Herb Butter Roasted Chicken

I have tried a million different recipes for the perfect roasted chicken (easy to do since I have a million chickens purchased when they were on super sale).  Maybe a little exaggeration but I have really tried so many ways to not have the chicken covered in oil, smoking in the oven, or under cooked.  I have had some near successes but none have worked as easily as this recipe.  I saw the recipe on Frugal By Choice and couldn't wait to make this roasted chicken.  The great news is that I already had a chicken thawing in the fridge and it was on the menu for the week!!!  What great timing!!!!

I took the whole chicken out of the fridge and took out all the extra yuck on the inside.  I am going to tell you that this my least favorite part about making a whole chicken but I can't pass up the chance to get such a great deal on chicken!!  I washed off the chicken and dried it as best as possible.  My other recipe that I have been using for a bunch of chickens told me to put salt on the chicken to bring out the water while it is resting on the counter so I figured that a little more salt would be fine.  I salted the chicken and let it sit as long as I could (not great at planning 3 hours before dinner to start the process because it always seems like I have plenty of time).  When I came back to check on the chicken, it looked like it had been sweating.  I dried off the chicken again which took off some of the salt for those of you worried about the salt content.

I got out the ingredients for the herb butter spread and let them sit on the counter while the butter softened in the bowl.

I had mixed softened margarine, olive oil, paprika, parsley in a bowl.  It looked like a dip but I thought that it would be really easy to spread it on the chicken.

Then, I put the peeled garlic cloves in the chicken cavity.  I wasn't really sold that those would add enough garlic flavor but I was wrong.  I think that they added a lot of flavor and the chicken even smelled like garlic when I took it out of the oven...YUM!!!  Then, I spread the butter mixture on the backside of the chicken.  I flipped and spread it under the skin and on top of the skin on the breast side.

I got the rosemary sprigs from the backyard.  Okay, my husband got them because it was snowing and I didn't want to go outside and get cold.  I tucked the rosemary under the wings and legs since we have so much rosemary.  It looked very Christmas-y.

I put it in the oven to roast and out came a wonderful looking and tasting chicken with super crispy skin that was perfectly golden brown.

I hope that you try this recipe out for yourself and your family.  It is really easy and super tasty (not to mention a frugal deal when you get the chicken for about $3.50 on sale).  I am really sad that I only have two chickens left in the freeze with this new recipe up my sleeve!!  I am crossing my fingers for another sale soon.

Herb Butter Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic
2 springs fresh rosemary

1) Allow your chicken to sit on the counter for about an hour.  Chicken will roast more evenly if it isn't very cold.  Rinse it, pat it dry with 2 paper towels.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2) In a small dish, soften 2 tbsp of butter, and add the olive oil, parsley, smoked paprika, and kosher salt.

3) Put the garlic cloves in the cavity of the chicken.

4) Put the breast part down in a baking dish.  Rub the butter and herb  mixture over the non-boobed side of the chicken.  Flip it over, and put some of the mixture between the skin and meat.  Then rub the rest of the butter schmear all over the boob side of the chicken.

5) Tuck the rosemary under the legs (or wings, or wherever you'd like).

6) You have a few choices here.  If you want this roasted all over, start by placing the breast side of the bird down in the baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes.  Then flip.  Or, if you're like me, and are lazy and just care about the top being "crispy", put the bird breast side up, and bake for about 90 minutes, or until the temperature reaches 180 degrees when you check with a meat thermometer. 

Shared at Homemade Mondays
and Raising Imperfection