There is something to be said for roasting the perfect herbed whole chicken in your own oven. It’s not only impressive for guests but also incredibly delicious. It’s not a quick meal but it sure is easy.
I adore a whole baked chicken with herbs. I’m a supporter of the convenience of buying a ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken. Our recipes use them all the time. But once in a while you just have to make your own.
Kyle is not a huge fan of turkey so whole baked chicken makes a regular appearance on our holiday table.
There are only so many ways to bake a whole chicken so you know it’s all in the flavours. I mean, the whole point of a whole oven-roasted chicken is to get a piece of deliciously crispy and flavourful skin.
If you agree keep reading because this flavour profile will make you smile. These are the absolute best herbs to use for a roasted chicken, any cut.
Preparing a Herbed Roasted Whole Chicken
Ingredients
Whole Chicken: Chickens are domesticated birds and are a type of fowl. They are kept for their eggs and flesh in most cases. Their meat is relatively lean and is high in protein and low in fat. Different cuts of chicken are used in cooking, in this recipe we are baking a whole chicken.
Sage: Sage is part of the mint family and has a very strong earthy smell and flavour. It’s native to the Mediterranean and is used in cooking both fresh and dried. It’s very commonly used as a flavouring in sausages as well as with poultry and pork. We use the dried form for this recipe.
Rosemary: Made from fresh rosemary, this herb is potent with aroma and flavour. It is an evergreen plant with long leaves on a stiff stem. The leaves are picked and dried to make dried rosemary.
Butter: Butter is churned milk or cream and is high in fat. It is solidified when refrigerated, holds a semi-soft, spreadable consistency at room temperature, or can be liquefied when heated.
How to Make Herbed Roasted Whole Chicken
Start by preheating the oven to 400°F.
Next, you need to make the herb paste.
Combine the herbs, salt and pepper in a mortar and grind with the pestle until very fine. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle try using a heavy object to crush the spices into a powder.
We need room-temperature butter next.
How to soften butter
- If your butter is not at room temperature you can soften it in the microwave for 7-10 seconds.
- Another way to soften butter is by heating up a small bowl or glass using boiling water. Place the butter on a plate. Then, boil some water and pour it into a glass or small bowl. After about a minute, pour the water out VERY CAREFULLY. Then quickly place the glass or bowl over the butter on the plate and let sit for a few minutes. The heat coming off the glass will heat up the butter.
Don’t overdo it as we don’t want melted butter, just softened.
To make the paste, combine the herbs with the butter and mix well until fully and evenly combined.
The colour is not pretty but trust me it will taste incredible. Not only that but once your chicken is baked the skin will be perfectly crisp and golden.
Prep the chicken
The only thing you need to do to prep the chicken is pat it dry. I know that some people wash their chicken but it’s not advised as it created more risk for cross-contamination. Remove the chicken from its packaging and pat it dry with a paper towel. Remove the innards, if there are any.
Rub a third of the butter and herb mixture on the bottom of the chicken, that’s the opposite side of the breast. Then place the chicken bottom side down on the rack of a roasting pan and rub the remainder of the butter and herb paste onto the rest of the chicken making sure to cover as much of the skin as possible.
Now, all that’s left to do is bake the chicken.
Place the chicken in the roasting pan and bake uncovered for 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer indicates an internal temperature of at least 165°F.
Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.
How to make gravy
Once you’ve moved the chicken to a serving dish or onto plates you can use the dripping to make gravy. Or just reserve them to make gravy at a later time if you are not serving it for dinner.
Pour 1 cup of chicken stock into the roasting pan and use a spatula to scrape down any bits that are stuck on the pan. Pour everything into a pot and warm on medium heat.
While that’s warming make a slurry to thicken the gravy. Combine one part flour and two parts water in a small dish and mix or whisk until there are no clumps.
Whisk the slurry into the pot and cook for a minute or two until the gravy thickens. Taste and salt and pepper as required.
Substitutions
Whole Chicken: You can use the herb mixture on any cut of chicken. I highly recommend using a cut that has the skin on. Just follow the cooking instructions of another recipe like our peri-peri chicken, oven-baked lemon and herb chicken thighs or homemade shake and bake chicken drumsticks, but use this herb and butter mixture as the flavouring instead.
Serving Herbed Roasted Whole Chicken
Once the chicken has had time to rest it’s ready to eat. All you have to do is cut it into four and serve it with your favourite sides. You can use a sharp carving knife or kitchen sheers depending on how you want to serve the chicken.
Serve it with garlic and chive mashed potatoes and carrot and apple slaw, or with roasted potatoes and oven-roasted butternut squash.
Hint: You can roast the squash next to the chicken just cut the cooking time by 5 minutes.
Here are some of our other favourite sides that fit next to the chicken right in the oven:
And here are some other favourites that don’t need an oven at all:
Let us know in the comments if you have any questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for lunch ideas? Check out our recipes:
Herbed Roasted Whole Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle
- Roasting Pan
- Small microwave-safe bowl
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg whole chicken
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp butter (room temperature)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Combine the herbs, salt and pepper in a mortar and grind with the pestle until very fine.1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper
- If your butter is not at room temperature you can soften it in the microwave for 7-10 seconds. Don’t overdo it as we don’t want melted butter.2 tbsp butter
- Add the herbs to the butter and mix until fully and evenly combined.
- Remove the chicken from its packaging and pat it dry with a paper towel. Remove any innards, if there are any.1.5 kg whole chicken
- Rub a third of the butter and herb mixture on the bottom of the chicken (opposite side of the breast). Then place the chicken bottom side down on the rack of a roasting pan. Next, rub the remainder of the butter and herb paste onto the rest of the chicken making sure to cover as much of the skin as possible.
- Place the chicken in the roasting pan and bake uncovered for 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer indicates an internal temperature of at least 165°F.
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve with your favourite sides.
