Ina Garten's Perfect Roast Chicken

Ina Garten’s Perfect Roast chicken is so moist and flavorful no wonder why people love this chicken so much! It’s seasoned with some fresh lemon, thyme, and garlic.  I never would have thought that just stuffing some aromatics like this inside a chicken would make a chicken taste so good. I was wondering how these three ingredients would even begin to flavor the chicken if they’re just inside the cavity, but I could taste hints of lemon and thyme in there.

This Roasted Chicken recipe was shared back in 2014 and I just updated the blog post with new pictures and info about the recipe. 5/6/21 

Jump to:

• Ingredients Needed
• How to make Ina's Roast Chicken 
• Tips for Cooking Roasts 
• Storage Tips 
• Other Recipes to Try 
• Contact Info 
• Ina Garten's Perfect Roast Chicken

Ingredients Needed

• 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
• 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) butter, melted
• 1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
• 4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
• Olive oil

How to make Ina's Roast Chicken 

See and print the  full recipe below.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Prepare the chicken: Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.

Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 ½ hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Tips for Cooking Roasts 

• Before deciding what type of roast to cook, check to see what temperature that roast needs to be cooked to and take a mental note of that. 
• Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of the roast. 
• Find a roast pan for cooking medium to large-sized roasts in the oven. This one below I really like a lot.
• Stainless Steal  13 x 16-Inch Roaster - Roast meat, poultry, and vegetables to perfection with this versatile roaster. Holding up to a 20-lb. turkey, the heavy-duty stainless-steel roasting pan features tall, straight sides, which help prevent splatters and spills, while its upright handles ensure a secure hold when transporting the pan to and from the oven, even when wearing thick oven mitts.

Storage Tips 

Always store leftovers in clean, food-grade containers. The  type  of container doesn’t really matter. Use zip lock, glass, plastic,  whatever!  Just make sure the food is sealed tight before storing in the fridge or freezer. 

Other Recipes to Try 

Baked Feta Pasta 

Stuffed Italian Sausage

Baked Oats with Peanut Butter 

Air Fryer Crispy Fish Sandwiches 

Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo Sauce

 If you’ve tried this Ina’s Roast Chicken recipe or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out. Snap a picture and upload it to share on Pinterest

Contact Info 

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Recipe adapted from Food Network

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