Ok so here’s the deal with this one: you can cook a whole chicken, incredibly juicy & tender, in 45 minutes. Whole chicken. On a weeknight. Yep! You’ll even have time for seconds.
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, about 6lbs
- 2 tablespoons softened (not melted!) butter
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- herbs of your choice, I used sage, thyme & rosemary
- lemon slices (about 6)
- veggies for roasting (optional)
Recipe:
- Wash the whole chicken, remove the gibblets & pat dry with a paper towel.
- Lay the chicken out on a cutting board so that the backbone is facing up.
- Starting at the tailbone, use kitchen sheers to cut along one side of the backbone first, all the way to the top of the neck. Repeat on the other side.
- Pull out the back bone, you can make an extremely flavorful stock with this! Or just discard.
- Turn the chicken over so the belly side is up.
- Press your palms on the chest of the chicken & press down hard. The chicken should flatten slightly.
- Use the kitchen sheers to cut off the tips of the wings. The wing tips cook faster & will burn if you leave them on.
- Mix the butter with the herbs & salt.
- Lift up the skin and slide your hand in there to make room for the lemon slices. Then, slide in a lemon slice with a little of the seasoned butter under the skin for the breasts and thighs. Rub any leftover lemon around the skin on the outside of the chicken. Same with any extra butter.
- Use a large cast iron pan (or roasting pan if you don’t have a cast iron). Lay your chicken in the pan with the belly side up. Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Place the chicken in a preheated oven at 450 for 30-40 minutes. Make sure the internal temp of the chicken is at 165 degrees before you eat it!
- If you’re adding in vegetables, keep an eye on the timing. Add them when the chicken has already cooked for 15-20 minutes, depending on what veggies you’re using/how long they take to roast.
