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 4.9 from 60 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

150 comments on “Crispy Roasted Garlic Chicken”

1 2 3
  1. I love this post for two reasons…I too have been trying to master “couponing”…well at least start. The thought of saving that much money sucks me in…I’ll have to check out those links!

    The other reason this post caught my eye is that beautiful chicken! I have yet to make a roast chicken, but it’s on my list of things to try very soon. Your looks absolutely delicious and the garlic is calling my name!!

  2. I just discovered your blog…you have wonderful recipes and really beautiful photography. I’m inspired to start couponing, and to make the chicken :)

  3. This makes me hungry again. And I just ate! What a great bargain. Thanks for sharing.

  4. I’ve always been intrigued by coupons – we don’t really have them in Australia, as far as I know. But that chicken looks amazing – so crispy and I LOVE garlic, delicious!

  5. Great post! I have been working on keeping coupons and doing my best to save some extra money. I will have to check out your links to coupon blogs! The chicken looks fabulous, too!

  6. This chicken was outstanding. I used a big roaster and minced an entire head of garlic. I used some of the leftovers for a potpie (yum!) Thanks so much for this new way of making roast chicken!

  7. that bird looks amazing! I want some chicken now! =)

  8. Love the way this chicken looks – I’m starring this in google reader to make later! as for couponing – i have two blogs that i follow that are local (KC) that you might be interested in: https://thriftyiscool.blogspot.com/ & https://www.sarathesavvyshopper.com/

  9. how would you do this with honey?

    want to make now!

  10. Use a low grill setting and give plenty of room from the heat source to the chicken legs and cook for 25-30 minutes turning in 10 minute intervals to ensure thoroughly cooked.

  11. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Your pictures are very helpful and the chicken looks beautiful. I am attempting this recipe for Thanksgiving for my family. It’s just the Husband and I with our 1 year old and 3 year old. Chicken is something we can use later in salad and for sandwiches. Thank you so much. :)

  12. great recipe! i chanced upon your blog while searching for garlic roast chicken. followed it exactly (except i don’t have a v rack so i placed the chicken on a bed of garlic and sprigs of thyme. my husband was full of praise and said we should do this more often. thanks!

  13. Hi all! I tried this last nite. It was a very tastey chicken. We enjoyed it a lot.

    What I had a problem with was that being that it was such a hot oven it created a lot of smoke and my fire alarm kept going off, like over five times lol. Plus it made a mess inside the oven. Is there anyway around this?

    Suggestions appreciated.

  14. I agree, Darlene! I did two of these for Easter and my house reeked for weeks after.

  15. I need to buy a roasting pan! Thanks for the tip! I spend $7 for a SMALL rotisserie chicken!! Also excited about someone else’s pin I found about adding baking powder to marinade that makes chicken crispy in the oven!Have you tried it? It’s great! Really works!

  16. I am in love with this chicken! I roast a chicken almost every week and won’t use any recipe other than this one! It is crispy and moist and so delicious. Thank you for sharing! 

  17. This is a fantastic recipe. I did it exactly as the recipe called for. I love the crispyness (is that a word). 

    • Yay, we’re so happy to hear that Valerie, thanks for letting us know! And it is a word, but we think it’s crispiness. :)

  18. Forgot to snap a pic of the PERFECT roasted chicken. It’s fantastic.  Thanks for the superb direction.  :)  Big hit.

  19. JUST made this. Super yum. I was impressed how it came out true to your recipe, as it came out perfectly. A lot of fanning the smoke alarm with oven mitts, yelling “I’M COOKING!” at it, but worth it. Now, to hire someone to clean my oven…lol. Thanks. Wish I could show you my photo of it!

    • Thanks Lori — we’re so happy you enjoyed it! Lol we’re sorry about the dirty oven, but we’re glad it was worth it! ;D

  20. Save yourself from buying something, using it once and throwing it away, the wads of paper towel, and use a wooden spoon inserted into the cavity and a clean wash cloth to turn the chicken over.

  21. It is amazing!  Very delicious!  I can’t figure out how to post a picture but it looked as good as it tasted

  22. I’ve tried several roasting methods I’ve been satisfied with, but never wowed by. This recipe however was the crispy, moist one I’d be looking for! I did with mine garlic, lemon, rosemary, and butter basted on top. It was perfect!

  23. I don’t have a rack can I isn’t oven rack and put a pan undergo catch the juices?

  24. I am wanting to make 2 chickens using this recipe for an upcoming party…but will times and tempuratures be different for 2 chickens in one roasting pan?? Thanks for your help!!

    • Hi Stephanie! The temperature would be the same, but they might need longer to cook. We would just be sure to check them with the thermometer. We hope you enjoy!

  25. I made this last night and it was delicious. The skin was so crispy and the flavor of the chicken was awesome!

  26. If you haven’t already done so, invest in one of those rotisserie ovens. I have one and it has been one of the most used
    items in my kitchen. Nothing beats the taste and tenderness of roasted chicken from a rotisserie. It takes about 1 and 15 minutes to cook. Delicious.

  27. I made this tonight for something different from my usual beer butt chicken. It is fantastic! Followed the recipe as it was written. Totally worth flipping the chicken to keep the chicken moist. Thank you 

  28. Love this recipe! Followed the recipe for first time roasting & it came out perfect! Very crispy on the outside & moist on the inside :)

  29. After I turn the breast side up in the oven, do I take the foil off?

  30. Love this recipe, comes out great every time. Thanks for sharing

  31. This recipe is great. But I always find that roasting a chicken with the recipe to stuff butter or anything else under breast skin is futile. Even under the skin the breast and thigh have a film layer on it that doesn’t let the butter absorb into the chicken. If you poke holes in it to get the butter into meat then you let juices leak out and it still ends up being the usual dry breast that’s so common. I would rather seal up the chicken gin baking bag or tin foil to retain natural juices. As far as flavor, your only going to get it from the seasoning you put on skin. Let’s face it, chicken breast is naturally a dry meat but can be flavored well if you have a piece of skin with it. But if you want to try flavoring the meat then go ahead and poke a few hole into the meat. Then you could serve it with a nice sauce to compensate for any dryness of the breast meat. That to me is the best method cause breast meat is gonna be a dry meat no matter what you do. So I you sauces to curb that problem. Thx for reading. 

  32. This chicken turned out great, and how simplistic, perfect for Sunday dinner and my picky eater too. Thank you. I would upload a photo of the chicken, but i do not see an attachment. Thank you, we love garlic!

    • Thank you, Lisa, we’re happy you enjoyed it! If you’re on Twitter or Instagram, you can always upload a photo and use the hashtag #gimmesomeoven.

  33. Thank you, thank you for helping me make my first delicious roasted/baked chicken. As per my Twitter post: Take a bow, you really taught me something today.

    https://twitter.com/ColorBakery/status/859633027705655297/photo/1

  34. This recipe is awesome. My first time trying it, and I actually loved the crispiness of the whole chicken. Definitely doing it again.

  35. left a 5.5 lb fresh chicken in roaster pan loosely with foil, put in a cup of water, on 400 degrees for an 45 minutes, left off foil cover on 475 for another 35 to 45 min, after rubbing with Crisco veg oil, and heavy sprinkled with Webers roasted garlic and herb seasoning. it works with anything and everything, even soup and stew






  36. Just made this juicy crisp chicken!! I did stuff the skin with pure Irish butter, basil,garlic and lemon!! Oh and I always salt pepper and drizzle EVOO on top, So good, thank you for sharing.






  37. I made this for Sunday dinner tonight and it was fantastically flavorful! Yes, I did set off my smoke alarm once (only when I took it out the second time) but it was totally worth it. My Honey was a real sport and fanned near the alarm to turn it off and opened up all the windows in the apartment. I used an entire head of garlic for and basted every time I took it out of the oven. I even made gravy with the drippings to complete the meal. Thank you so much for this delicious roasted chicken recipe. This is definitely a keeper! ;-)






    • Thanks for sharing, we’re so happy you enjoyed it, and we bet that gravy was amazing! :)

  38. Awesome!






  39. I made this tonight for Sunday dinner with roasted vegetables. OMG! This was garlic heaven good for me! So simple yet so flavorful and delicious. I will make again.

  40. Was easy fast and wonderfully tender






  41. This Chicken was absolutely delicious. My Husband Loved it. I will be making this again. It’s so simple to make.






  42. Do yourself a favor and make this easy dish!!






  43. So good. I made this today with a 5 pound bird. The garlic and butter are amazing. Paired with rice, peas, and homemade chicken gravy. It was the bomb!

  44. Absolutely delicious and so moist. The skin was soooo crispy! My husband wants this instead of turkey for thanksgiving. My daughter said it was really, really good for someone who never roasted a chicken before.






  45. Omg!!! I’ve never done chicken this way by opening the skin and seasoning the INSIDE the chicken!! I’ll never go back to my old cooking style… The chicken came out Juicy, So Full of Flavor!! TWO THUMBS UP!!!






  46. Simply A-MAZING!!! Words can’t describe the love my heart feels for knowing how to properly get a crispy roasted chicken. My teen was at the oven waiting on it to finish. This is def. hit in my house now and will be making it for many years to come!!

    PS..true confession, I don’t cut whole chickens so when I have to go cheap and get the whole bird rather than a pack of breast then whole is how it’s getting cooked. Thank you for making me not feel guilty for that anymore:-)






  47. ? Delicious. Thanks for the recipe.






  48. Wonderful! Will use this method from now on! Loved the garlic! I must admit that I skipped the butter (nothing against butter….just didn’t feel like sealing with it). Will try it next time for sure. Thank you!






  49. This receipt turned our thanksgiving chicken into a hit. Delicious and the receipt ensures the entire chicken will be filled with flavor.






  50. I’m making this tonight for my wife for dinner I can’t wait to eat it with her..