I'm so excited to share my favorite lemon basil roasted chicken recipe with you. This one is sure to be a hit with your family! It is bursting with the irresistible flavors of lemon, basil, and garlic and the skin is perfectly crispy.
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I Finally Got a Great Roasted Chicken Recipe!
For whatever reason, I just couldn't get roasted chicken right until I got this recipe! Twelve years went by without a roasted chicken in our home, and then I received this recipe in the mail from Chef Traci Des Jardins of San Francisco as a contribution to the cookbook I was writing.
I prepared it and I was thrilled with the outcome! I've made this recipe 100 times since then!
Mise-En-Plas
The French term, mise en plas, loosely means lining up all of your ingredients and equipment before you begin to cook.
This recipe has a lot of spices in it and it would be best to line them all up at the begining.
How to Prepare a Roasted Chicken
For this recipe, you are stuffing basil and garlic under the skin of the chicken breast. There is a thin membrane attaching the skin to the meat. Lift the skin at the top of the breast and gently run your fingers between the breast meat and the skin to make a pocket.
You can then slide the basil and garlic into the pocket and evenly distribute them. Next, rub the chicken down with Dijon mustard and scatter the dry herbs over the whole chicken.
Salt and pepper the chicken, inside and out, and place a lemon inside the cavity.
After roasting, let it rest for 10 minutes to allow the juices to accumulate and cut into serving pieces.
About the Dijon Mustard
Many people are sensitive to wine vinegar, which is an ingredient in Dijon mustard. Try Whole Foods 365 Organic Dijon Mustard which is made with apple cider vinegar
What is Trussing a Chicken?
To truss a chicken, you tie a string around the bird, starting under the neck and wrapping it around the legs, bringing it back to the front, and tying the legs together. It might sound daunting, but it's effortless.
Jacques Pepin shows you how to truss a chicken in this video. When you secure the meat with a long piece of twine, the whole chicken remains juicy throughout roasting.
What Type of Roasting Pan Should I Use?
Shown below is a 16" roasting pan with a rack insert that you can pick up at any home store. The rack lifts up the chicken so it's not sitting in the drippings and the skin crisps on all sides.
How To Store Leftovers
Store your Lemon Basil Roasted Chicken leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days. You can use the meat to make chicken salad, top a salad, or you can eat it cold right out of the fridge.
Need a Great Side Dish?
Try making some Cauliflower Rice while the chicken is roasting. You can season the finished dish with fresh basil and lemon wedges. Other great options include the following:
- Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic
- Lemon Asparagus Rice
- Roasted Broccoli with Garlic
- Roasted Asparagus
- Buckwheat with Onions
Summary
Moist and delicious Lemon Basil Roasted Chicken has garlic and basil under the skin and it's stuffed with lemons. It is rubbed down with Dijon mustard and spices are scattered over the whole chicken. It comes out of the oven juicy and golden brown every time--it's perfect!
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my Seared Mahimahi with Basil Butter. The recipe takes 15 minutes from start to finish and its made with unprocessed ingredients and delicious!
No, there is no need to cover a chicken while it roasts. The skin will get super-crispy without a cover on it.
A 3 to 5-pound chicken will roast in under an hour.
"📖 Recipe"
Best Ever Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 5 pound free-range chicken
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil stems removed
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit with oven rack set in the center of the oven.
- Loosen the skin of the chicken by running your fingers under the skin of the breasts.
- Stuff the basil leaves and garlic under the skin, trying to distribute evenly.
- Combine all of the dried herbs. Rub Dijon mustard over the entire bird, and then scatter the herbs over the entire skin of the chicken.
- Season the inside of the cavity and the skin generously with salt and pepper. Finish by poking holes in the lemon with a fork and placing it in the cavity. Truss chicken or tie its legs together with twine.
- Place the chicken, breast side up in a roasting pan and cook one hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- When the chicken is done, all of the juices coming from the cavity should be clear. Remove the lemon from the cavity, cut it in half, and squeeze the juice over the chicken. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
