This is one of those uncommon recipes where the ingredient list and name are identical. The tasty, juicy, and wonderful results of this roast chicken will wow you.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 55 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (3 1/2) pound whole chicken at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt, or as needed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ⅓ cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon water, or as needed (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into four pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
- Dry the outside of chicken with paper towels. Tuck the wing tips underneath the chicken and place into a large oven-safe skillet. Use scissors to snip off the tail, if desired.
- Generously sprinkle kosher salt into the cavity and over the back and sides of chicken. Tie chicken legs together with kitchen twine. Sprinkle salt generously over the breasts, coating them thoroughly. Wipe excess salt out of skillet with paper towels.
- Bake chicken in the preheated oven until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into a thigh, not touching bone, reads 160 degrees C (70 degrees C), 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from skillet to a serving platter and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.
- Blot about 90 percent of the chicken fat from the skillet with a paper towel held with tongs, leaving the browned bits of food in the skillet. Place skillet over medium-high heat and add thyme leaves. Cook and stir until thyme is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour lemon juice, chicken broth, and water into skillet, stirring until the browned bits dissolve and the sauce has reduced by about half, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low, add cold butter, and stir until butter has begun to melt. Add any accumulated juices from the chicken to sauce and continue to stir until butter is incorporated and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken to serve.
- I’m totally guessing at measurements here, since you kind of just splash stuff in. Use the force!
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 554 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 185 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 54 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 4604 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 36 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Super easy and by far the best tasting whole chicken I’ve ever made. Even better than some of the best rotisserie chickens I’ve had
First off you HAVE to use kosher salt. It’s about 1/3 less total volume than regular table salt. If you do use table be sure to reduce the amount, but just use kosher. Shockingly good recipe. I usually brine for a day, it’s necessary for flavor, but this method may be better an way less waiting an dirty dishes. Course we don’t eat the skin ever. If you like skin I doubt this will suit you, way too salty skin probably. Dunno, don’t eat it anyways. Thanks for knocking off about an hour labor and 3 or 4 more dirty dishes. This is my go to from now on. Making it again tonight
Easy recipe and delicious too!! Have made it many times.
So when Chef John said to be generous with the kosher salt, I was super generous. The skin was golden and crisp, but super salty. I recommend sticking with the 3 tbs and not the cup and a half I used. But my chicken was not completely lost. I was able to scrape a lot of the salt off and the meat of the chicken was really juicy. I’m gonna still give this recipe 5 stars, common sense should have told me I was using too much salt.
I made this today however it came out much too salty. I did not salt in the pan but rather salted on the counter over foil. My sauce also was much too salty. I’m going to try again and will cut the salt way back. The chicken was very tender and juicy. Thanks chef John, I enjoy your recipes.
Great recipe! Chicken came out crisp yet moist- hard feat in many kitchens. I didn’t use any mayonnaise or pepperoni slices and it was perfect!
Super simple and turned out great. I was a little hesitant to only use salt and no other seasonings but it really was tasty. I attempted the thyme butter but I really think my non-stick pan is a problem because it separated and was an oily mess that we did not eat. I have made other sauces just fine but my J.A. Henckels Granitium Nonstick Cookware will not let me brown meats or make sauces! So, long story short be mindful of what pan you use.
The sauce that goes with this is so delicious, I want to drink it! Chicken is great too. I didn’t use quite as much salt as called for (maybe I used 1 1/2 tablespoons) because it seemed excessive. I also forgot to let the chicken sit at room temperature first – oops! Skin was nice and crispy, meat was tender and juicy. And oh, that sauce!
The chicken was super juicy, but for me there sauce was way to salty.
The only Chef John recipe that ever let me down. Overpoweringly salty. I’d cut the salt by at least half if I make it again.
Just as the recipe stated….and learned a couple tricks from the video… Very moist
The only changes I make are to cook at 450 for a half hour then reduced to 350 until done. I also add a little white wine to the roasting pan. this recipe is excellent! Simplicity is better in my opinion. I don’t like a lot of fancy herbs or marinades taking over the true flavor of the meat.
This is a family favorite! So easy and all three of my kids ask for the “chicken with the yummy sauce”. That doesn’t happen very often. I’ve always made mine in a cast iron skillet wings down that is hot from being preheated with the oven as a top review mentioned. I’ve cooked it both ways, as Chef John wrote and as the same review mentioned above, by cooking it on high heat then shutting it off and letting it rest in the cooling oven. I’ve never really enjoyed a baked chicken until this recipe and my husband says it’s the beat he’s ever had. So delicious and highly recommend.
Quite possibly the best roasted chicken I’ve ever made. I use an air chilled whole chicken (Pine Manor) we get from Whole Foods. Then with Chef John’s salt roasted chicken recipe, the simplicity of it shows amazing results. Do NOT forget the sauce. It’s divine, but I don’t need to salt it because the pan drippings are very salty by themselves. Make sure to follow the instructions to remove the extra salt in the bottom of the cooking vessel. WOW GOOD!
I have made this several times and its just crazy good!
I didn’t change a thing…why would you?? This chicken is fabulous and the lemon-thyme sauce is perfect! Pairs well over mashed potatoes! Couldn’t get enough of the sauce!
Is there any chance of this being converted to an Instant Pot Duo Crisp recipe. I’m not sure what the salt would do in the pressure cooking stage.
It was wonderful because even the white meat was juicy and tender! I didn’t enjoy the sauce because it was too intense and the meat didn’t need it. I’ll make this many more times.
Again and chef John never disappoints it was amazing I had a 4 pound chicken and I did with Chris said I’ll just let it go for about 40 minutes and then I turn the oven off and let it sit in the oven for about 25 minutes and the chicken breast was so moist and tender. Delicious, and I can’t take a picture because it’s all gone!
Delicious! I changed nothing and used my cast iron skillet. The chicken turned out to be very moist. The sauce was superb! I served it with rice pilaf and steamed, mixed vegetables. My husband poured the sauce on the vegetables, too. Thank you, Chef John!
I have made this recipe with no changes and my family requests it all the time.