Recipes Ingredients Meat & Poultry Chicken Roast Chicken With Herbs 4.0 (8) Fresh herbs, garlic, and lemon deliver maximum flavor with minimal effort. Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Servings: 8 Jump to recipe Our roast chicken with herbs is a foolproof way to achieve juicy, flavorful chicken with crisp, golden skin. Stuffing the cavity of the chicken with a mixture of fresh herbs, garlic, and lemon infuses the birds from the inside out while also producing steam that keeps the meat moist as it cooks. After stuffing and seasoning the chicken, you'll tie together the legs and coat the top and sides with softened butter or oil for irresistibly crispy skin. Roasting at a high temperature for a short amount of time keeps the meat from drying out while helping to get dinner on the table as speedily as possible. This recipe makes two chickens and serves eight guests, but you can easily halve it for a smaller crowd. 33 One-Pot Chicken Recipes for Busy Weeknight Dinners Credit: Carson Downing Ingredients for Roast Chicken With Herbs This roast chicken recipe calls for basic, everyday ingredients that combine to bring big flavor in a short amount of time, including: Chicken: You'll need two 3 1/2 to 4 pound chickens for this recipe, which will typically be labeled as a "fryers." Chickens up to 4 1/2 pounds will work here as well, but we don't recommend going much larger than that. (With a bigger bird, you run the risk of the breast meat drying out before the legs can cook through, especially when roasting at such a high temp.) Herbs: Hardy herbs like rosemary and thyme infuse the meat with lots of flavor while holding up to the hot heat of the oven. Feel free to add other herbs like oregano and marjoram into the mix or stick with all one kind. An added bonus? There's no need to chop them or remove the leaves, just tuck them right into the cavity. Lemon: Popping half of a lemon into each cavity adds bright acidity to the pan juices and helps to keep the meat moist as it cooks. Garlic: Name a better combo than herbs and garlic (we'll wait). Slicing a head in half makes prep a cinch, saving you from having to separate and peel individual cloves. In place of garlic (or in addition to it), you can use half an onion or a couple shallots. Butter: Smearing softened butter onto the skin accomplishes two goals: It helps to keep the skin and breast meat from drying out and also aids in browning. If you'd prefer, you can swap in olive oil for the butter with equally great results. Pull your chickens out of the oven about 1 hour before you plan to begin cooking. It'll allow them to come to room temperature which results in more evenly cooked meat. Why and How to Truss a Chicken Before popping the birds in the oven, you'll want to truss them, or tie the legs together; this keeps the aromatics from spilling out and helps the bird maintain its shape. You'll need kitchen twine for this step, which is great to keep on hand for all manner of uses. To truss the chickens for this recipe, simply tuck the wing tips underneath the bird, then tie the legs together. How to Truss a Chicken Without Twine No kitchen twine? No problem. Use a paring knife to cut a small slit in the fat that runs along each side of the cavity and pull the end of the opposite drumstick through it. (There's a quick demonstration in the recipe video.) Directions Credit: Carson Downing Preheat oven; season chicken and stuff with lemon and herbs: Preheat oven to 475°F. Season chicken cavities with salt and pepper. Dividing evenly, stuff with lemon, garlic, and sprigs of thyme and rosemary (reserve a few sprigs of each for garnish). Credit: Carson Downing Chop chicken necks and add to roasting pan; set chickens on rack in pan: With a heavy knife, coarsely chop necks, and scatter in a large roasting pan. Place chickens, breast side up, on a rack set in pan. Credit: Carson Downing Truss chickens and rub with butter: Using cotton kitchen twine, securely tie legs together; tuck wing tips underneath chickens. Rub chickens with butter; season with salt. Credit: Carson Downing Roast: Roast, occasionally brushing chickens with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165°F, about 1 hour. Credit: Carson Downing Let rest then carve: Transfer chickens to a platter; cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest 10 to 15 minutes before carving. If desired, prepare Pan Sauce to serve with chickens. Credit: Carson Downing How to Store Leftover Chicken Store leftover roast chicken in an airtight container for three to four days in the refrigerator or up to three months in the freezer. Using Up Leftovers There are so many ways to use up roast chicken, including: In a salad, like our chicken taco salad, chicken club salad, or this tangy chicken and red cabbage number with soy and lime Stirred into a soup or stew, like our chicken and wild rice soup, lemony pesto chicken soup, or classic chicken and dumplings As a filling for zesty chicken tacos, chicken enchiladas, or these make-ahead-friendly burritos Worked into a casserole, like this creamy chicken and rice combo or our comforting chicken tetrazzini 5 More Roast Chicken Recipes to Try: Roast Chicken With Vegetables and Potatoes Roasted Chicken With Dates, Citrus, and Olives Peruvian Roast Chicken With Potatoes Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic Spatchcocked Chicken on Bread With Herbs and Lemon Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.