Welcome back to Sunday Scratchups, your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales + affordable ingredients. This week, I picked up a big 9 lb roasting chicken on sale for $5.17 after clearance price + $2 off sticker — always look for that clearance meat! 🙂
It’s kind of funny that this chicken is 3/4 the size of the entire turkey I roasted up last Sunday… But, it ending up costing me just $.57/lb, and I was so happy with this find that I thought I’d share our favorite yummy Dairy Free Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken recipe with you. Generally these recipes call for butter, but I make mine with olive oil so that Dairy Free Junior High Guy can enjoy.
Dairy Free Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
One large whole roasting chicken (mine was just over 9 lbs)
Kosher salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2 lemons
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp rosemary
2 tsp Herbes de Provence
2 tsp minced garlic
One medium onion
– optional ingredients, if also making potatoes
2 lbs potatoes, diced
6-7 whole garlic cloves, peeled
Olive oil
Black pepper
Herbes de Provence
Directions
Remove giblets and rinse chicken well under cold water. Place in large metal roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels. Season with Kosher salt and black pepper.
In a separate bowl, mix olive oil, rosemary, Herbes de Provence, the juice from both lemons, and garlic. Rub cut side of squeezed lemon halves over chicken and insert into cavity. Peel and quarter onion and insert that into the cavity as well. Pour olive oil mixture over chicken.
If also making potatoes, wash, dice, and arrange around chicken. Add peeled garlic cloves to potatoes and drizzle with a little more olive oil, then season with pepper and more Herbes de Provence.
Bake at 425 degrees, basting occasionally and stirring potatoes, about 1.5 hours or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Remove from oven and tent with foil; let rest covered for about 10 minutes, then remove and discard lemon halves and onion before carving.
Notes:
- Even if your chicken has one of the little pop-up things in it, don’t rely on that to test done-ness. A meat thermometer is much more reliable. Mine was fully cooked and still hadn’t popped.
- Be sure to let it rest before carving, as tempting as it will be to dig into your chicken right away. It really helps preserve the juiciness.
- If your potatoes need a little extra time, just pop them back in the oven while your chicken is resting.
Easy-peasy! Whole chickens go on sale all the time, so it’s useful to have a reliable basic roasting recipe in your repertoire, then change up the seasonings as desired. I like to roast potatoes in the same pan as an easy built-in side, so then you just have to add a salad or green vegetable to round out your meal.
You won’t miss the butter, either! Besides being dairy free, this Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken is also naturally gluten free, so a great allergy friendly meal for our whole family.
Dairy Free Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken, printable recipe
- One large whole roasting chicken (mine was just over 9 lbs)
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 2 lemons
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 2 tsp Herbes de Provence
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 2 lbs potatoes, diced
- 6-7 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- Olive oil
- Black pepper, to taste
- Herbes de Provence, to taste
-
Remove giblets and rinse chicken well under cold water.
-
Place in large metal roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels.
-
Season with Kosher salt and black pepper.
-
In a separate bowl, mix olive oil, rosemary, Herbes de Provence, the juice from both lemons, and garlic.
-
Rub cut side of squeezed lemon halves over chicken and insert into cavity.
-
Peel and quarter onion and insert that into the cavity as well.
-
Pour olive oil mixture over chicken.
-
If also making potatoes, wash, dice, and arrange around chicken.
-
Add peeled garlic cloves to potatoes and drizzle with a little more olive oil, then season with pepper and more Herbes de Provence.
-
Bake at 425 degrees, basting occasionally and stirring potatoes, about 1.5 hours or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
-
Remove from oven and tent with foil; let rest covered for about 10 minutes, then remove and discard lemon halves and onion before carving.
If you're making a smaller chicken, adjust the seasonings, oil, and cooking time proportionately and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. (Even if your chicken has one of the little pop-up things in it, don't rely on that to test done-ness. A meat thermometer is much more reliable.) Be sure to let it rest before carving to help preserve the juiciness, as tempting as it will be to dig into your chicken right away. If your potatoes need a little extra time, just pop them back in the oven while your chicken is resting.
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Suzann says
February 9, 2015 at 12:12 amI stuff my roaster with a quartered unjuiced meyer lemon since I have the trees and herbs from my plants–very similar recipe and so tasty.
rachel says
February 9, 2015 at 8:04 amYum! Fresh herbs in the summer are great too — you’re lucky you’re not buried under snow like we are right now. 🙂
Gen says
February 9, 2015 at 8:35 amWhere can I buy the Herbes de Provence seasoning?
rachel says
February 9, 2015 at 8:49 amI got mine at Whole Foods some time ago on one of their whole coupon stacking deals, but any larger grocery store with a decent selection of spices should have it.
rachel says
February 9, 2015 at 9:08 amIf you can’t find it near you, you can also get it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1C9S3Ix
Outlander says
February 9, 2015 at 8:49 amI buy mine at The Spice House in Geneva, but I think they have other locations too. They have some great stuff!!
mollie w says
February 9, 2015 at 8:59 amI bought mine at Target about a year and a half ago.
SoapboxTray says
May 27, 2015 at 11:32 amI made this on Tuesday and OMG it was the juiciest chicken I have yet to make and the first one that I cooked upside-down oops. Great recipe. I am not a huge fan of lemon on chicken but this was not real strong and super yummy. **** <5 star! 🙂
rachel says
May 27, 2015 at 12:39 pm🙂 Thanks — Yeah, it’s oddly not as lemon-y as it appears! I read about the tenting thing somewhere a long time ago and it really does help the juiciness if you cover and wait a bit before cutting it.
Mary Rudolph says
June 13, 2017 at 1:38 pmI always wanted to make a whole chicken but never new how long or what would be good to put on it. His was a simple and yummy, juicy recipe to fallow. Family loved it and we had enough for lunch to make chicken sandwiches & chicken salad. Yumm.
rachel says
June 13, 2017 at 1:57 pmThanks! Glad you enjoyed it — leftovers are the best.
Laura says
January 24, 2019 at 8:48 pmThis was absolutely delicious and easy to prep. I wasn’t able to baste it because the liquid was basically burning in the pan, but when I was able to cut it up, I dipped some of the chicken in the juices and HOLY COW it was divine. The skin crisped up beautifully and it was the perfect amount of lemon and herbs. This recipe is a keeper. I didn’t do any potatoes, FYI.
Lisa Bowd n says
October 10, 2019 at 8:23 amHello”..can this recipe work for a Turkey?
rachel says
October 10, 2019 at 9:28 amI’ve never tried this particular recipe with a turkey, but lemon and garlic flavors should pair well with turkey as well. You’ll of course have to adjust proportions and cooking time etc to the larger size of the bird though.