This chicken should just be called “Ultimate Roast Chicken” because it’s that good! This recipe has stood the test of time and has been in my kitchen bag of tricks for over 15 years. I haven’t changed a single thing and it still leaves people coming back to the carving board for seconds every single time.
You can roast the chicken in a pan on its own, but I don’t like to waste oven space or delicious chicken drippings, so most of the time, I like to put potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, or parsnips in the bottom of the pan. I may as well put the chicken to work! I just give them a light coating of olive oil, salt, and pepper before putting them into the oven. It’s the ultimate one pan dinner!
Lemon Rosemary Roast Chicken
1 – 3 to 5 pound chicken
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons rosemary, fresh, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 cloves garlic, fresh, minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 can ginger ale, lemon water, or beer
Additional olive oil, salt, and pepper for seasoning outside of the chicken
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, rosemary, lemon zest, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix until evenly combined. On a cutting board, use your hands to loosen the skin of the chicken and work the lemon rosemary mixture into as many areas between the chicken meat and skin as possible while still leaving the skin intact. Rub the outside of the bird with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken upright over the can of ginger ale and place it in a baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bird reaches 160. (baking time will vary greatly depending on the size of the bird) Remove the bird from the oven and the can. Cover with foil and let the bird rest for 10 minutes before carving.
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