Lemon, Garlic & Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Watch me make this Lemon, Garlic & Rosemary Chicken Recipe from start to finish!!
What it is about a roasted chicken that makes me so happy? Something about its rustic golden appearance and savory aroma is just so darn welcoming. I roast chickens pretty often just for the heck of it. I don’t need to have a recipe in mind because I know you can always think of something to do with a roasted chicken like chicken tacos or chicken salad. Chicken always wins, especially at my house.
These three flavors go so well together.
Here is another one of my favorite roasted chicken recipes, lemon, garlic & rosemary roasted chicken. I still like my simple roasted chicken but on days when I want to kick it up a notch, I go to this recipe.
It’s full of that fresh & simple lemony, garlicky, rosemary flavor that I just can’t enough of. The skin roasts up so crisp and well seasoned from the butter. Gotta love a chicken roasted in butter! Nothing else like it, sorry.
Perfect Spring Chicken!
This lemon, garlic, rosemary chicken recipe also makes a mean chicken and rice soup if you have leftovers. The rosemary taste really good with the rice. I often serve the chicken with rice or roasted potatoes and whatever kind of veggies I have on hand. It’s an easy, simple meal with a great presentation.
Get the Recipe: Lemon, Garlic & Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 5 lb whole chicken, washed & dried
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 large springs fresh rosemary, diced finely
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- zest of 4 lemons
- salt & pepper
- Fresh lemon juice, 2 lemons
- Cavity stuffing, sliced lemons, sliced onions, spring of rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Add butter to a medium sized bowl.
- Add in olive oil, rosemary, garlic and lemon zest.
- Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Generously season chicken with salt and pepper, including inside of the cavity.
- Brush the butter mixture onto the chicken generously covering up all of the chicken.
- Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons all over the chicken.
- Stuff the chicken with lemon slices, rosemary and onions.
- Tie together the legs if desired.
- Place chicken in roasting pan.
- Cook for 45 minutes and then baste.
- Return to oven and cook for another 15 minutes or until golden. Lightly tent with foil if chicken is browning too quickly.
- Let chicken cool for 15 minute before carving.
- Enjoy
Notes
Use fresh ingredients for the best flavor.
This is now a favorite!! I will try roasting potatoes with the chicken today my go to chicken recipe!!
This is a new family favorite. Juicy and flavorful.
How much onion
I made this dish last night for my first time hosting Friendsgiving, I had to make two! They both turned out great, juicy and full of flavor! Cannot wait to try more finger licking good recipes.
Delicious! Followed recipe exactly, just cooked a little longer. Skin was crispy and flavor was phenomenal! Def a dish to impress and I’ll be using this frequently!
Absolutely delicious. I will be making this again. I also cooked my bird for 30 more minutes than the recipe. Any good cook knows that you have to base the cook time on the weight of the chicken.
This is a great recipe, but you really should correct the cook time. An hour is way off. More like 1 1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 165!
We loved this chicken recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Let me tell you about how JUICY this chicken turned out to be! WOW. A total hit in the household. Will definitely be following you for more goodies. Thank you for sharing!
I am just wondering, can I substitute bay leaves for rosemary? My local grocery store did not have any fresh rosemary.
Absolutely fabulous recipe! My husband & I are making it again tonight.
Very nice flavor. Needed about half hour more cook time for me: I like my chicken quite done.
Perfect recipe!
Thank you Erica!
This recipe is AWESOMEEEE! I have made this 3 times and i always omitted the lemon, I am trying it with the lemon for the first time tonight! As an additional flavor, I add fresh basil from my garden and it tastes DIVINE!!!!! Thanks for sharing this!!!!
Just making this for the first time. The chicken is in the oven and smells soooo good. You were right, it is fast and easy to prepare! I highly suggest the video. You are so personable and watching and listening felt like being in the kitchen with a girlfriend. Thanks for sharing!
Delicious! Suggest placing the chicken breast side down for the first 20-30 minutes of baking. Then turn after basting and finish roasting. This allows the flavor a from the lemons and onion mixture to moisten the breast meat and infuse the flavors.
Love this recipe! Made it twice already 🙂 Thank you!!
Made this for dinner tonight and added red potatoes…it was delicious! The chicken fell right off the bone and was so moist. My husband and I love this recipe! Thank you for sharing.
Very good recipe, the chicken was juicy and even my son who likes nothing ate seconds.
Awesome chicken. Best I remember ever making. Thank you for the recipe. Wantes to wat the whole thing all by myself!
Omg this had my house smelling so lovely. ????
Your too sweet, can’t wait to give this a try tonight!
Made this today for a Sunday lunch following the recipe exactly and it was moist and delicious and probably the best roast chicken I have ever made! A real hit with everyone (except those pesky but loveable vegans, of course!)
Thank you for the great recipe, it’s definitely going in the favourites box!
Made this recipe this evening for a dinner party, and it was a hit! The chicken was so moist and flavorful, and everyone loved it! Will be saving this recipe and making it again! The tutorial was extremely helpful too, keep em coming!
Thanks for this video! Very helpful. I followed a similar recipe last night to roast a chicken but couldn’t seem to make the butter mixture stick to the chicken – turns out I hadn’t softened the butter enough! The other recipe also didn’t say to put oil in with the butter. I’ll be following your instructions next time!
Can I do this recipe with a cetain part of the chicken? Eg. Legs or thighs or does the recipe require the whole chicken?
I tried this receipe last night but did it in a clay roaster. I got it ready and put it in the oven cold and turned it on to 425. Baked it for 45 minutes, basted it and cover again for another 45 mins but lowered the temperature to 400 when I returned the roaster to the oven. Took the roaster top off and cooked it for less than 10 mins for a nice crispy skin. Also baked it on mini potatoes (they are almost like a greek lemon roasted potato) and then made cream and onions which was delicious with both the chicken and potatoes! I am drooling thinking of it, thank gosh theres some left overs for me!
Made this today. It’s was sooooo juicy and good. My daughter liked it as well. Thanks for another awesome recipe. I also made your greens with this. OMG, is all I have to say. They were the best greens I have ever had. I love you so much. Your recipes are easy and so tasteful. Your videos show us step by step on how to make each recipe. And I love you’re personality in the videos. Keep them coming,
I hated making chicken because it was so boring to me but your site has opened my eyes! I have tried several of your chicken recipes and they are all delicious- including this one! My husband even commented on how juicy the WHITE meat was and that is saying a lot! YUM!
Tried this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a massive success! Monique is my new favorite Diva! I decided to do this again tonight because it is so easy to prepare and I’m going to add in some of her yummy Weekday Candied Yams. Thanks so much for the recipes Monique, you rock!
Definitely making this for Thanksgiving!
can this be made with Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner?
Made it for dinner tonight. Kitchen smells AMAZING and everyone loved it!
Luving this chicken….all the way in the UK! I’m telling all my chicas in London about this site! This plus the half dozen other dishes tried have been amazing! Keep them coming!!!?
Made it! I made this recipe for my family using chicken thighs. I looked for a recipe for roasted chicken because I wanted to use the chicken thighs that I had in freezer. It came out good, the chicken was juicy you could taste the lemon. I didn’t have fresh rosemary so I used dried. Next time I will make with a whole chicken and I’ll use fresh rosemary. Rated it 4 stars because I didn’t actually taste it because I don’t eat meat but off of looks alone and the taste of the juice I know it was good.
I made this for significant other last night along with some roasted red potatoes and broccoli and let him take it to work the next day. He absolutely loved it The only difference was that I made it using a cornish hen but it was still delicious and moist. So far every single one of the recipes I’ve tried from this website have been hits. 🙂
Your butter, garlic & Rosemary mixture is absolutely wonderful. Thank you for the recipe. Very nice and helpful site. 🙂
Hi There!
What can I use in the butters place? I don’t eat dairy products!
Thanks
I used butter-flavored Crisco and it worked great.
I made this recipe tonight for my family and they loved it. I have a very picky 9 year old and he even loved the chicken. The chicken was very juicy and had a good flavor. I definitely will be making this dish again. Thanks!
Thank you for this lovely chicken recipe! It was my first time to make lemon zest and I found out too late that the pulpy part should be avoided to prevent the bitter taste. I guess I didn’t overdo the grating though because it still ended up tasting (and smelling) absolutely delicious! It truly hit the spot! A gem of a find among the many roasted chicken recipes online. Bless you!
This is the best roast chicken recipe I have ever made. Incredibly moist and rich in flavor. I butterflied the chicken with a kitchen knife (very easy to do), and I roasted iit n a clay pot., similar to a Moroccan tagine pot. I also added potatoes. Butterflying the chicken allows you to baste it fully on all sides. I am not sure what the clay pot does, but it seems to enhance the flavor. It is also easy to clean. this recipe is a winner!
I just finished eating this chicken and just had to leave a review. The flavors are delicious and I already had everything in my fridge and pantry. I didn’t do a whole chicken as I didn’t want to make an extra trip to the supermarket so I used 5 chicken leg quarters. Besides that, I followed the recipe exactly… this chicken left my husband sucking on the bones! Awesome crispy skin! Thanks!
All I can say is umm umm good, delicious. I haven’t made a roasted chicken in years, always hated washing the bird. When I saw your recipe, I just had to make. Made this Saturday dang Mo awesome. Thank you as always.
I made this tonight along with your southern macaroni & cheese recipe (which I’ve made a few times and is my boyfriend’s favorite) and this was a hit!! She’s right… the combination of lemon, garlic and rosemary is magical!
I don’t think using the zest of 4 lemons is a good idea maybe 2 cause I just followed the recipe and the chicken came out BITTER because of the lemon zest. Other than that it was good but left overs will not be ate and my Hubs hated it. So back to engagement chicken it is.
HI Desiree, I’d like to respond about the bitterness you experienced. You may have zested your lemon too vigorously. If you get the white pithy material under the colored outer-most most skin it is definitely bitter. When zesting your citrus fruits don’t press too hard and turn the fruit in your hand frequently.
I hope you try this recipe again, or something like it to practice your “zesty” skills! 🙂
A wonderful recipe! We cut back on the garlic (my family’s preference) and it was still out of this world! So moist and juicy! Thanks for sharing.
This recipe is amazing! I was so afraid to cook my chickens with butter so I’ve been doing a Greek style with olive oil all these years. I can’t believe what I was missing with butter!! I’ve made this dish once a week for the past month and I’m going to continue to until we get tired of it. (Which I highly doubt!) I’m making the Cajun Fried to go with them tonight ..Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
The Family loved it. Thanks for a great recipe. Lemony goodness!!!
Just wanted to shout out about your recipe. I have been using it the last few times I have baked chicken and my birds turn out perfecto every time! I will never go back to my old way of baking chicken. This recipe is superb and the left over chicken is absolutely fantastic for chicken salad. Love your site!
Couldn’t get enough! Good job love the recipes keep it coming! 🙂
Oh my, oh my, oh my
Made the Lemon, Garlic
& Rosemary
Roasted Chicken.
I was smitten………
The palate delighted.
The senses on overdose.
The tastes divine.
The tummy full.
This ain’t no bull.
Good job Monique.
Keep up the great work.
You brought a smile to my face,
And a great nap after the fact.
Happy gastrointestinal tract………
Just made this today. This was SO good. Possibly the best today chicken I’ve ever made. Definitely making this again. This would be great for a small crowd
Monique,
This recipe was the bomb. I used chicken breast and it came out amazing. Thanks so much for your blogs and recipes. I have made quite and a few and you never disappoint. I am truly a fan!! You inspire me to cook more.
Will this recipe work for cornish hens?
I know this is late but I used it with a cornish hen last night and it was delicious
I made this not too long ago and it was amazing! I served mashed potatoes with the rosemary and garlic in them, yumm! I want to make this recipe for the small turkey I am making for thanksgiving, what do you think? Not sure it would make a good gravy? If you think I should stick to one of your turkey recipes, I will with no pressure. Your recipes haven’t failed me yet!
I tried the chicken recipe and it was very good. I did forget to put the butter mixture under the skin which I regret doing because I know the chicken would have turned out even better. This is a definite keeper in my recipe collection. As a woman from the North, but with roots in the South and from a long line of great cooks- who have published recipes in cookbooks, I love Southern style cooking/Soul Food and tend to cook big dinners on Sundays. This chicken will definitely be invited for dinner again real soon!
OMG!!!! This recipe was BOMB.COM!! This was my first time roasting a whole chicken and I was a lil nervous. The end result made me feel like a master chef lol. The flavor of the chicken was so delicious I wish I had made two. It was also super moist, the skin was nice and crispy and now I’m a firm believer of your recipes mo. Thanks so much for helping a diva become a better cook!
This recipe was excellent, I loved the slight taste of lemon and rosemary. I actually sprinkled garlic seasoning as I totally forgot the fresh garlic I chopped. It still came out delicious. Keep them coming Monique!!!
I never leave comments but I’ve made this three times in the last three weeks and it’s so delicious!!! Thanks for the recipe!
I give this 5 stars (because I can’t get the rating to work)!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing!!! My family loved it!!!! It was so juicy, tender and full of flavor! Thanks Monique:-)
This recipe is bomb.com i will deff be making this again very soon
I made this tonight with a few modifications. I couldn’t bare spending $3 on lemons so I just omitted them from the recipe and I made a salt and sugar brine for the chicken. I marinated the chicken in the brine for four hours before baking. I paired this delicious chicken with those vegetarian greens. I “cain’t” wait to eat!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much. I’ve always been the baker in the family, never the cook. Your recipes are helping me sharpen my cooking skills.
How can you rate Moniques recipe when you changed it all together? When you change or alter the recipe in any way it is no longer the same. Therefore your comments are irrelevant to anyone who is checking out the taste results on this particular recipe. I apologize for venting but its very irritating to see people change the recipe listed. JMO.
I made this for dinner last night and it was phenomenal! The whole family enjoyed it. Mmm mmm good!
Just made this chicken and it’s the best roasted chicken I’ve ever had. Thanks for the recipe.
That came out amazing! My family is still in the kitchen fighting over the scraps. Thanks so much 🙂
Delicious! The chicken was so tender and tasty.
Monique,
This roasted chicken was a hit for my family. Everyone enjoyed the great tasting chicken. The lemon, garlic, and rosemary was great together. Flavorful and tasty!
Thanks!
Ms. Monique, I’m 14 and like you I am a Southerner from Orlando, Florida. I came across your blog and I immediately subscribed to it. Long story short, I’ve tried your sweet tea and Southern green beans and vegan collard greens recipe and I’m making this chicken for my dad for Father’s Day! Thanks and keep us posted. P.S. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Yum! Smelled so good I could not wait the 15 min for it to cool, absolutely delish! I love anything lemon and rosemary!
Long story short, i’m making this for the second time this week. This is phenomenal!!!
I love this recipe! That mixture used on the chicken was delicious! The only thing I recommend and will do next time is poking holes in the chicken so the salt and seasoning can get inside the meat as well and not just the outside. I will definitely cook this again! Thanks!
Yes! This was soooo good! Love this combo.
Mo I made this for Sunday dinner with garlic mashed red potatoes , cabbage, mac n cheese oh my men put a hurting on it. I made 2 chicken’s they never stood a chance. Thanks for a new staple recipe.
I made this recipe for dinner last night. Girl when I tell you this was good I mean it was GOOD! My husband and I loved it. Your recipes a wonderful thank you.