One thing every great chef knows how to do and does it well is to roast a chicken. It’s one of the most basic recipes, but when done correctly, it’s can be more impressive than the fanciest molecular gastronomy dish out there!
My favorite roasted chicken recipe couldn’t be any easier! In fact, the hardest part is letting the chicken rest because it smells so great! Follow these steps to wow your guests!
Lemon Roasted Chicken
- 1 3-4 lb whole chicken
- 2 lemons
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. While the oven is heating, pat your chicken dry, then carefully separate the skin from the meat by sliding your finger in between and slowly moving it to create a gap. Try not to rip the skin.
Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and into the skin/meat gap. Using your hand, rub the oil into the meat under the skin. This is a really important step because it means the difference between soggy skin and crisp flavorful skin!
Pierce the skin of 1 lemon with a knife and place in the cavity of the chicken. Generously sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon over the chicken.
Roast the chicken in a roasting pan for about 1 hour or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Remove from the oven and let sit an additional 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature is up to 165 degrees.
Slice the chicken and serve with your favorite side dish.