This Garlic Butter Roast Chicken is so simple yet so delicious! The chicken skin is so savoury and the herbs made our kitchen smell so good as it bakes. The chicken meat actually absorbed the lemon hint.
Make this chicken recipe feast for the coming Holiday or Thanksgiving! So easy and less complicated to make.
2 tbsp rice wine (alternatively 1/4 cup white wine) – optional
1 lemon, halved
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3-4 sprig of fresh parsley
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, quartered
3 tbsp dried rosemary or fresh (optional)
3 tbsp dried thymes (optional)
30 grams garlic powder (¼ cup)
salt and pepper
optional: baby carrots and white onions
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 430°F | 220°C (400°F or 200°C fan forced).
Line a baking pan or roasting pan with a foil
Rinse chicken (including cavity) under cold running water. Drain water well and pat dry with paper towels.
Reserve extra melted butter for basting and add a teaspoon of rosemary, 1 tablespoon garlic powder and stir it well. Set aside.
Pour 2 tablespoon rice wine on the chicken and inside the cavity. Brush it well to even out the rice wine. Gradually pour in the remaining butter inside and outside of the chicken. Add the juice of half a lemon over the chicken, under the skin and inside the cavity. Season with salt and pepper and massage it well on the chicken. Sprinkle garlic powder all over the chicken and inside.
Stuff the crushed garlic into the chicken cavity along with the fresh parsley sprigs, onions and the squeezed lemon halve. Tie legs together with kitchen string.
Position the chicken breast-side up into baking tray together with carrots and slices of onions on the side. Roast for 1 hour and 15-20 minutes, basting half way through cooking time, until juices run clear when chicken thigh is pierced with a skewer.
Heat may vary for each oven type. Place your pan in the middle rack position. I adjusted heat to 180°C midway baking the moment I saw it’s cooking faster.
You can adjust heat anytime, if you see it toast faster on top than the prescribed time. You want to make sure that it cooks gradually inside and outside evenly.
When it reach the exact cooking time, baste it again. Broil for a further 2-3 minutes more to make it golden.
*Broiling is when you transfer the baking pan on a higher rack of your oven to toast the top quickly for that touch of crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve, drizzled with pan juices and remaining lemon half cut into wedges or slices.
