Herb-Roasted Chicken

What I love about this chicken is how quick and easy it is to prepare and how it always comes out incredibly moist and flavorful. This recipe originally comes from Barbara Kafka’s “Roasting” book. She calls for a 5-6 pound chicken but you could easily use a 4-5 pound bird. I suggest getting the largest bird you can since leftovers are yummy (if there are any). I recently made a 4-pound bird and it was enough for one meal for my husband and me and leftovers for two sandwiches.

When stuffing the bird, I put a few pieces of the orange (or as many will fit) and the garlic in first. For the herbs I grab whatever is in my garden: rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, and oregano (any of these) and stuff a large handful into the cavity of the chicken. You can squeeze the juice from any leftover orange to use for the au jus (sauce) at the end.

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Herb-Roasted Chicken

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Main Dish

Keyword Main Dish

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 4-5 lb. Whole chicken
• 1 cup fresh herbs thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, oregano
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine can use more stock if you prefer to leave out
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 small orange quartered (lemon or lime will also work)
• 2-3 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
• 1/2 cup orange juice

Instructions

• Place rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 450-degrees F.
• Use a roasting pan that the chicken just fits in. If the pan is too large, the juices will evaporate too fast. Place a small raised rack in the roasting pan. If you don't have a small rack, you can cut up a large onion into thick slices and place them on the bottom of the pan. This will keep the chicken from sitting in the liquid.
• Remove any visible fat. Salt and pepper the inside of the cavity and add the orange sections, garlic and herbs. Rub the olive oil on the outside of the chicken and season with salt and pepper.
  
• Place the chicken on a rack and put in a roasting pan, breast side up. Add the chicken stock and wine to pan. Put in oven legs first and roast for 40 minutes. Then turn chicken so legs point out and roast another 40 minutes or until the juices in the thigh run clear when poked with a knife.
• Place chicken on a platter and lightly cover with foil to keep warm. Add orange juice to drippings in pan and place on high burner to reduce slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Skim off any fat and serve with chicken. Enjoy!