Recipes and Cooking Classic Roast Chicken 4.1 (9) Add your rating & review Nothing beats a classic! First, master how to roast a chicken, then customize the oven-roasted chicken recipe with garlic butter, lemon and herbs, or a mushroom and spice mixture. By BHG Test Kitchen BHG Test Kitchen The Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen has been in continuous operation for nearly 100 years, developing and testing practical, reliable recipes that readers can enjoy at home. The Test Kitchen team includes culinary specialists, food stylists, registered and licensed nutritionists, and other experts with Bachelor of Science degrees in food science, food and nutrition, or culinary arts. Together, the team tests more than 2,500 recipes, produces more than 2,500 food images, and creates more than 1,000 food videos each year in the state-of-the-art test kitchen. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Published on August 1, 2013 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Andy Lyons Prep Time: 30 mins Roast Time: 1 hrs Stand Time: 10 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Servings: 6 Jump to Nutrition Facts Ingredients 1 3.5-4 pound whole broiler chicken* Salt and ground black pepper 3 cup assorted vegetables such as carrots, celery, onions, parsnips, beets, or other root vegetables 2 tablespoon softened butter 2 cup chicken broth Directions Pat the chicken dry, inside and out with paper towels. Chill, uncovered, overnight in refrigerator. Place rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat oven to 475°F. Gently run your fingers between the skin and breast meat. Sprinkle salt and pepper over top of skin. Tuck wings under breast. Loop a long piece of kitchen string around drumsticks in a figure-eight patter; pull tight. Pull string up around thighs and breast; tie at neck. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Toss vegetables with butter. Place in pan around chicken. Roast chicken for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 375°F. Roast for 40 to 60 minutes or until drumsticks move easily in sockets, chicken is no longer pink inside, and a thermometer inserted into center of an inside thigh muscle registers 175°F. Remove chicken from oven. Cover; let stand at least 5 minutes. Transfer chicken and vegetables to serving platter. For pan sauce, place roasting pan over burner on stovetop; stir in chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits in pan. Bring to boiling; boil gently until reduced by about half. Serve pan sauce with chicken. * Start with a quality chicken, such as an organic, free-range bird from D'Artagnan. A chicken that is raised well will reward you with great flavor, firm, tender meat and the confidence that your body is ingesting nothing but wholesome nutrients. Lemon Herb-Stuffed Chicken Stuff chicken cavity with 2 to 3 lemon wedges, 1/3 to 1/2 cup snipped fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano and/or parsley) and 2 halved garlic cloves. Finish pan sauce with 1/2 teaspoon herbs de Provence. Spice-rubbed Place 1/4 cup (1/4 ounce) dried porcini mushrooms in a blender or spice grinder; cover and blend until a powder forms. In a small bowl combine 1 Tbsp. porcini powder and 1 Tbsp. chili powder. Before trussing, rub 2 Tbsp. of the mixture all over chicken skin and sprinkle in chicken cavity. Finish pan juices with 1 tsp. spice mixture and store remaining spice mixture. Nutrition analysis per serving: 239 calories, 33 g protein, 8 g carbohydrate, 92 mg cholesterol, 8 g total fat (2 g sat. fat), 2 g fiber, 3 g total sugar, 212% Vitamin A, 6% Vitamin C, 356 mg sodium, 4% calcium, 10% iron Roasted Garlic Butter: Cut off top half of garlic bulb, leaving bulb whole; remove any loose outer layers. Place in a custard cup; drizzle with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Wrap with foil. Roast in a 400ºF oven 25 minutes or until soft. Cool. Squeeze out garlic cloves; mash into 1/4 cup softened butter. Before trussing, gently rub 2 Tbsp. under chicken skin. Chill remaining butter. Nutrition analysis per serving; 268 calories, 33 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 12 g total fat (5 g sat. fat), 102 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 3 g total sugar, 207% Vitamin A, 6% Vitamin C, 334 mg sodium, 3% calcium, 8% iron Rate it Print Nutrition Facts (per serving) 234 Calories 8g Fat 7g Carbs 33g Protein Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label Nutrition Facts Servings Per Recipe 6 Calories 234 % Daily Value * Total Fat 8g 10% Saturated Fat 2g 10% Cholesterol 92mg 31% Sodium 334mg 15% Total Carbohydrate 7g 3% Total Sugars 3g Protein 33g Vitamin C 3.6mg 18% Calcium 33mg 3% Iron 1.4mg 8% Potassium 453mg 10% Folate, total 17.3mcg Vitamin B-12 0.3mcg Vitamin B-6 0.5mg *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.