Butter, lemon, garlic, and herbs flavor this juicy, golden brown roast chicken and vegetables, which look impressive but only require 15 minutes of prep!
Table of Contents
If you love a whole chicken dinner, be sure to try this cider Dijon roasted chicken and this Crock Pot whole chicken, too!
Made it for dinner tonight and I will definitely be adding this to my winter cooking meal planning. Awesome.
– Lourace
How to Roast Chicken and Vegetables | 1-Minute Video
A Few Notes Before You Get Started
- Bring the chicken to room temperature for about 30 minutes before roasting in order to ensure even cooking.
- Cut the carrots and potatoes into fairly small, bite-size pieces so that they’re sure to be tender by the time the chicken is done. Larger chunks might not cook through, otherwise.
- For the crispiest skin, make sure that your chicken is very dry before roasting.
- Truss the chicken. This only takes a minute or two, but tying together the chicken legs with twine and tucking the wings underneath helps the chicken cook evenly.
- Season liberally. Don’t be shy with the salt. This is a big piece of meat, so you want to add plenty of flavor by using enough seasoning.
- Cooking time will vary depending on the total weight of your chicken. Here’s a good rule of thumb: Roast whole (thawed) chickens at 350°F for 20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 15 minutes. For example, if you’re using a 4-lb. chicken here, you would roast it for about 95 minutes. To be sure that it’s cooked through, I always suggest using a meat thermometer.
How to Roast Chicken and Vegetables
This simple roast chicken and vegetables and potatoes come together easily, and tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen. It’s perfect for dinner tonight!
- Remove the giblets, and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Season the inside of the chicken cavity, and then stuff the inside of the bird with lemon, celery, half of the herbs, and the whole garlic cloves.
- Truss the chicken by tying together the legs and tucking the wings underneath.
- Place the chicken (breast-side up) in a large roasting pan. You know that it’s breast-side up when the tips of the drumsticks are pointing UP and the chicken looks like the shape of a heart. It’s fine to place the chicken on a rack if you have one in your roasting pan, but that’s certainly not necessary. You can also line your pan with aluminum foil for easy cleanup, if you like.
- Brush the skin with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. The butter on the outside of the chicken flavors the skin and helps to make sure that the exterior is perfectly crispy and golden brown.
- Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in a large Ziploc bag or bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
- Arrange the vegetables in the roasting pan around the chicken, along with the remaining herbs. That’s it! Your chicken is ready for the oven! For this recipe, you’ll roast the chicken uncovered the entire time. This allows the skin to get incredibly crispy in the oven, turning that beautiful golden brown color. If you are roasting a larger chicken that requires a longer cooking time, you may need to cover the bird loosely with foil towards the end to prevent excessive browning.
- Roast the chicken in a 350°F oven until cooked through. A whole chicken is ready when an instant-read thermometer inserted between a leg and thigh (not touching the bone) reads at least 170-175°F and the juices run clear. Note: the temperature of the meat will continue to rise slightly when you pull it out of the oven.
- For the juiciest meat and to retain moisture, allow the chicken to rest for at least 10-15 minutes before carving.
Serving Suggestions
An easy oven roasted chicken makes a perfect one-dish Sunday supper. Pair the juicy meat, veggies, and potatoes with these easy pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, Aunt Bee’s 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits, old-fashioned applesauce, baked apple slices, potato pancakes, mac and cheese, a house salad with candied pecans, or a skillet of sour cream cornbread.
You can even switch it up and serve this roast chicken for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, rather than a turkey. Pair it with the classic sides like stuffing, sweet potato casserole, Southern cornbread dressing, and green bean casserole for a special holiday meal.
Storage Tips
- How to Store: Leftover chicken will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Be aware, however, that the skin will not be as crispy when thawed.
- How to Reheat: Allow the chicken to come to room temperature on the counter for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange chicken on a foil-lined sheet pan or roasting pan and place (uncovered) in the oven until the skin is crisp and the chicken is warmed through. Be careful not to leave the chicken in the oven for too long or it will dry out.
- How to Use Leftover Roast Chicken: Shred the leftovers and use the cooked chicken in casseroles (like chicken spaghetti, chicken noodle casserole or chicken and stuffing casserole), in soups (like chicken tortilla soup or Brunswick stew), in stuffed potatoes, in chicken salad, in chicken enchiladas, for chicken pot pie, or on top of Caesar salad. Use the leftover carcass to make chicken stock or chicken broth. So many delicious options!
Worked out perfectly! Thanks for the easy recipe and great instructions. My family loved it!
– Lori
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Watch How to Make It
Roast Chicken with Vegetables
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 35 minutes
Resting Time 10 minutes
Total: 1 hour 50 minutes
An easy dinner that every home cook should have!
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (about 4 – 4 ½ lbs.), patted very dry; giblets removed
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 1 stalk celery, quartered
- 1 bunch fresh thyme (about 10 sprigs)
- 1 bunch fresh rosemary (about 10 sprigs)
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled but not chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted (I use salted butter, but unsalted is also fine)
- 6-8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered (or cut into bite-size pieces)
- 6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (bite-size so that they're sure to cook through)
- 1 Vidalia onion, quartered
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kitchen twine, for tying
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Season chicken cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff chicken cavity with lemon chunks, celery, half of the thyme sprigs, half of the rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves. It's fine if you can't fit all of these ingredients into your chicken. Just stuff as much in there as you can! Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wings underneath the bird. Place chicken (breast-side up) in a large roasting pan.
- Drizzle or brush melted butter over the outside of the chicken. Season liberally all over with salt and pepper.
- Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in a bowl or large Ziploc bag. Add olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Place the vegetables in the roasting pan around the chicken.
- Tuck the remaining sprigs of thyme and rosemary in the pan with the vegetables.
- Roast the chicken and vegetables in the oven for about 95-100 minutes, or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 170°F when a thermometer is inserted into between a leg and thigh (not touching the bone). Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Bring the chicken to room temperature for about 30 minutes before roasting in order to ensure even cooking.
- For the crispiest skin, make sure that your chicken is very dry before roasting.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4 of the chicken and vegetablesCalories: 325kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 8gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 146mgPotassium: 1444mgFiber: 9gSugar: 8g
Roasted Chicken and Vegetables Recipe Variations
- Use different aromatics to flavor the meat. For instance, add apples to the pan, or switch up the herbs by using basil, oregano, chives, or parsley.
- Pick a larger whole chicken to feed a bigger family. You’ll need to increase the total baking time, but otherwise the process is the same.
- Instead of the Yukon gold potatoes use red potatoes.
- The butter on the outside helps to make sure that the exterior is perfectly crispy and golden brown, and it also adds great flavor. If you prefer, you can brush the chicken with olive oil instead.
- Strain the pan drippings and use the juices to make a gravy for serving.
More Roast Chicken Recipes to Try
Dutch Oven Roast Chicken
2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Rosemary Oven Roasted Chicken
2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Whole Roasted Chicken {Super Crispy Skin!}
1 day d 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
This recipe was originally published in September, 2018. It was updated in October, 2024.
I am going to bake this. Wondering if you have a picture showing how you put this on the table for serving.
Hi, Anne! I don’t have a photo, but I usually carve the chicken on a cutting board (just like you would do with a turkey for Thanksgiving). Then I serve the individual chicken pieces on each plate, depending on what folks prefer. For instance, I usually put a chicken breast on my plate, a couple of thighs on my husband’s plate, etc. Our preference is to leave the crispy skin on the chicken for serving, but you can certainly pull the skin off if that’s your family’s preference. Hope that helps!
Great recipe! I’m a newbie in the kitchen & have baked this chicken twice. Both successfully. Thank you Blair.
That’s so good to hear, Tim! Thanks for taking the time to leave me a note!
I absolutely enjoyed this recipe! I’m starting to actually fall in love with cooking. In my college years, I was running around crazy making food as fast as possible but now, there’s some real enjoyment and fulfillment from taking my time. I haven’t tried to crisp the skin with butter yet. I’ve tried pulling the skin away from the bird and then stuffing with butter – but the results aren’t consistent…sometimes it makes the skin soggy instead of crisp. I can’t wait to try your technique.
I’ve used this recipe before when I’m in a rush –
https://www.thenevertreadfarmstead.com/never-tread-farmstead-blog/instant-pot-chicken-recipe-runwyld
The chicken comes out good and tastes delicious —- I have to say though, it still doesn’t beat the taste of cooked chicken from the oven!
HI.
I’m wondering how much water is needed to ensure the bird is not dry?
I would like to use the stock for gravy or to make a small dish of dressing.
Thanks in your photos look beautiful.
Hi, Rosha! I don’t use any liquid and the bird is definitely not dry (unless you overcook the chicken, in which case it will be dry no matter how much liquid is there). 🙂
I’m sure that you can add some liquid to the dish — just know that it will probably prevent your vegetables from becoming crispy, so you might not want to eat them.
My 5 stars goes for a delicious economy roasting. I have this dish a lot for which many thanks. I also am a single man and rely on enough left overs for lunches at work. This is so simple and delicious, and many things can be made from the leftovers. Thank you….a very practical dish.
Thanks, Jonathan!
Here in April 2020, and I have this chicken in the oven now! I’m making this for the second time, first time I made it was this past Easter Sunday! We have leftovers for chicken wraps for lunches. It was soooooo delicious, so juicy, even the next day! I agree with a previous commenter, I also had never roasted a whole chicken before. I always thought it would be too difficult and time consuming… I actually found it INCREDIBLY easy, and I love how it didn’t use so many dishes. Thank you for the easy recipe! This one is going in my arsenal for forever use.
Hi, Stephanie! It makes me so happy to hear that! You can’t beat the smell of chicken roasting in the oven, either. So cozy! Enjoy the dinner. 🙂
Such an easy crowd pleaser! Turned out so good!!!
Thanks, Melissa!
Absolutely delicious!! Mom and Dad are with us for lockdown and I’m making this a second time now because of their request! The chicken was juicy, tender and a tummy. Veggies were crisp and thoroughly cooked. I served it with rice and even made a gravy from the bits in the roasting pan. Just added 350 ml chicken stock and thickened it with a bit of cornstarch. There were no leftovers 🙂
Not a tummy! Yummy!
Thank you for your note, Lynette! I love the idea of making the gravy, too. I’ll have to remember that next time!
Made this today & very happy with recipe. I didn’t have any kitchen twine but will remember to buy some for next time. Very delicious!
This recipe makes a tasty bird! It should be noted that a disposable roasting pan may not throughly cook the veggies. I prepared this twice in those disposable metal roasting pans and once in a glassware roasting dish and the veggies were not evenly cooked, came out good in the glass.
Thanks, Christopher!
I would suggest cutting you vegetables smaller and uniformed so they cook evenly
What is the name an size of roasting pan? Also, where can I purchase this exactly pan from?
Thanks
Hi, Elmer! I love that roasting pan! It’s made by Smithey Ironware, and it’s called the carbon steel oval roaster. It’s 13.5 inches long by 9.5 inches wide. I have the round one as well — both great! Here’s the link: https://smithey.com/products/carbon-steel-oval-roaster
Chicken is great, but the vegetables are a little bland in my opinion. I ended putting them back in after removing the chicken for about 10 minutes under the broiler to really roast and char them up nicely.