly for a few meals…think making it on a Sunday and then having dinner through Wednesday!
But I wasn’t always so confident working with a whole chicken. In fact, I was a little intimidated by the task.
What if it didn’t turn out? (that would be wasting $12-$20 dollars) What if there was still a few feathers (God forbid! But that just means it was a fresh one)
Well, I’m here to tell you that roasting a whole chicken is actually super easy, you just have to count to three, say ‘here goes’ and just get all up in the chicken and go for it!
The end result? A deliciously roasted chicken that has super crispy skin and is good for multiple meals and is second to none in flavor. The keys to making this chicken: pat the whole chicken dry with a paper towel, shove garlic cloves under the skin, squeeze lemon juice over the chicken, then stuff more lemon, garlic cloves and thyme into the chicken, then season it liberally with 4/S Salt (I’m lucky enough to live near Penzeys Spices, and their 4/S salt is amazing, it’s a combination of Coarse Sea Salt, Sugar, Special Extra Bold Black Pepper, Paprika, Onion, Turmeric, Garlic, Spice Extractives (including oleoresin of paprika, black pepper, celery, rosemary and thyme.) and is so good on chicken!) then the chicken gets put on top of a bed of carrots and onions and then is drizzled with olive oil. Roast it in the oven basting it once or twice, and the carrots roast perfectly and the chicken is super tender on the inside and crispy goodness on the outside!
As a matter of fact, after making this chicken and sending some with my hubby for lunch, he sent me this hilarious picture that says ‘u r not allowed to buy those precooked ones anymore’ (a big thank you and I love you to my hubby for letting me post this picture.)
And truth be told, you’ll be thinking the same thing…that this lemon garlic thyme roasted chicken far outshines any sad excuse of a chicken you might purchase from the grocery store.
Are there any flavor combos that you could eat over and over? For me it would be lemon, garlic and thyme roasted anything…and even though the star of this dish is the whole chicken, the roasted carrots are so good! Roasted to perfection with olive oil and seasonings.
After you make a whole chicken once, you’ll be a pro and have such a sense of accomplishment!
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken
- 2 Lbs Carrots
- 1 onion cut into 8s or large chunks
- 5 Garlic cloves halved
- 1 lemon cut in 4s
- 4-6 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 -2 Tbs 4S Special Seasoned Sea Salt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 bunch of thyme about 10 sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- In a baking dish arrange carrots in one layer on the bottom of the dish, then add onions and 5 thyme sprigs and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp 4S salt and drizzle with 1-2 tbs of olive oil.
- To prepare the chicken start by patting it dry with a paper towel, remove any innards that might be in the cavity of the chicken. Shove 5 halves of garlic cloves under the skin and shove two thyme sprigs under the skin as well. Then squeeze a lemon on top of the chicken, and put the leftover lemons inside the cavity of the chicken along with the remaining garlic cloves and thyme sprigs.
- Place chicken on top of carrots and onions, sprinkle very liberally with 4/s salt, and drizzle with remaining olive oil.
- Bake for 1 hour, then tilt the pan to the side and use a spoon to spoon olive oil from the corner / bottom of the pan and pour it on top of the chicken again. Bake for another 45 minutes. Then remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Bryn says
Made it, ate it, loved it! Thanks for helping me get over the fear! I tried to find the 4s and then looked online…is it some super secret special handshake type product? :). Thanks for any info on where I can find it and also for a recipe that my whole family ate without complaints. Miracle!!!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for the feedback, I’m so glad you loved it…and CONGRATS! You made a whole roasted chicken, isn’t it such a feeling of accomplishment?!
And I totally lol’d at your comment, 4s is from Penzeys spices (https://www.penzeys.com/), totally not a secret. I’d love to send you one because your comment truly made me laugh, and I think your whole family would love it – just email me your address (my email is sweetphiblog@gmail.com) and I’ll send you one!
Katie Jensen says
I made this for my brother when he was in town and we all devoured this delicious bird. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I never thought i could pull off roasting a chicken. I was a little confused on the 4/s salt though and ended up leaving it out. What is it?
Sweetphi says
Girl, that’s amazing that you made a whole chicken, isn’t it so gratifying? I’m so happy that it all turned out good for you! 4/s is amazing…it’s a combination of Coarse Sea Salt, Sugar, Special Extra Bold Black Pepper, Paprika, Onion, Turmeric, Garlic, Spice Extractives (including oleoresin of paprika, black pepper, celery, rosemary and thyme) and is so good on chicken…since you left me this wonderful comment I’d love to buy you one and send it to you to try! Send me your address (sweetphiblog@gmail.com) and I’ll send you one right away 🙂
ami@naivecookcooks says
Such gorgeous pics!! This chicken looks so good!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment 🙂
Ashley says
I really need to make roasted chicken more often … I love it just don’t ever seem to do it!! And that photo of your hubs – hysterical! This sounds delish!!
Sweetphi says
Roasted chicken is one of those awesome things to make, isn’t it? And I lol’d too at that pic…it’s STILL making me laugh!
Karishma says
Roast chicken is the best! yours looks so crispy and delicious.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, the chicken was super crispy and delicious, and I agree…chicken IS the best 🙂
Michelle Twin Mum says
Ohh yum, roast chicken is a favourite here. I’ve not heard of that salt before, I’ll have to check it out. Mich x
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Mich 🙂
Sonia (@Mummy_loves) says
This looks gorgeous! I have a chicken to roast for dinner so I am going to do this today x
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the comment! I know you’ll love how it turns out 🙂
Erin | The Law Student's Wife says
That picture of the hubs is too perfect! Also, can I shamelessly invite myself over for dinner? I adore roast chicken, and I don’t make it nearly enough!
Sweetphi says
Girl, you know you have an open invitation at my house 🙂 And I totally lol’d at that picture…he sent me another picture at work today and said ‘really? that picture phi?’ lol!
Kathi @ Deliciously Yum! says
Roasting a whole chicken is one of my favorite meals – I just love how many other meals I get to make from the leftovers ;). I used to be so afraid of the process for exactly the same reasons you mentioned ;). It couldn’t be easier though and making your own roasted chicken tastes simply amazing. Thanks for sharing!!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the sweet comment Kathi, I’m so glad I’m not the only one that had some trepidation at first lol, but now I’m all about it because it can be made into so many amazing meals – tacos, pizza topping, salad topping, sandwiches…the list could go on and on!
Norma says
This looks scrumptious Phi!
Sweetphi says
Thanks Norma!