Lemon Garlic Roasted Whole Chicken Recipe

Every time my local grocery store or butcher shop put whole chickens on sale…I stock up and buy a few. I love using them in our family weekend meals when I have more time to spend in the kitchen. With that said, I don’t like complicated recipes with a gazillion prep steps either.

A few weeks ago I made my sister’s Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken Recipe and thought I would share the recipe with all of you today. It only takes a few minutes of prep time and then about 2 hours of baking time with the oven set at 350 degrees F. Once done…a delicious chicken that is very moist and flavorful. Our family loves it!

Lemon Garlic Roasted Whole Chicken Recipe

Lemon Garlic Roasted Whole Chicken Recipe
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Author: Two Classy Chics
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Easy recipe great for weekend family meals.
Ingredients
  • 1 whole roasting chicken
  • 3 fresh lemons
  • dash of salt
  • dash of ground black pepper
  • dash of red pepper flakes
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon butter, melted
Instructions
  1. Remove the giblets from the bird. Rinse the chicken inside and out with cool running water; set aside. Juice the three lemons placing the lemon juice into a glass measuring cup. Cut the lemon rinds into quarters; set aside. Add the dash of salt, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, teaspoon of poultry seasoning, garlic powder and butter into the measuring cup with the lemon juice; stir to combine. Pour a little of your lemon juice seasoning mixture into the cavity of the bird. Place the lemon rinds into the bird and then pour the remaining lemon juice mixture over the top of the bird while it sits in a large roasting pan.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover roasting pan with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until your popup timer comes up. During the last 10 minutes of baking time, remove the lid/foil so that the chicken skin gets nice and brown. Remove from oven, carve and serve immediately with your favorite sides.

* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!

shellysig100x60

Comments

  1. thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe!

  2. That looks delicious! And huge–that is one big chicken. I roast whole chicken quite often, and I’ll keep this in mind the next time I see a good sale on lemons. I adore lemons, but here in Downeast Maine, they’re pretty expensive, so I don’t use them nearly as much as I’d like to. Thanks for the recipe.

  3. Allison Downes says

    I love making whole chicken! I have never really used lemon and garlic on it before. This looks great. I will try it out next time I roast a chicken. Thank for sharing

  4. This is why my family loves this recipe because it will give you a MOIST chicken. We have also used limes when I’ve had those on hand too. Equally as good.

  5. This looks delicious, stuffing the cavity with lemon is a great idea. I can’t wait to try this, using oranges in place of lemons might be a nice thing to try as well. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

  6. Yummy. I made something similar to this to family I am staying with in Europe. They were surprised I put lemon with chicken.

  7. Okay this looks amazing and I love that there is minimal prep time. We gotta try this one and soon perfect for the Winter months.

  8. Eli@coachdaddy says

    That looks ridiculously delicious. I bet even I could make it. Sounds like the perfect thing for Christmas break.

  9. Tamra Phelps says

    That does look great. I need to pin this one! It looks really moist & tender! No dry chicken here, lol.

  10. You chicken looks fabulous! I keep seeing recipes with lemon and garlic. Is the chicken really lemon-y? I’m not sure I would like that.

  11. This looks like a perfect recipe for a winter dinner. Looks yummy and delicious. It would be a nice dinner for company.

  12. Sometimes roasting a whole chicken gets very dry. We like our meat very moist so by stuffing those lemons inside the chicken…it really makes it moist & juicy. I like to use the pan drippings to make a good homemade gravy.

  13. A lot of people overlook the lemon’s help with general digestion. It really flavors the chicken so simply, along with garlic, which I think I use daily too. I go for the simple recipes too and usually they are healthier.

  14. Julie Wood says

    I love making Roasted chicken in the oven. It is so good, and this recipe looks like a good one for me to try! Thanks for sharing. Your chicken looks delicious!

  15. Easy and yummy. I know I’d like the lemon flavor in the chicken.

  16. This looks deliciuos. We have roasted chicken a lot ssince it is always enjoyed and always makes more than one meal.

  17. Carlos Alvarez says

    Wow Shelly,

    Now that’s my type of chicken 🙂

    Here I thought I was safe after the Thanksgiving but this brings back the cravings.