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Roast Chicken with Herb Butter, Onions and Garlic

Published on May 24, 2013 β€’ Last updated October 31, 2015 by Elizabeth Atia
roast-chicken

I simply adore garlic, onions and roast chicken and this French-inspired recipe is a most delicious way to combine all three ingredients. This roast chicken goes particularly well with quinoa with fried onionsΒ or Persian rice and it is my favourite way to cook a whole chicken. It takes very little effort to prepare and comes out perfect every time.

There is something very satisfying about using fresh herbs, especially if you’ve grown them yourself. I have a very small herb garden and it’s so lovely to wander out, gather the herbs from the earth, and immediately cook with them. In the winter when fresh herbs are scarce, dried herbs will suffice.

I always make chicken stock from the carcass and the stock and remaining meat are frozen for use later in soup and chicken pie, another family favourite. It’s a very frugal way to make one large chicken feed a family of five for at least three dinners!

I entered this recipe, adapted from one found on Epicurious, into The New May Herbs on Saturday Blog Challenge hosted by the lovely Karen at Lavender and LovageΒ in May 2012, and I am delighted to say that I won the prize that month, a fantastic copy of The Cook’s Herb Garden (2010) by Jeff Cox and Marie-Pierre Moine.

I’ve republished this post (again!) in May 2013 to include nicer photographs and a printable recipe for your convenience. Since this roast chicken dinner is made entirely from scratch I am entering it into Javelin Warrior’s Made with Love Mondays recipe round-up.

Made with Love Mondays, hosted by Javelin Warrior
roast-chicken-dinner
Roast Chicken with Herb Butter, Onions & Garlic
by Elizabeth
A simple, flavoursome way to cook a roast chicken.
Ingredients
  • 7 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • handful fresh parsley
  • handful fresh thyme
  • handful fresh rosemary
  • handful fresh chives
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 large roasting chicken
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 medium onions, quartered with roots still attached
  • 1 bulb garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves
  • 250 ml water
  • 2 tsp cornflour, to thicken
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 190 C. Rinse and pat dry chicken.
2. Chop 1 tbsp of each of the fresh herbs and blend together with the softened butter, fennel and sea salt.
3. Using your fingers, lift the skin on the chicken breast and rub half the herb butter under the skin.
4. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon, halved and the remaining fresh herbs. Tie to secure.
5. Scatter the quartered onions and unpeeled garlic cloves around the outside of the chicken. Spread the remaining herb butter over the onions and on the outside of the chicken.
6. Sprinkle with some fresh or dried thyme, season well, pour the water into the base of the dish, tent with foil and roast for 90 minutes.
7. Remove foil, baste chicken with juices and roast for a further 15-30 minutes, until chicken is golden and the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted between the thigh and breast.
8. Using a slotted spoon, transfer onions and garlic to a dish and keep warm.
9. Scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan and pour the juices into a small saucepan.
10. Heat the liquid until boiling. Thicken with the cornflour dissolved in a little cold water. Season to taste.
11. Serve the gravy with the roast chicken and reserved onion and garlic.
Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 15 mins Yield: Serves 4-6

Category: Chicken, Recipe

About Elizabeth Atia

Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Natally

    May 15, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    I love roast chicken and this one looks amazing. Very talented lady

    Reply
  2. Ursula Hunt

    May 10, 2015 at 10:39 am

    Roast chicken! my favourite roast of them all

    Reply
  3. Sam Williams

    October 22, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    This looks, and sounds, delicious

    Reply
  4. Heather Haigh

    August 21, 2014 at 8:43 am

    Looks gorgeous and sounds like a really lovely tasty roast.

    Reply
  5. glenn hutton

    June 27, 2014 at 10:00 am

    My mouth was watering as soon as the pictres appeared… nothing more I can say really to give it higher praise… and being a chicken in a pot style recipe something I could managed without messing up!

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    January 15, 2014 at 1:47 am

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    Of course, the opposite is also true’but you cannot eat outside food every day.
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    Reply
  7. Anneli (Delicieux_fr)

    May 30, 2013 at 11:37 am

    Fantastic photos. Your chicken looks so juicy and moist with those lovely onions underneath. Yup, thats just how it should be. Lovely recipe x

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      July 14, 2013 at 4:32 pm

      Thank you πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. Baking Addict

    May 27, 2013 at 4:09 pm

    It looked good in the old photo but the new one has me drooling! I can just imagine the taste now. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      July 14, 2013 at 4:31 pm

      Thanks πŸ™‚ It’s such a lovely recipe – I make it quite frequently (including today!)

      Reply
  9. Louise at Cake and Calico

    May 25, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    Oh my goodness – I am so hungry now, I’ll have to go foraging. Definitely chicken for Sunday lunch tomorrow methinks!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      May 26, 2013 at 9:10 am

      Oooh I do hope you make it, let me know if you do and what you think of it! πŸ™‚ Happy foraging!

      Reply
  10. Javelin Warrior

    May 24, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    I love that you took the time to re-photograph the recipe – awesome job and I’m drooling just looking at the photos! And I’m a huge fan of roasting my own birds. It’s been a long time since I bought just plain old boneless, skinless chicken breasts πŸ˜‰

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      May 24, 2013 at 6:37 pm

      Thanks Mark πŸ™‚ There are quite a few (read: most!) of my earlier blog posts needing re-photographed and updated with printable recipes and proper text. I’ve learned a lot over the last 18 months of blogging! I’m glad you like the recipe and I hope you try it!

      Reply
  11. Karen S Booth

    May 6, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    THANKS so much for republishing this lush looking recipe……this is chicken JUST the way I like it and it makes a wonderful Herbs on Saturday entry! Now, just pass me a slice of that over please…would make a GREAT sarnie! Karen

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      May 24, 2013 at 4:20 pm

      It really is a fantastic recipe. We make it quite regularly in our household. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  12. Inthesky

    May 6, 2012 at 12:04 pm

    No no, honestly it is fine. The photograph looks delicious enough to me. I will definitely give this a go. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      May 24, 2013 at 4:20 pm

      I was never particularly happy with it. I’ve learned a few things over the last year so I’ve updated it with a slightly more appealing version, I think. πŸ™‚ I hope you did get around to trying this recipe!

      Reply

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About Elizabeth

Adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Loves bikes. Calls Shetland home. Read More…

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“Every day is another chance to get stronger, to eat better, to live healthier, and to be the best version of you.”

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