Slow Oven Roasted Chicken slathered in garlic butter is a must for special occasions like Easter! This easy whole roast chicken recipe is absolutely fail-proof with my step-by-step instructions, and ready in 1-2 hours, depending on the size of your chicken. The whole family will love this juicy, tender roasted whole chicken recipe!
Is there anything more classic than a roast chicken for dinner? It never fails to please and is good enough to serve for company or as Sunday dinner. It even makes a great smaller holiday meal but is easy enough to manage on a weeknight without the pressure of a bigger bird like a turkey that takes hours to cook.
This Slow Roasted Chicken is SO delicious! It’s garlicky, herby, zapped with some lemon, and completely covered in butter. What’s not to love about that?! The crispy skin is absolutely mouthwatering, and the meat is roasted to juicy, tender perfection.
This roast chicken recipe calls for ingredients you’ll probably have on hand, or are really easy to find at the store. Nothing too crazy: just herbs, butter, veggies, seasoning, and lemon.
We love to make whole chicken recipes because it takes on incredible flavors that everyone loves! Our reader favorite Smoked Spatchcock Chicken makes the most mouthwatering smoky chicken you’ve ever tasted if you have a pellet grill, and our Whole Roasted Mexican Chicken with Vegetables is a delicious and easy one-pan chicken dinner, perfect anytime!
Ingredients for Slow Roasted Chicken
- A whole chicken: I used a medium-sized whole chicken. It’s perfect for 4 people, although you could easily get two of them and double the other ingredients if you are having company over or want to have leftovers for the week.
- Salt & black pepper: I use these ingredients to season the outside of the chicken. The skin tastes amazing with some simple salt and pepper.
- Butter: Butter is also applied liberally to the outside of the whole chicken and also under the skin. It tastes delicious and helps the skin to crisp up well.
- Garlic: I added plenty of garlic to this recipe! Some of it was mixed with the butter and rosemary to create a garlic herb butter, and the rest I tossed into the roasting pan to add more flavor to the slow roasted chicken.
- Rosemary: Rosemary and chicken go so well together! This is also added to butter to give it a boost of herbiness.
- Aromatics for stuffing the chicken: You can add what you like or have on hand! I opted for a quartered onion, roughly chopped celery, garlic cloves, fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme, and a halved lemon.
- Lemon: Lemon went into the roasting pan as well to add an even more powerful citrus punch!
How to Make Slow Roasted Chicken
- Clean & loosen the chicken. Firstly, preheat the oven to 425°F and then remove chicken giblets and rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat completely dry using paper towels. Gently slide your fingers between the skin and the breasts of the chicken, loosening it slightly.
- Season & stuff. Second, liberally salt and pepper the inside and outside of the chicken, rubbing the salt and pepper around the inside cavity. Stuff the cavity with aromatics. There are many options that work well, but my favorites are a few pieces of quartered onion, a lemon sliced in half, bunches of fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary, a handful of whole garlic cloves, and/or some celery sticks chopped small enough to fit.
- Make & rub garlic butter. In a bowl, combine the softened butter with the minced garlic and herbs, then rub this under the skin over the chicken breasts and around the outside of the bird. Tie the legs of the chicken together if you have kitchen twine on hand. If you don’t have kitchen twine, don’t worry about it! The chicken will still turn out delicious!
4. Place in pan. Next, transfer the chicken to a roasting pan or large oven-safe skillet. You can even throw in some extra sprigs of rosemary, halved lemons, and whole heads of garlic with the tops sliced off around the chicken for even more aromatics.
5. Roast! Slow roast the chicken in the oven for around 1 to 1 ½ hours (roughly 20 minutes per pound) until the meat is 165 degrees F when tested with a digital meat thermometer (affiliate link). The juices should run clear when you slice into the chicken.
6. Rest and slice. Finally, remove the slow roasted chicken from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing to serve on a platter. Serve the chicken with the pan juices drizzled over the top.
How to store leftover roast chicken
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The leftover slow roasted chicken makes delicious sandwiches, and can also be added to soups and salads.
When roasting a chicken do you cover it?
I didn’t cover my slow roasted chicken with aluminum foil because I wanted the skin to be beautifully golden and crispy when it had finished cooking.
What size of chicken should I use?
I used a 5-pound medium-sized chicken which serves about 4-5 people. A larger 7-pound chicken can serve up to 8 people, whereas a smaller 4-pound chicken would serve 4. Be sure to adjust the salt, adding an extra 1-2 teaspoons for a larger chicken, and 1 teaspoon less for a smaller one.
What can I serve this Slow Roasted Chicken with?
This slow roasted chicken recipe is great for special occasions like Christmas, Easter, and weekend family dinners. We love to serve our favorite vegetable side dishes with it, including:
- The BEST Homemade Mashed Potatoes!
- Garlic Mushrooms
- Oven Roasted Broccoli with Garlic, Parmesan and Lemon
- The Best Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
- Easy Oven Roasted Cauliflower
- Oven Roasted Asparagus with Garlic, Parmesan, & Lemon
- Creamy Potluck Potatoes
- Garlic Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Creamed Corn
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
My Best Roast Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-6 pound whole chicken
- 3-4 teaspoons kosher salt more if the chicken is on the larger side
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup salted butter softened to room temperature
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary chopped
- Aromatics for stuffing the chicken like a quartered onion, roughly chopped celery, garlic cloves, fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, or a halved lemon
- 1 lemon sliced in half
- 1 head of garlic sliced in half
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove chicken giblets and rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat completely dry using paper towels. Gently slide your fingers between the skin and the breasts of the chicken, loosening it slightly.4-6 pound whole chicken
- Liberally salt and pepper the inside and outside of the chicken, rubbing the salt and pepper around the inside cavity. Stuff the cavity with aromatics. There are many options that work well, but my favorites are a few pieces of quartered onion, a lemon sliced in half, bunches of fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary, a handful of whole garlic cloves, and/or some celery sticks chopped small enough to fit.3-4 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, Aromatics for stuffing the chicken like a quartered onion, roughly chopped celery, garlic cloves, fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, or a halved lemon
- In a bowl, combine the softened butter with the minced garlic and herbs, then rub this under the skin over the chicken breasts and around the outside of the bird. Tie the legs of the chicken together if you have kitchen twine on hand. If you don’t have kitchen twine, don’t worry about it! The chicken will still turn out delicious!¼ cup salted butter, 4 garlic cloves, 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Transfer the chicken to a roasting pan or large oven-safe skillet. You can even throw in some extra sprigs of rosemary, halved lemons, and whole heads of garlic with the tops sliced off around the chicken for even more aromatics.1 lemon, 1 head of garlic
- Roast in the oven for around 1 to 1 ½ hours (roughly 20 minutes per pound) until the meat is 165 degrees F when tested with a digital meat thermometer (affiliate link). The juices should run clear when you slice into the chicken.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing to serve on a platter. Serve the chicken with the pan juices drizzled over the top.
Notes
- Flavor Variations: You could use other seasonings and just follow this same method. Using a cajun seasoning blend with the butter instead of rosemary and garlic is another favorite approach of ours.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: You could follow the steps above and just cook the chicken in the slow cooker on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. The skin won’t crisp up like an oven roasted chicken, but the meat will still be delicious.
Thanks for this recipe! It’s a really helpful post!
Beautiful flavour. I added desert spoon of herbs de Provence to my butter and was beautiful. A lovely moist bird! Thank you
Sounds delicious with the herbs! Thank you for making it!