Lemon & Thyme Roasted Chicken

I have finally discovered the beauty of roasting my own chicken!! I had always heard it was great but thought it would take too much time.  This only took about 20 minutes to prep then was in the oven for a total of about an hour and 45 minutes.  On a Sunday around the house that is not bad!  I made mine in a dutch oven but i think you could just as easily do it  on a cookie sheet.  The other great thing about this is that you can pretty much use what you have on hand to season it.  I was going off a recipe that used rosemary and carrots for the bottom but I had thyme and onions so there you go!  Easy swap that made for a super tasty chicken.  I got my chicken at Trader Joe’s and went for the All Natural chicken that was 4.5 lbs.  I still need to get better at breaking down the chicken, but Matt managed to get just about every piece of meat off.  {having a husband is very handy!}  We also didn’t have time to make chicken stock from the carcass so we threw it in the freezer to make later!

All you really have to do is melt butter and mix it with garlic, lemon zest, thyme, salt & pepper.  Rub that mix all over and under the skin too!

Lemon & Thyme Roasted Chicken

Then lay that bird on some onions and stuff the bird with you lemons left from juicing, some extra thyme leaves and garlic!

Lemon & Thyme Roasted Chicken

And as you pull it out of the oven make sure to make that choir singing “Ahhhhhhhhh!” because your kitchen as never smelled this good.

Lemon & Thyme Roasted Chicken

SIDE NOTE!  The onion left in the pan are sooooo tasty!  I removed the chicken and most of the liquid around them, and turn the stove on and carmelized them down!  We put them on some steak but they would be amazing on the chicken it self, a burger, or even in a bowl!!

The best way to meal prep for the week is to roast a chicken! This quick Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken will fill your fridge with the tastiest chicken for the week! Being healthy can be easy!

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Lemon & Thyme Roasted Chickenn


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 whole chicken (natural/ free range if possible)
  • 2 lemons
  • 5 cloves garlic- 3 minced, 2 cut in half
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme – 3, leaves removed & chopped finely, 1 reserved
  • 2 large onions
  • ½ stick butter (i use grass fed)
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 475. Melt butter in small bowl; add minced garlic, chopped thyme, the zest of the lemons, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
  2. Thickly slice the onions and place in bottom of enameled cast iron dutch oven. Reserve the end scraps. Prepare chicken by removing giblets from cavity, rinsing off, and patting dry (a lot of chicken come with them already removed!). Liberally season the cavity with salt and pepper.
  3. Cut the lemons in half; reserve juice and save rinds.
  4. The butter mixture will have hardened slightly by now. Using your hands, slather the mixture liberally over every part of the chicken and under the breast skin (being careful not to tear the skin). Place in dutch oven on top of sliced onions.
  5. Stuff the cavity with the lemon rinds, onion scraps, remaining garlic, and thyme sprig/stems.
  6. Tie the legs of the chicken together tightly using kitchen twine. Pour reserved lemon juice over the chicken. Roast chicken for 15 minutes at 475, then reduce heat to 350 and cook for approximately 20 minutes per pound, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
  7. * Note-You should cook the chicken uncovered in the dutch oven, but if it starts to burn on top and the internal temperature is not high enough yet, you can place the lid on ajar to avoid direct heat and prevent burning.