Roasted Chicken Recipe - An Easy Weeknight Dinner! (2024)

With crispy, golden skin and a smokey lemon garlic butter, this roast chicken recipe is a step up from regular rotisserie chicken dinners. Baked until nice and juicy, it’s an effortless weeknight meal everyone will love.

If you’re looking for more whole chicken recipes you need to check out all my tips & tricks to roasting a whole chicken and definitely need to make my Beer Can Chicken!

Table of Contents

• Easy Roast Chicken Recipe
• Why You’ll Love This Oven Roasted Chicken
• What You’ll Need
• How to Make Oven Roasted Chicken
• Tips for Success
• What To Serve With Roast Chicken
• Proper Storage
• More Chicken Recipes To Try
• Get the Recipe

Easy Roast Chicken Recipe

If easy meals are your thing, then this roast chicken recipe is for you! With a homemade lemon garlic butter and a hint of sage, this simple dinner with baked lemon slices will be a total show-stopper at all your gatherings.

To balance out the richness in each bite, a little bit of olive oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice are added to the butter mixture. Don’t forget the garlic, sage, and paprika for some aromatics and spice! For a bake-and-forget dinner with crispy skin, this chicken is a juicy symphony that’ll find its way to your table each week.

Even if you cut some corners and use store-bought compound butter instead, this recipe will beat boring chicken dinners any day. It’ll be a hit with the whole family and you’ll love making it as much as you enjoy eating it.

Why You’ll Love This Oven Roasted Chicken

This juicy oven-roasted chicken will be a new weeknight favorite.

• Easy. Although “compound butter” sounds quite fancy, it’s basically butter mixed with spices and herbs. The rest is just baking… How hard can this recipe be?
• Perfect for gatherings. Once it hits the oven, you can forget about it until it’s time for dinner! Meanwhile, you can spend time with friends and family.
• Versatile. Use store-bought compound butter to save some time or shred up the leftovers to add them to your favorite recipes.
• Prep-friendly. Prepare the butter and clean the chicken in advance so all you have to do is pop it into the oven throughout the week.

What You’ll Need

It’s all about the lemon and butter for some zesty richness. Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact amounts.

• Whole chicken

For the Lemon Garlic Butter

• Butter – I prefer unsalted butter but salted works too.
• Olive oil – Avocado, corn, vegetable, or canola oil are great swaps.
• Lemon zest – Feel free to use lime zest.
• Lemon juice – Lime juice also works.
• Garlic – Don’t use garlic powder.
• Dried sage
• Smoked paprika – Use your favorite kind.
• Salt – Skip it if you’re using salted butter.
• Ground pepper – Only use black pepper.
• Lemon

How to Make Oven Roasted Chicken

Make your compound butter, clean the chicken, rub it with butter, and bake away! That’s it. Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for more detailed instructions.

• Prepare the oven. Preheat the oven to 375F. If you have an oven thermometer to confirm the temperature, even better.

• Make the lemon garlic butter. Add all of the butter ingredients to a bowl and mix them until well combined. Set it aside.
• Prep the chicken. Clean the neck, remove the gizzards, and clear out the chicken’s cavity. Rinse it well with water and then pat it dry with a paper towel.
• Rub the butter. Place the chicken in the roasting pan. Rub the butter mixture all over the chicken, making sure to rub some under the skin too.
• Stuff it. Stuff the chicken with 1 lemon that has been cut in half.

• Bake it. Top the chicken with 3-4 lemon slices. Pop it into the oven for 1 hour 40 minutes.

Tips for Success

These tips will help you master whole roasted chickens, turkeys, and any sort of poultry.

• Use a meat thermometer. Insert the meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken. It should read 170F when it’s ready, otherwise it’s undercooked.
• Use compound butter. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough time to whip up your own flavored butter. Use store-bought instead!
• Ask for help. When buying the chicken, ask your butcher to clean it out for you so you don’t have to.
• Cover it with foil. If the top of the chicken is browning too quickly, cover it with foil for the rest of the baking time to keep it from burning.
• Keep it moist. Place a baking sheet with water on the lowest oven rack and bake the chicken as usual. This will release steam and keep the chicken nice and juicy.

What To Serve With Roast Chicken

This roast chicken recipe is perfect for dinner with some simple sides and a salad. If you love potato-sides like me, serve it with my Roasted Potatoes or Garlic Parmesan Fries. Other veggie sides include my Air Fryer Asparagus. For salad ideas, pair it with my Wedge Salad or Fattoush Salad.

Proper Storage

Once fully cooled, refrigerate any leftovers for up to 5 days. If you have lots of leftovers, it’s best to keep it in the roasting pan and cover it with foil. For easier storage, though, you can just shred the chicken and place it in an airtight container. To reheat it, pop it into the microwave for 1-2 minutes or until warm. You can also reheat it in the oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

More Chicken Recipes To Try

• Asian Chicken Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing
• Chicken Street Tacos with Mexican Street Corn
• Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
• Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Verde
• Easy Bruschetta Chicken

Print