Baked Lemon Garlic Chicken

5 from 1 vote

Baked Lemon Garlic Chicken is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Use a whole chicken, coat it with lemon zest and seasonings, and bake it until done. A classic no-fail recipe that is great for weeknight meals but also impressive for entertaining!

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword baked lemon garlic chicken, crispy roasted chicken, roasted chicken, whole roasted chicken

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 30

Total Time 1 50

Servings servings

Calories 518kcal

Author Sue Ringsdorf

Ingredients

5-6 pounds whole organic chicken - insides removed and patted dry
1 medium onion - chopped
6 large carrots - peeled and chopped into two inch pieces
the zest of one lemon - zested
7-8 cloves garlic - peeled
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
4-5 sprigs thyme
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter - softened
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Prep your space with paper towels to keep the chicken juices from contaminating your space.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Prep chicken. Remove packaging and then the giblets from the center of the chicken. You’ll need to use your hands to dig in the top and bottom of the chicken to remove any extra parts. Dispose them, or save them for later.
5-6 pounds whole organic chicken
Pat dry. Use paper towels to pat dry the chicken. Get as much moisture off the chicken as possible.
Prep seasoning mixture. Zest the lemon and place in a small bowl. Add to it the kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, poultry seasoning, and some of the fresh thyme. Mix well.
the zest of one lemon, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 4-5 sprigs thyme
Apply butter and seasonings. Using your fingers, carefully loosen up the skin from the top of the chicken. Then add some of the butter and lemon zest/seasoning under the skin. Sprinkle the remaining seasoning over the top of the chicken.
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Prep veggies. Chop up the onion. Peel garlic. Chop the carrots into two-inch pieces.
Spread the carrots and about half of the onion inside the dutch oven. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.
1 medium onion, 6 large carrots, 7-8 cloves garlic
Stuff chicken. Place the chicken (breast side up) in the pot on top of the veggies. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the remaining onion, the garlic, the chopped lemon, and a couple twigs of thyme.
Drizzle the chicken with a little bit of olive oil and add extra salt and pepper as desired.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Bake. Bake in a preheated 425 oven, uncovered, for approximately one hour and 30 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through. Start checking it at about one hour and 20 minutes.
Rest. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

Notes

Test internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer. The chicken is done when the thermometer reads 160 degrees (allowing for some carry-over cooking to 165 degrees F) in the the thickest part of the white meat and about 180 degrees in the dark meat.

Nutrition