Maple-Butter Roasted Chicken

Submitted by DailyInspiration

"This maple-butter roasted chicken is a star with roasted veggies or any side dish you wish to serve with it. Found this written on a recipe card -- not sure where I originally found it."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 50mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh thyme sprig (separate 4 for serving)
• 1 whole chicken, washed and dried (about 3.5-4 pounds)
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix softened butter, maple syrup and chopped thyme into a paste.
3. Place chicken into a roasting pan and stuff cavity with lemon and all but the 4 sprigs of thyme. Loosen the skin on the chicken breast and thighs and spread half of the butter mixture under the skin. Rub the remainder of the butter mixture on top of chicken that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
4. Roast the chicken until a thermometer, inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, registers 165 degrees F. (about 1.5 hours). Remove chicken, cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Carve chicken and garnish with the remaining thyme sprigs.

Reviews

[CHEF GRPA]

A beautiful menu for a winter night. I made the chicken and the leftover in a chicken salad this weekend (with my own mashed potato recipe) - both turned out perfectly! Nothing beats the veggies that roast and caramelize under the chicken.The chicken is perfectly flavored and moist. Your Creatively reimagined, roast chicken can lead to great things. Try it in casseroles, chicken salads. The chicken turned out wonderfully. I do have a few pointers for any novices out there are old and forget thing like me - I definitely make a Maple herb butter the night before to make the next day that much easier, "marjoram" is a plant and I went to the grocery store and found it in the spices and used that (it worked great). Also, when you first place the chicken in the oven on 375 for 30 minutes, make sure to keep an eye on it. The baste cooked very quickly on top of the skin and burnt, I just wasn't paying attention. It didn't matter at all since you cut the skin off before you serve it anyway, but if you are concerned about presentation then keep an eye on it. I do HIGHLY recommend using the gravy recipe included, the flavor was incredible and tastes great on the leftover sandwiches as a spread!! The entire process was pretty simple and easy to follow, and the end result was that I may be doing this for the Holidays. I'll be making this again and again. This will be one of my go to recipe! PRMR 2013 Happy Cooking to y'all!..Thank You!..Grpa I am Glad you posted the recipe.

 

[Artandkitchen]

Yummy! I loved the lemon, thyme and honey combination.<br/>I loved the your tip to push the spice mixture under the skin, as baking the skin puffed a little bit and became crunchy.<br/>I placed the chicken on a bed of vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots and red bell peppers) as the other reviewer suggested and a got a really great and complete dish.<br/>My chicken was not as big and for this reason the cooing time was not as long.<br/>Thanks a lot for your suggestion and great recipe.