Perfect One Hour Whole Roasted Chicken
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This is the perfect one hour whole roasted chicken recipe. Basted with butter and sprinkled with herbs. The skin is perfectly crisp and the chicken is juicy and tender. This roasted chicken recipe is beyond simple to make and doesn’t require any trussing!
Hi friends! Today is Totally Absolutely Completely and Obviously One Hour Whole Roasted Chicken Friday!
This tender, juicy, flavor packed roasted chicken is baked to golden perfection with herbs, garlic, and BUTTA. We stuff the chicken full of chopped lemons, garlic cloves, sage, thyme, and any other herb you want. Brush on some butter, sprinkle it up with lemon pepper seasoning and a good bit of salt. Let it roast up in the oven for 20 minutes or so and then rebaste it for extra flavor and it’ll make you feel like you might be dining in the restaurant of your dreams. But no! It’s no dream! It came out of your kitchen. Let’s add some baby roasted potatoes and a heaping pile of salad on that plate with a dinner roll on the side. Honey, you’ve got yourself a full gourmet meal in ONE hour.
This is completely off topic but have you guys seen the ‘baby get’s his mind blown by twins‘ video? It is so gosh darn adorable. I could watch youtube videos about the cutest things kids do all. day. long. In fact, I spent a good hour ignoring this roasted chicken recipe post doing just that. Tsk Tsk. Okay back to roasting a bird.
There’s something about the words ‘roasting a whole chicken’, that are so daunting. It may be the trussing of the chicken for some. Because, that’s probably the worst part about the Thanksgiving turkey for me. Up until a few years back it would be my dad and I wrangled the turkey while Alton Browns ‘how to truss a turkey’ video was playing in the background on YouTube. Last year, the hubby and I go to do it. It’s somewhat of an ongoing Thanksgiving tradition. Every year that video has to play to get the turkey in the oven.
The best party about this chicken recipe is that you don’t have to truss it at all! Sure you see a little string with the legs tied together in the picture but I did that post roasting so the chicken looks better in pictures. So it’s completely up to you whether you want to tie the legs together or not, it is NOT REQUIRED.
Let’s talk ingredients: I stuffed the chicken with a lemon cut in half, along with a garlic head chopped in half. I added whatever herbs I had at home at the moment. Mine happen to be, thyme, sage, rosemary, and parsley. Use what you’ve got, there’s no hard and fast rule.
For the top of the chicken, I melted 3/4 stick of butter, added salt and brushed it on the chicken liberally with a pastry brush. I sprinkled it down with lemon pepper seasoning and sprinkled more fresh thyme on top. That’s it!
We’re going to roast the chicken for 45 minutes at 425 degrees F. There are a lot of recipes out there that start at 450 degrees then drop it down to 350, and it’s just too much baby sitting. I pop my chicken in, let it roast for 20 minutes and then baste it again with the left over butter and continue roasting for an additional 25 minutes. 45 minutes of roasting time is required for a 3.5 pound chicken. If you’ve got a chicken that’s slightly larger, adjust the cooking time accordingly. Make sure to keep a thermometer handy so you can check the chicken temperature before removing from the oven. You check the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh, make sure the juices are running clear.
Once the chicken is roasted, allow for it to rest for 15 minutes. Like any meat it needs to relax after cooking. The resting time allows the chicken to hold on to all the juices.
And there you have it, a perfectly roasted whole chicken in 1 hour. If you’re serving it with roasted potatoes, they can go in at the 425 degrees F with the chicken. It’s super easy to get out a nice dinner in 1 hour. The chicken roasts itself without the need to be checked on constantly. It’s the perfect meal to make when you’re expecting company, fancy sunday suppers, or just because it’s Friday!
A whole roasted chicken is just one of those tricks that every good cook needs to have up his/her sleeve. As long as you follow the directions, you’ll end up with a picture perfect roast chicken every single time!
Perfect One Hour Whole Roasted Chicken
This is the perfect one hour whole roasted chicken recipe. Basted with butter and sprinkled with herbs. The skin is perfectly crisp and the chicken is juicy and tender. This roasted chicken recipe is beyond simple to make and doesn't require any trussing!
Ingredients
- 3 ½ - 4 ½ pound whole chicken, neck + giblets removed
- 1 lemon, cut in half
- 1 head of garlic, cut in half
- Few sprigs of thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage (or whatever herbs you have on hand)
- ¾ stick (6 tablespoons) butter
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning, no salt added
Instructions
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the chicken on a cutting board and pat it dry using paper towels. Season the inside of the cavity with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Place the lemon halves, garlic head, and herbs inside the cavity. Place the chicken breast-side up in a large cast-iron skillet or an oven-safe frying pan.
- Melt the butter in the microwave, add 1 teaspoon of salt and using a pastry brush, brush half the butter generously all over the chicken, save remaining butter do not discard. Sprinkle with the thyme leaves and lemon pepper seasoning.
- Roast the chicken for 20 minutes, remove from oven, brush on the remaining butter mixture. Place the chicken back into the oven and continue roasting for 25 minutes. Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh and check to make sure it registers at 165 degrees F. Continue to roast for an additional 10-15 minutes if necessary (see note). Remove roasted chicken from the oven and allow for it to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Notes
- If you have the time, I suggest salting the chicken for 1 hour-24 hours in advance. Just a few big pinches of kosher salt will do the trick. This will make homemade rotisserie chicken 100000x better!
- I used a 3½ pound chicken and it took exactly 45 minutes to roast. I let the chicken rest for 20 minutes prior to carving. If you're using a 4 ½ pound chicken, you will need to add an additional 10 -12 minutes of roasting time.
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39 Comments on “Perfect One Hour Whole Roasted Chicken”
Hi, can explain salting the chicken for 1-24 hours before roasting it? Is that salting the inside, outside or both? Thank you so much. Plan on making this evening!
Sure, yeah! I just use the 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and put about 1/2 teaspoon inside the cavity of the chicken and spread it around. And then, use the remaining teaspoon all over the outside of the chicken, making sure to get under the wings and all the folds. Then, just cover and allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for an hour (if you’re planning on roasting right away) and you can even let it hang out in the refrigerator for a day or so! Hope that helps!
We have a dairy allergy in my house—any suggestions?
Sorry just saw this now! I’d say if it’s a lactose allergy, you could swap butter for ghee. For an all-out dairy allergy, I suggest using avocado oil instead and just heating it for a quick 10 seconds (in place of melting the butter.)
I need to feed 20 people. Any suggestions for size/roasting time?
Have been making this recipe for years! I use rotisserie chicken seasoning. Its devoured every time. Making for dinner again tonight! That butter basting is the bomb!
Absolutely perfect! This was the 2nd time I’ve used your recipe & both times the chicken was perfect. Thank you for sharing your yummy recipe!
My family loves this recipe and it so simple. The favor is like wow and it so moist. This has become a go to recipe in my home?
I am not too bad a cook (even if I say so myself). This is absolutely beautiful, not quite so much butter but perfect every time, thank you for sharing* this fabulous recipe, I have one in the oven at this very moment but have cooked loads this way. Thank you thank you
I have never roasted a whole chicken before. Got one on sale for .49 # went back and got 4 more since they dropped them to ,29#. Was delicious, juicy and tender. Little over 5# took little over an hour.
Where do you buy chickens for that price? (besides a third world country.)
Great whole chicken!
Fabulous, didn’t use quite so much butter (no particular reason) and it was wonderful, so moist, just used a roasting tin. Thankyou
The best chicken i’ve ever had!!!! Even my picky children loved it. Thankyou!
I just saw this recipe and can’t wait to try it.
I wonder if using a cast iron pan instead of a Dutch oven allows it to cook more quickly and evenly?
Hopefully it turns out for me. I seem to struggle with chicken being done. ? Would LOVE to stop buying rotisserie chicken from the market. ?
Turned out beautiful — you failed to mention that all the juices in the skillet make for the absolutely best gravy fixings! Set the chicken aside on the carving board, and use the skillet juices (with some fat removed), flour & broth for a fantastic gravy. It was just TOO tempting! and turned out fantastic.
Tried this recipe tonight & voila! Loved it. Best whole chicken ever! Meat was moist & full of flavor!
Fantastic!!! It came out so moist and delicious we were picking it off the platter as my husband was carving it, ohh so good. My daughter and I made it together with a few errors or differences here or there. I thought we had parsley and oregano at home (who doesn’t, me) so I ended up with only thyme. Then I thought carrots would be great, not a good idea they just taste very salty and I’m not sure if they add any flavor to the chicken. So, leave the recipe as it is, it’s perfect!!!
So easy. I used the zest of the lemon on top with my herbs. Otherwise cooked it as directed only in a baking dish. This is going to be part of my menu rotation!
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Love this, cooking right now. This is a perfect recipe for using a Dutch Oven over a charcoal or open camp fire in a Dutch oven, takes about the same time to cook. Timing: if it smells done it is.
This is in my oven now and smells divine! My chicken is close to 6lbs so,will add about 30 mins to the cooking time. Can’t wait to taste it!
I found my 3lb chicken not thoroughly cooked after 1 hour … followed directions to a T – not sure of something should be done differently. Still pink deep within and pink juices running out.
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I’m always worried about roasting a chicken and it being dry. No issue here. I made some amendments purely because I didn’t read the recipe again prior to cooking and due to lack of ingredients. I stuffed herbs and leaf lard under the skin and instead of lemon used lime. I also put lime zest along with the herbs. The organic bird was 4.8lbs and I roasted it in my cast iron pan for 1 hour at 425. Let it sit for 15 minutes and man it was moist and cooked and delicious and easy and wonderful. I did leave it overnight salted in the fridge etc. Way to go. Making it this way again for sure. Thanks for the recipe.
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Just wondering about how many people this will serve? I have a 4.5 lb Chicken…
A 4.5 lb. chicken will have about 4-7 servings depending on the number of sides.
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This is my go to recipe for roast chicken!
Comes out moist and flavorful every time!!
Do you recommend putting some broth or water in the bottom of the pan?
I wouldn’t recommend putting broth or water at the bottom of the pan unless you don’t mind the skin being soft. The liquid will cause the chicken to steam rather than roast and though it might produce more tender chicken meat, it will leave the skin soft.
Did you roast it in the cast iron pan, or was that just for the picture?
I roasted it in the cast iron pan, but you can use a dutch oven, a baking sheet, or a roasting pan as well. All of these will work.
Hi love your recipes!! Should write a book
Wonderful recipe! My grandmother used to make whole roast chicken all the time and everybody loved it. Can’t wait to try your recipe.
Thanks Claudia! Grandmas always make the best stuff, don’t they? Do let me know your thoughts if you make the chicken 🙂
Can’t remember the last time that I made a whole roast chicken. Thanks for reminding me how delicious it is, I definitely need to make your one hour version!