The trick to this tender, succulent roast chicken is the overnight brining. We usually roast chickens breast side down to ensure tender breast meat.
But with the overnight brining in a roasted garlic and lemon juice marinade, the breast meat was perfectly moist, even cooked breast up. The garlic flavor is subtle, not strong or overwhelming, due to roasting the garlic first.
Roasted Garlic Chicken Recipe
PrintIngredients
- 1/2 cup roasted garlic cloves
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 (3-4 pound) whole roasting chicken
Method
1 Make the brine: Prepare the brine by combining garlic, water, salt, pepper and olive oil in a blender. Squeeze the juice from the lemon wedges into the brine, blend. Stir in the bay leaves.
2 Brine the chicken overnight: Place chicken in a large, resealable plastic bag, or in a large non-reactive bowl. Pour the brine all over the chicken in the bag, or in the bowl. Add the (already squeezed) lemon wedges.
Squeeze out all the air from the bag and seal, or place plastic wrap over the chicken in the bowl. Refrigerate overnight - 12 to 24 hours.
3 Roast the chicken: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove the chicken from the brine. Pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the chicken.
Place the chicken on a rack, in a roasting pan, breast side up. Roast for about an hour, until the juices run clear from the thigh when pierced with a fork. (Thigh meat should have an internal temperature of 165°F when tested with a meat thermometer.)
Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
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What do you do with the garlic?
It was so juicy & delicious! I think the best I have ever eaten! I will definitely share this one.
xxxxxyyyyy
Amazing chicken recipe. I made two oven stuffers marinated 24 hours then baked in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes then finished in a 275 degree oven for 5 hours. there was so much juice and the resulting gravy was fabulous even without any additional seasonings. My new favorite chicken recipe!!!
Should i rub the chicken with butter or oil?
I have some chicken quarters that I need to get used and was wondering if I can use this recipe for them or is it going to change the cooking time and temp? I have never roasted a chicken before and I am looking forward to trying this.
You can definitely use this recipe with your chicken quarters. You may need to cook them in less time, start checking their temperature at 40 minutes. ~Elise