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A Thanksgiving roasted chicken hot from the oven
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Thanksgiving roast chicken with herb butter

Slathered in herb butter and finished with slow heat - yields a juicy roasted chicken for Thanksgiving.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 6 6oz servings
Calories: 454kcal

Ingredients

Garlic herb butter

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 bunch chives
  • 8 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 4 sprigs fresh sage
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 8 Tbs butter softened

Chicken

  • 4 lb chicken
  • 1 Tbs salt
  • ½ of herb butter from above

Instructions

PREHEAT

  • Preheat the oven to 425 with convection and place an oven safe skillet in it to preheat too. (Don't have a convection setting? Preheat to 450℉)

MAKE THE HERB BUTTER

  • Remove rosemary, sage, and thyme from their stems. Mince all herbs and garlic (a food processor makes quick work of this). Add the softened butter and mix until combined.
  • Set aside half of the herb butter to use with Thanksgiving dinner. You don't want to contaminate it in the next step.

ROAST THE CHICKEN

  • Rub the chicken: Take your half of the butter for the chicken and add 1 tablespoon salt. This extra salt makes the chicken tasty (but your don't want it in the butter you set aside or it would be TOO salty for eating on bread, etc).
    Rub the now-salted herb butter under the skin of the chicken, and a little on top of the skin. Then finish with the last little bit on top of the skin.
  • Place a thermometer in the chicken, if using a leave-in thermometer (highly recommended). Place it in the center of one of the chicken breasts, to the thickest part that will cook the slowest.
  • Use hot pads and take the skillet out of the oven. Place the chicken in the skillet, breast side UP. Return to oven.
  • Cook for about 10 minutes at 425℉ - the skin should be golden brown.
    Reduce the heat to 350 to finish cooking until the breast reaches 160℉ and legs are 170-185℉. If the skin is browning faster than the chicken is cooking, go ahead and reduce the temperature earlier. The chicken should cook in a total of 45-60 minutes (for a 3-4 pound bird).
    Dark meat is safe to eat at 165℉, it's more succulent when cooked to 185℉. But don't let the breasts overcook when trying to get to a higher dark meat temp.
  • Remove the skillet and chicken from the oven. Cover the handle with a glove hot-pad so you (or a guest) doesn't accidentally grab it (ask me how I know!). Take the chicken out and let rest 15 minutes before carving.
    Resting lets the meat reabsorb the juices (but you might lose some skin crispiness, so you can separate the skin right away if that's important to you).

OPTIONAL: MAKE A PAN GRAVY

  • Pour the pan drippings into a heat proof container. Wait a few minutes for the fat to float to the top. Skim off 2 Tbs of fat and return it to the pan, with the burner on medium-high.
  • Meanwhile, skim the remaining fat off the top of the dripping and discard the fat. Keep the drippings! If you don't have 1 cup of drippings, add chicken stock to get 1 cup.
  • Add 2 Tbs flour to the pan and whisk constantly until it smells toasty. Then slowly whisk in 1 cup of the drippings. Add a splash of wine and a teaspoon of mustard and continue to whisk.
  • Remove from heat and serve.

SERVE

  • The chicken has rested, so now you can carve it. Serve with spare herb butter or pan gravy.
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Nutrition

Serving: 6g | Calories: 454kcal | Protein: 40g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Sodium: 1200mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g