Herb Butter Roast Chicken
A delicious way to turn your Sunday roast chook into a restaurant level dinner! With homemade herb butter under the skin of your chook, you will end up with the perfect combo of flavour, tenderness and crispy skin.
Ingredients
Herb butter:
- 1 tsp each of finely chopped sage, rosemary and thyme (you can sub for other herbs you may have on hand like parsley or tarragon)
- 1 whole pack of butter (softened on the bench so it’s malleable but not melted)
- 1 clove of garlic - minced (optional)
- Lemon
- 1 whole free range chicken (ours was 1.6kg)
- 2 large brown onions
- Several cloves of garlic (6 ish or whatever you have on hand)
- Salt flakes
Method
- Start by preparing your herb butter - if you have time, it’s a good idea to do this the day before or at least a few hours ahead so the flavours can infuse. (If you’re pressed for time, it will still be delicious if you prep the butter just before cooking the chicken.)
- Mix all butter ingredients together to combine - if you need to, feel free to use your hands to get everything really mixed in. Ideally at this point, wrap the butter up and let it infuse for a day in the fridge before using.
- When you’re ready to cook, take the butter out to soften it enough that you can spread it easily (but not so soft it’s melted, so let it soften on the bench and don’t put it in the microwave!). It’s a good idea to take the chicken out at the same time, at least an hour before cooking, so it can lose some chill and cook more evenly.
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Get your hand under the skin of the chicken and carefully lift it up from the flesh, so there’s enough space to spread the butter between the skin and the flesh - be careful not to tear it!
- Take a knife and spread the herb butter as far and as evenly as you can all over the breast of the chicken (under the skin) - you can use your hands if you wish but a butter knife tends to be easier.
- Once the breast is evenly covered, salt the skin of your chicken thoroughly. Lay down a bed of chopped brown onions and whole garlic cloves in an oven tray, then add your chicken on top.
- Bake at 200C for 1 hour (for a 1.6kg bird), basting the skin with butter/drippings halfway through. Make sure the oven is fully preheated before you put it in if you want crispy skin! Rest (loosely covered in foil) for at least 15 mins before serving.
