Salt-Rubbed Roast Chicken with Lemon & Thyme
photo by jrusk
- Ready In:
- 9hrs
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped freesh thyme, stems reserved to stuff into the cavity
- 3 1⁄2 lbs chicken, excess fat trimmed,rinsed inside and out and patted dry with paper towels
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
directions
- Mix the salt, pepper and thyme.
- Lay the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and rub the mixture all over the skin on both sides.
- Refrigerate uncovered overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- Oven to 400 degrees F.
- Put the lemon quarters, garlic and thyme stems inside the cavity of the chicken.
- Brush the chicken with some of the melted butter.
- Roast, basting every 20 minutes or so (first with melted butter, then with any fat and juices accumulating in the pan).
- The chicken should be done in about an hour, but make sure by testing the thigh for a temperature of 170 degrees F.
- Let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.
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Reviews
-
Incredibly juicy chicken! And beautifully browned as Mean Chef noted. I too, ran out of basting liquid as Lizzie-Babette did, so I just add a bit of water and the dried juices on the pan bottom dissolved into more basting liquid. I also agree with her that it's even better the second day. Makes terrific sandwiches. I plan to use the carcass to make a version of MissPenny's Turkey Gumbo. Terrific recipe!!
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This was a great chicken. I only used 1 tbsp salt and used it for the skin as well as inside the bird. I greased my roasting pan, cut an onion into 8 pieces and put the chicken on top of that (I don't have a small rack for chicken). I also placed some cut up potatoes and about 10 garlic cloves around the chicken. During the last 20 min, I added some baby carrots. What a beautiful dish! After 1 hour, the chicken wasn't quite cooked through or browned enough (maybe an additional 20-30 minutes would be necessary?) but there were lots of delicious juices. I didn't taste much lemon, so I think I would place some lemon slices on top of the chicken next time. I look forward to making this again! The bones are now in the slow cooker, on their way to making chicken stock!
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Tweaks
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Made this for Christmas Dinner. It was fantastic. Used olive oil instead of butter and added orange quarters & wedged onions in cavity and around the pan. Added water for basting. Had to cook longer than I wanted to get it well browned (should have turned it sooner) but it was still extra juicy and delicious. Great flavor.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
P48422
United States