The husband surprised me with a trip to Italy in 1999. It was one of the best vacations we ever took if you ask me. My course of study in college was art history with a concentration in Michelangelo so getting to see the Sistine Ceiling and his other works was so wonderful. The other takeaway from the trip was eating some of the best food we have ever had. The first night we arrived and settled in to our hotel we were exhausted and didn’t go far for dinner but that night I had the best roast chicken I have ever had. When I got home I tried and tried to recreate it. This roast chicken recipe is as close as I have come probably due to differences in the chicken itself. At the time I made this meal I used a chicken we butchered here on the farm. Since we don’t do our own chickens any longer I now use organic, free range hens that I buy. The quality of the chicken you start with will obviously make a big difference in the end meal.
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Delicious Roast Chicken
Serves 4 – 6
1 5 – 6 lb chicken
2 small onions
2 small heads of garlic
2 lemons
1 TBS salt
2 TBS Herbes de Provence
2 TBS olive oil
Preheat oven to 400°
- Cut the onions, garlic heads and lemons into quarters and add to a bowl.
- Add the Herbes de provence and salt.
- Add the olive oil and mix well.
- Stuff the mixture into the chicken.
- Rub the olive oil/herb mixture left in the bottom of the bowl over the top of the bird.
- Roast at 400° for half an hour and then lower the temperature to 350° to finish the bird.
- Cook the bird until the thigh meat registers 170° about another hour. (Depending on the weight of your chicken.)
- Cover the chicken with foil and let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving and serving.
How Was the Roast Chicken Recipe?
The skin comes out all crispy and the meat holds the flavors of the stuffing. The breast meat more than the thigh and leg meat of course. The pan drippings make a fantastic gravy if you are so inclined. I just spoon a bit of them over my serving. The hubby likes the leg and I like the white meat so we are perfectly suited to sharing a chicken. This will feed us for several days and then I’ll use the carcass to make stock.
Homemade chicken soup is one of my favorite chicken recipes. I could eat bowl after bowl after bowl. Another favorite fowl recipe I like to make is chicken fricasee.
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Easy Roast Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 75 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
- Yield: 4 - 6 1x
- Category: main dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 5 – 6 lb chicken
- 2 small onions
- 2 small heads of garlic
- 2 lemons
- 1 TBS salt
- 2 TBS Herbes de Provence
- 2 TBS olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Cut the onions, garlic heads and lemons into quarters and add to a bowl.
- Add the Herbes de provence and salt.
- Add the olive oil and mix well.
- Stuff the mixture into the chicken.
- Rub the olive oil/herb mixture left in the bottom of the bowl over the top of the bird.
- Roast at 400° for half an hour and then lower the temperature to 350° to finish the bird.
- Cook the bird until the thigh meat registers 170° about another hour. (Depending on the weight of your chicken.)
- Cover the chicken with foil and let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving and serving.
Keywords: roast chicken, moist roast chicken, delicious roast chicken
