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.
Beautifully roasted chicken! I can never manage to tuck the wings behind the back so I use a string and tie them to the body of the chicken — not very professional but keeps them from burning. The leftover carcass is perfect for making stock.
Thanks, Mila!
Thanks for the recipe. Do you bake the chicken and veggies with or without a lid?
Hi, Janice! You roast the chicken and veggies uncovered so that they can get nice and crispy in the oven. If the chicken starts to get too dark before it’s cooked through, you can tent it loosely with foil (but you probably won’t need to do so). Enjoy!
Great idea for stpck!
good chicken dinner, but I add several more vegetables to make it a one dish meal. Baby portabellos halfway thru cook time. Baby brussel sprouts at beginning, and red peppers with the mushrooms.
Sounds delicious, Joe!
Thank you for this simple yet flavorful recipe! It was so delicious and looked really good, too! I used baby red potatoes and forgot to stuff garlic inside the cavity, but threw it into the veggies while it was roasting and it still tasted amazing.
Perfect! So glad that it worked and you enjoyed it, Michelle! 🙂
I retired and moved in with my son who is active duty navy and sort of became a house dad. Never roasted a chicken in my life, this turned out so good he accused me of ordering it from somewhere else. Lol I’ll be looking to you for more help. Thank you.
Awesome! I love that! So glad that you could both enjoy it, Kelly! 🙂
Wonderful! Thank your son for his service. Give inspired me to try this recipe now. I think it will be absolutely delicious! Very similar to a recipe I used before but without as much butter That recipe was dry.
I hope that you give it a shot, Anita! 🙂
Thank you so much did this delicious, juicy, full of flavor and easy to follow recipe. I’m new to cooking and never roasted a chicken or veggies before. I was always hesitant about cooking a whole chicken, seemed overwhelming to me. For my first time, this came out delicious my husband couldn’t believe I made it. I’ll be making this again!
Yay! That’s so exciting, Nel! I’m glad that you and your husband both enjoyed it! 🙂
Made it for dinner tonight and I will definitely be adding this to my winter cooking meal planning. Awesome.
That’s great, Lourace! Thank you!
Exceptional! Followed another poster’s advice to add pepper & mushrooms halfway through. Roasted a bit longer until meat began falling off the bone. Very tasty recipe.
Yay! Thanks, Ariel!
Blair, I love your roasting pan! Is it metal or ceramic? I’ll be making your recipe for dinner tomorrow night. It’s the one I’ve been looking for thank you !
Hi, Kate! Thank you! 🙂 It’s an enamelware pan made by Crow Canyon (this model is called the Lasagna Pan). I love it! It’s lightweight, easy to clean, and it’s versatile. I use it for casseroles all of the time as well. 🙂 I couldn’t find this exact pan on Amazon, but here’s a link to the brand’s website so that you can find it in a store or online: https://crowcanyonhome.com/product/lasagna-pan/
Thank you for the information on the pan. My husband loves crispy chicken & I love a whole meal in a recipe.
Perfect! I hope that you enjoy this one, Nancy!
the meat was falling off the bone, tender and juicy. I have enough broth from the bottom of the pan to start a batch of chichen soup with the meat from the back and wings. I used a 13 x9 pyrex pan – Perfect
Thanks, Nancy! I’m so glad that you loved it, too! 🙂
This recipe sounds so good. I’m always looking for something new. Took out a whole chicken for dinner and didnt know what to do with it! I’m going to try this tonight!
Awesome! I hope that you enjoyed the meal, Bobbi!
Looks scrumptious Do you baste the chicken at all during roasting !
Hi, Deborah! No, I don’t baste the chicken while it cooks. You could if you want (it won’t hurt anything), but I never do. 🙂
Worked out perfectly! Thanks for the easy recipe and great instructions. My family loved it!
Thank you, Lori!
This recipe was simple enough. Awesome taste. Thank you.
Thanks, Elexis!
The taste was wonderful. Mine didn’t get crispy and a few of the potatoes and carrots weren’t quite done enough. I will definitely make it again.
Really liked this recipe! Husband said this is so good he want me to make for a dinner.party. thank you.
Awesome! Thanks, Sue!
Nice simple recipe though I have two comments.
First, you do NOT need to rinse chicken – all this does is potentially spread unwanted bacteria onto kitchen surfaces. . Additionally rinsing does absolutely nothing to kill bacteria (the temperature of the oven will do that) so you’re wasting your time and also making the skin wetter than it needs to be. I know this because I worked in a professional kitchen for a couple of years and the head chef would have fired me for rinsing the chickens!
Second thing, I like to cut a few brown onions up into really big, chunky slices (not cubes) and lay the chicken on top of the onions – this allows the chicken to more evenly underneath and the bonus is you also end up with scrummiest ever roast onions when you come to eat!
Great tips, Mike! Thank you!
can you tell me whee you got this pan, or the brand. I think the pan used makes a difference in the cooking, and this one is great
thanks
ri
Hi, Rina! The roasting pan is an enamelware pan made by Crow Canyon. There are various online sites that sell this brand, including Amazon! 🙂
Do you really need to toss the vegetables in a plastic bag? Seems like a waste of resources.
I think it is incredibly irresponsible you are encouraging anyone to use a Ziploc bag for these vegetables. You have a large audience, and such lovely recipes – please use your platform well.
Honestly, a bowl used for oiling up some veggies takes all of 30 seconds to wash out with hot soapy water. I’m not trying to suggest you need to go full eco-warrior, but please take some thought towards not promoting such wasteful behavior.
PS, the chicken is lovely 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for your feedback, Lisa. I’m glad that you like the chicken, and definitely no need to use the bag if you prefer a bowl. 🙂
Obviously anyone can use a bowl if they prefer, but that wasn’t exactly my point. What I’m trying to get across is that you are using your platform to encourage unnecessary waste. Why is it still socially acceptable to promote such needless single-use plastic in this manner while encouraging such lazy habits? Please be a part of the solution and not add to the world’s out of control trash problem. You can be better, you can promote others to be better with just a little forethought and common sense.
Why don’t you mind your own business. Just because she is posting her ideas online for followers to see does not mean she has an obligation to promote or not promote using anything. If you do not like the way she does things go somewhere else. This chicken recipe turned out awesome and I had to use two plastic bags because I had so many vegetables!
Thanks so much, Mel! 🙂
This is everyone’s business. This is the exact kind of mindset that is the reason our single use items culture has gotten so out of control. Two bags because you have so many veggies?? Would common sense not dictate to use one, empty it, and use it again? It is so important to keep each other present and responsible when making these kinds of choices. Why do you get to be someone who doesn’t pull their weight? Not exactly asking for the sun, just, mindfulness. And a decision to not be a lazy consumer. Because all it is is laziness. Obviously you are a healthy, intelligent adult, and while not everyone has the means to live the greenest life- ithe should be expected we all try and do a little better. If everyone who reads this recipe doesn’t use a bag, that’s a massive Win!
I understand being shown change tends to make people hostile, just trying to encourage someone who has influence to use their brain and their heart together when making choices. Small steps are not hard.
Very good recipe, but I completely agree about the wastefulness of using plastic bags. I used my trusty glass bowl which worked great and is easy to wash.
Lisa – just because you use ziploc bags does not mean you are using single use plastic. We reuse our ziploc bags many times by washing them out in hot soapy water, rinse well, and then drain until dry.
Blair, we are in England and have been self isolating since March due to COVID-19. We have an elderly, mobility challenged, step father who lives alone. We make him meals for his freezer and bring food to eat with him twice a week so he has some company. My husband wanted to do a one pan dinner with chicken thighs and I wanted to do him roast chicken. I found your recipe and agreed to compromise. It worked out beautifully. I cooked it for an hour here and then transported to his house and cooked it a final 30 minutes. It came out so juicy and tender. He couldn’t rave about it enough! It was printed and marked “KEEPER “. THANK YOU!
Thanks, Leslie! I’m so glad that the recipe was a success and that you could share it with your step father, too. Happy holidays!
I agree with Leslie. I reuse my Ziplocs so many times that a box of them can last for a year. They are so easy to wash.
An even better idea would be to skip the bag *and* an extra bowl by simply tossing the veggies in the pan that you’re going to cook everything in!
Lisa you catch more bees with honey than vinegar. I’m all for campaigning for saving the world! However, It isn’t your place to publicly scold her for not following along with your personal belief. The way you went about it was unnecessary. Maybe next time you could privately email her and reword your suggestions with a little tact and kindness. And remember, you catch more bees with honey than vinegar- so after reading your comments, people are less likely to use a bowl because the tone and those words you used bring on feelings of spite and make the reader want to come to the rescue of the one being picked on… You have done more damage than good here, and I want to help you learn how to rally others for a good cause. This is not the way to do it. Positivity and kindness will win Everytime. Good luck in your future endeavors of saving our beautiful Earth. I just hope you won’t continue to bully others for not sharing your same intensity for your beliefs. I’m sure that wasn’t your intention.
Ellen, if you reread Lisa’s post she was being kind and tactful, just straightforward. Telling someone that you think their action is irresponsible is not bullying, that’s just giving your honest opinions, openly. After all, the comments are a place to share results and opinions about the recipe, including opinions about how it is written.
I agree about positivity and kindness being a great way to approach people. In this case the tone was not necessarily aggressive. There were no insults. Just a passionate plea to not promote plastic use!
Passion does not equal rudeness.
And yes, the default should be bowl usage…Thank goodness for dishwashers!
Ellen, if you reread Lisa’s post she was being kind and tactful, just straightforward. Telling someone that you think their action is irresponsible is not bullying, that’s just giving your honest opinions, openly. After all, the comments are a place to share results and opinions about the recipe, including opinions about how it is written.
I agree about positivity and kindness being a great way to approach people. In this case the tone was not necessarily aggressive. There were no insults (unless calling and action lazy is insulting, but if you call it convenient you’re just sugar-coating what is lazy)
It’s just a passionate plea to not promote plastic use!
Passion does not equal rudeness.
And yes, the default should be bowl usage…Thank goodness for dishwashers!
Lisa,
You do know that a ziplock bag can be washed as well, right? I have been doing that for years. Some things are just more easily or neatly done with that method than with a bowl.
And the recipe sounds awesome. I have my leg in a cast right now but when I’m back to full speed plan to make this
Learned washing ziplock bags from my Step Mom Ruby, only time I do not reuse a bag is when it has stored raw meat, otherwise I have continued the tradition of reuse. I also have parchment paper and paper snack bags. Common since and conservation is used in everyones kitchen in one form or another.
My dinner is in the oven and washing my ziplock bag for reuse now.
Love, Kindness and Respect is the law of this home and kitchen, along with there is no excuse for bad behavior.
Smiling Blessings to all the cooks in the kitchen.
Can you do this same recipe with chicken pieces rather than a whole chicken (that’s just what I have on hand) if so, would I need to change anything like temp or time?
Hi, Ella! You probably could use the pieces and just lay them over the ingredients (instead of stuffing the whole chicken for flavor). The cooking time will be much shorter for chicken pieces — about 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees (depending on the size of your pieces). Enjoy!