Hiya friends! Am I the only one roasting chickens in the southern summer heat? That can’t be so! There are so many ways to use a whole chicken that come in under budget. (even if you buy organic, free range which I recommend!)

First, you can butcher a whole chicken yourself which takes almost no time (and minimal skill) and costs waaaay less than buying the same amount of cuts at the store.

Or second, you can roast it to perfection and shred it leaving you with enough meat for 3+ meals depending on how big your family is! I like this option. It’s easier and makes my home smell unreasonably delicious.

Third, you can and should save the bones to make homemade bone broth. In fact, I have a recipe right here!

For this Easy Roast Chicken recipe, you’ll need 5 ingredients and 1.5 hours. And most of the time is hands-off! If you’re big into meal prepping, this is a great way to cook once and eat all week.

Easy Roast Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken roughly 4-4&1/2 lbs

• 1-2 lemons

• Your favorite herbs/seasoning. I used: 1/4 cup each of fresh rosemary & thyme from my garden and sprinkled on salt and pepper of course! (Other ideas: lemon pepper, herbed salt, herbs de provence, etc…)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

• butcher’s twine

• Optional, vegetables for roasting. I used sweet potatoes and yellow onions.

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 & prepare a baking sheet with foil or bust out your roasting rack.

• Discard packaging and giblets. Wash chicken with cool water inside & out and pat dry with paper towels. Place in the roasting rack.

• Wash and finely chop your herbs (if using fresh) and mix in with room temperature butter. If you forgot to leave it out (personally, I can NEVER remember), simply cut it into cubes & microwave in 5 second increments until just barely soft. Then incorporate your herbs/spices and 1 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp pepper.

• Next we’re going to get this herb butter UNDER the chicken skin. Gently lift the skin up starting at the base of the cavity and begin spreading the herb butter all over the breasts. (This is beginning to feel like a tantalizingly bad romance novel…) Spread the remaining butter over the outside of the entire chicken.

• Slice the lemon(s) in half and stuff them inside the chicken cavity. This just adds a little extra fresh lemony-flavor and I think it’s worth it!

• Sprinkle a generous amount of salt & fresh cracked pepper over the chicken and add any vegetables to the roasting rack or pan surrounding the chicken.

• Roast at 350 for 1-1.5 hours depending on the size of your chicken. I cook my chickens at 15 minutes per pound, plus 10 at the end, then broil for 3 to get the skin crispy and darkened nicely. The internal temperature should be 165.

• Let rest for 30 minutes, covered. Then carve it up however you please! I’ll eat some day-of, then shred the rest to freeze for future meals, and use the bones and veggie scraps to make bone broth.

There you have it folks! An Easy Roast Chicken Recipe just about anyone can do! For more recipes and homemaking tips, join my Inclusive Homemaking Facebook group here and follow me on Instagram at instagram.com/littlewildhomebody!