Gimme Some Oven

Crispy Roasted Garlic Chicken

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

One of my new endeavors of the year is learning how to coupon. Yes, the verb – coupon. As much as I love to cook, and as tiny as my food budget is, this has probably been a no-brainer for years. But somehow I’d never really given it a try…

So, I’ve spent the last 9 or so months learning the art of store coupons, manufacturer coupons, “matching”, doubling, pairing….you name it! And, of course, learning how to smile and thank your cashier and the patient people behind you as you figure it all out. :D  Thankfully, it has been beyond worth it. Thanks to internet coupons, and especially to coupon blogs, I’ve saved a fabulously significant chunk in my grocery budget. Hoorah!

Anyway, all that to say that I’m totally proud to say that on a recent grocery trip, I was able to swing three whole frozen chickens for $1.50 each. Holla! Thus, one of the lucky birds turned into this delicious, simple roast. I know there are about five zillion different methods for roasting. But for this recipe, decided to go with a crispy-roasting method I learned about awhile back from Cooks Illustrated. Look out — it calls for heating up that oven to 450 and 500 degrees. But hey — when it’s snowing and dropping into the ‘teens here in KC — a toasty kitchen sounds just about perfect. :)

I ended up just going with a super-simple garlic, garlic, and more garlic recipe. But feel free to sub in your favorite fresh herbs, honey, or whatever may float your boat. This is definitely more of a “method” sort of post… Enjoy!!

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Crispy Roasted Chicken

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 65 reviews
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 90 minutes
  • Total Time: 95 minutes
  • Yield: 1 roasted chicken 1x

Description

You’ll love this Crispy Roasted Garlic Chicken Recipe for dinner! So good!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 (3-4 pound) whole chicken (giblets removed and discarded, if included)
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Thoroughly rinse the outside and inside of the chicken. Gently pat try with paper towels.
  2. Using your fingers, carefully lift up the skin on top of the chicken (near the neck) and pull up gently. With your other hand, gently separate the skin from the breast and thigh meat. Then take half of the garlic and stuff it in between the skin and meat, so that it is fairly evenly spread out. Take the remainder of the garlic and spread it all over the cavity inside the chicken.
  3. Then take the butter and baste the entire outside of the chicken. Sprinkle generously with freshly ground pepper and salt.
  4. (Optional: Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.)
  5. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat to 450 degrees. Place foil loosely in large roasting pan. Flip chicken so breast side faces down, tucking the wings under (as pictured below), and set V-rack in roasting pan on top of foil. Roast chicken 25 minutes.
  6. Remove roasting pan from oven. Using 2 large wads of paper towels, rotate chicken breast-side up. Baste briefly with pan juices or additional melted butter. Return to oven and continue to roast until instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast registers 135 degrees, 15 to 25 minutes.
  7. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Continue to roast until skin is golden brown, crisp, and instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees and 175 degrees in thickest part of thigh, 10 to 20 minutes.
  8. Transfer chicken to cutting board and let rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Carve and serve immediately.

Notes

Original recipe with method adapted from Cooks Illustrated .

Share this Post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

160 comments on “Crispy Roasted Garlic Chicken”

  1. This turned out really well! I am so impressed! Always wanted to roast a Crispy Chicken. I did add a bit of teriyaki marinade at the bottom of the aluminum foil. It’s so flavorful

  2. Followed this recipe except substituted Olive oil in place of the butter. Avocado oil as a higher burn point so not a lot of smoke but still turned out very moist and tasty!

  3. Haven’t made this yet, but I am just here to ask how I can also get whole chickens for 1.50 each. Where do you shop?!?!

  4. Tis so easy to make. Followed the recipe to the letter . TURNED OUT PERFECT . My go to roasted chicken.

  5. This sounds terrific
    I will try thank you.

  6. Best roast chicken recipe ever…and I’ve tried many, many recipes. The only step I did differently was mince the garlic in a mini-processor, combine it with 2 T soft butter, and smeared it around under the skin. Much easier than the melted butter and no so difficult as handling and turning a slick chicken.

  7. In the over now. Almost done and it looks great!!

  8. I live in an apartment. 450° to 500° is NOT doable!!!!

  9. I gave this recipe 5 stars as I am making it now and it was so easy to prepare I doubled the ingredients as I am roasting a oven stuffer roaster but the smell in my house right now is outrageously delicious. I can’t wait til it is done and I can savor every mouthful.

  10. I Rsted this a star after placing in the oven it was a easy recipe to put together and so easy to roast.
    I would rate this 100 stars TASTED AWESOME and CRISPY SKIN OMG EXCELLENT

  11. I’m 59 years old and married 33 years. My husband said this was the best roasted chicken I have ever made!
    Thank you!

  12. It was the best roasted chicken I ever have had. This has been added to my family cookbook. Thank you

  13. Absolutely delicious and so easy to make.

  14. These wings look absolutely amazing. I love the teriyaki flavour but don’t have it too often – I am definitely going to be making these and please visit us: https://www.beckandbulow.com

  15. Husband said BEST roasted chicken ever. Married 34 years

  16. Followed recipe exactly as written. The chicken was delicious, but my whole house got smoked out! I have a convection oven, so not sure that caused the immense smoke. Wont be making again due to that fact.

  17. This was the easiest and BEST roasted chicken I have ever made. My husband loved it and we will be making it again and again and again. It is so easy and it is sooooooo juicy that you have to try it.
    Let’s put it this way, I won’t have to ever have the oops its not cooked all the way through or blah no flavor. You really can’t go wrong with this. Follow the directions and enjoy.

  18. Hi made this in an apartment the comment above not sure the problem followed to a T just added Creole seasoning bc I like spicier food . Ty for the recipe and also forwarded it to my son. Delicious!!

  19. Made this instead for thanksgiving since our family isn’t huge turkey fans. Used fresh garlic and put fresh lemon, rosemary and thyme in the cavity. Turned out delicious and moist. I added some cook time since my chicken was almost 5lb. I also did not need to complete the last step of increased temp since the skin was already very brown/crispy. I served this with stuffing and your mushroom gravy and it was a huge hit. My house did become insanely smoky even with good ventilation. I wonder if I roasted on a lower temp if it would help? Will definitely make again,

  20. As everyone has mentioned prior, the house smoked out! Who cares? It was absolutely delicious! Saving this recipe! Made it today for my husband and myself for Easter. Made yukon gold mashed potatoes with horseradish. Sauteed asparagus tips and voila! Happy couple. Thank you for sharing!

    • It was delicious as prepared according to directions. It surprised me on how juicy it was.

  21. I am missing the photo of how you tuck the wings and I don’t understqand the pint of the foil in the bottom of the pan. I want those pan juices for gravy.

  22. I had a 7 lb. roasting chicken. Followed recipe, adding sage, rosemary, thyme to softened butter and garlic. I roasted it for 35 minutes at 450 degrees. After flipping it over I roasted it for 40 minutes at 450 degrees. Then I upped the oven temperature to 480 degrees for 15 minutes. I was not sure about the temps and times because of the larger size of the chicken, so I was just guessing, except the instant-read thermometer was a great help. This bird was crispy on the outside and moist and tasty on the inside, especially when dipped in the flavorful juices.

  23. Maybe you have a great ventilation system, 450 with the chicken on the bottom rack smoked up my whole apartment. The chicken also spat fat all over the oven because it wasn’t covered. I’ll just stick with 350 and covered in foil for 30 minutes and then another hour uncovered. Was looking forward to crispy chicken, my oven obviously can’t deal with cooking poultry at that heat.

  24. I’ve made this about 6 times now so I can attest to how great the cook temps and times are here to ensure you have a delicious roast chicken with amazing crispy skin. A couple of things I’ve added – 1- I use Ghee instead of melted butter as it just seems to cook better and I mix it with whatever spices I’m using to put under and over the skin 2- I brine the chicken for 24 hours in advance- my oven has a mind of its own and I wish I could cook this in just 90 minutes – but brining makes sure it stays moist and yummy.

  25. Well I’ve made it this way 3 times in a row now and I keep coming back because it keeps being a win! I like to brine my whole chicken for several hours beforehand and that, combined with this recipe, has turned out the best whole roasted chicken I’ve made. :)

  26. This is my go to roast chicken recipe. I’ve been using it for years but am finally commenting to say Thank you!

  27. Best roasted chicken recipe, gives me a crispy brown skin and very juicy insides every single time! So easy

  28. This took a lot longer to cook than stated. The flavor was good, but my 3.3 lb chicken was not done until the 2 hour mark. I ended up covering with tin foil and moving the rack up to trap heat and cook faster and had to deal with a grumpy hungry family. The flavor was good though.