This easy Whole Roast Chicken Recipe is cooked to crispy-skin perfection in a Dutch Oven with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary Butter slathered on every bite! Add potatoes to the bottom of the pan and you’ve got yourself a complete, one-pot meal.
This is my favorite recipe for roast chicken. Cooking it in a dutch oven ensures the chicken is moist and flavorful, but still gets that awesome golden-brown, crispy skin.
Here’s what I LOVE about this roast chicken recipe:
- It uses only five ingredients (assuming you already have butter, salt, and pepper);
- The flavor combination of lemon, garlic, and rosemary creates amazing flavor;
- There is no waste– the lemon zest, juice, and rinds are used, as well as the onion, garlic, and rosemary scraps;
- While it takes a while to roast in the oven, the prep time is only 10-15 minutes!
- You can add potatoes to the bottom of the pan to cook and soak up all those delicious juices while the chicken roasts for an easy one-pot meal. YUM!
And the other thing? A whole roast chicken is a foolproof way to impress people. This recipe comes out gorgeous every time, and it’s perfect for a dinner party or date but also easy enough to make for your family on a whim.
Tips for making the BEST Whole Roast Chicken
- Pat the chicken dry. This will help the skin crisp up to perfection.
- Season the cavity. Add a LOT of salt and pepper inside, and stuff it with the lemon rinds, rosemary sprigs and stems, garlic scraps, and onion scraps. This will help keep it moist and flavor it from the inside out.
- Add the butter mixture under AND over the breast skin. Use your hands for this (then give them a good wash). It’s important to spread the mixture liberally over the entire chicken (every nook and cranny). In addition, I separate the skin from the top of the breast and spread some of the butter underneath, being careful not to tear the skin (intact skin helps the meat stay moist since it keeps the juices in). This creates extra crispy skin and helps flavor the meat better.
- Truss the chicken. Not in a complicated way- I just tie the legs tightly together using kitchen twine. This helps keep everything nice and neat and compact for even, consistent cooking. If the legs splay out too much, they will cook too quickly, causing them to become dry.
- Roast high, then low. Roast the chicken at 475 for 15 minutes- this gets the crispy skin process going. Then, turn the heat down and roast at 350 for approximately 20 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (I stick my meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast as far as it will go, then retract it just a little so it’s not touching the bone. It won’t read accurately if it is touching a bone)
- Let it sit for at least 10 minutes when it’s done. This will ensure that a) the chicken isn’t too hot to handle when you carve it, and b) that the juices have a chance to redistribute. If you cut into it too quickly, the juices will escape too fast and the chicken will become dry.
Roasting a Whole Chicken in your Dutch Oven
I have a blue Cuisinart Classic Enameled Cast Iron 5-1/2-Quart Oval dutch oven, which I LOVE and HIGHLY recommend. Conveniently, it perfectly fits a chicken, and because it gets so hot on the sides , it helps roast it evenly on all sides of the chicken for awesomely crispy skin.
Here are some tips to roasting a whole chicken in your dutch oven:
- Layer onions and potatoes (or another root veggie) on the bottom so you have a complete meal. The veggies will soak up all the juices as it cooks.
- Keep the cover off when roasting. If the skin browns too quickly on top, you can place the cover on ajar on top to help avoid direct hot heat, or tent it with foil if the cover doesn’t fit/the chicken is too tall.
By the way… a Dutch Oven is also an amazing thing to bake crusty, no knead artisan bread in!
If you don’t have a Dutch Oven…
You can easily make this recipe in a large casserole dish or roasting pan using the same method!
Or, you can use your slow cooker. Just keep in mind, you won’t have any crispy skin if you do this. Slather the chicken in the butter mixture, and set on top of onions (and potatoes, if you want) in your slow cooker. Cook for 4 hours on high. (more on how to cook a whole chicken in your slow cooker)
You may also be interested in another one-pan chicken recipe: Spiced Chicken and Rice with Apples and Raisins. YUM.
Don’t throw the chicken bones/carcass out!
Make homemade chicken stock with them. Just store the carcass/bones in your freezer in an airtight bag or container until you’re ready to make it!
Recipes to make with leftover roast chicken:
- Easy Chicken and Dumplings from Scratch
- Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts
- Avgolemono (Greek Chicken Soup with Lemon)
- Cobb Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
- Healthy 20-Minute Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff
- Chicken and Corn Enchilada Casserole
- BBQ Chicken Naan Pizza
And check out these other easy recipes you can make in a dutch oven from Pinch of Yum!
Did you make this Dutch Oven Whole Roast Chicken? Please comment below and Rate this Recipe
Dutch Oven Whole Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken about 4-5 lbs.
- 2 lemons
- 5 cloves garlic 3 minced, 2 cut in half
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary 3 finely chopped, 1 left whole
- 2 large onions halved and thickly sliced, end scraps reserved
- 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
- kosher salt see notes
- black pepper see notes
- 1.5 lbs. potatoes cut into 1" pieces, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
- Melt butter (4 tablespoons) in small bowl (I used my Pyrex measuring cup); add minced garlic (3 cloves), chopped rosemary (from 3 sprigs, about 2 tablespoons), the zest of the two lemons, and plenty of kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Place the onions in bottom of enameled cast iron dutch oven. Reserve the end scraps. If using potatoes, add them on top of the onions.
- Prepare chicken by removing giblets from cavity and patting dry with paper towels.
- Liberally season the cavity with salt and pepper. LIBERALLY.
- Cut the zested lemons in half; reserve juice and save rinds.
- The butter mixture will have hardened slightly by now. Using your hands, slather the mixture liberally over every part of the chicken and under the breast skin (being careful not to tear the skin).
- Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon rinds, onion scraps, remaining 2 garlic cloves, and rosemary sprig/stems. Place in dutch oven on top of sliced onions and potatoes, if using.
- Tie the legs of the chicken together tightly using kitchen twine.
- Pour reserved lemon juice over the chicken.
- Roast chicken UNCOVERED for 15 minutes at 475, then reduce heat to 350 and cook STILL UNCOVERED for approximately 20 minutes PER POUND, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (about 1.5 hours for a 4.5 lb. chicken). The chicken should be uncovered the entire time it cooks, unless it seems like it's burning (see notes).
- Allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.
Notes
- Basting: If you want to, baste the chicken approximately halfway through cooking process. You don't have to.
- Salt and pepper: You want to salt and pepper liberally- I’d say at least 1 tablespoon of kosher salt for a 4ish lb. bird (up to 2 tablespoons, if you have a larger chicken that’s more like 8 lbs.). Pepper you can do to your taste- it will give it a nice kick if you use a lot (around 2 teaspoons) but you can definitely get away with only 1/2 teaspoon.
- If chicken is burning: you should cook the chicken uncovered in the dutch oven, but if it starts to burn on top and the internal temperature is not high enough yet, you can place the lid on ajar to avoid direct heat and prevent further burning. Or, you can tent it with foil on top.
- Other vegetables: You can add carrots or other root veggies, that take a long time to cook, in the bottom of the pan in place of or in addition to the potatoes. Note: I actually prefer to roast my potatoes/veggies separately because they get more browned, but it's super convenient to cook them in the same pot!
- Slow cooker instructions: Place sliced onions in bottom of large slow cooker. Prepare chicken as directed above. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or high for 4-5, until the chicken is falling off the bone. (this method will not make crispy skin, but will still be delicious!
- Make it paleo/dairy free/Whole30: Use olive oil or ghee instead of butter.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
- If you are sensitive to lemon flavor, you may want to use only 1 lemon. Same goes for if you are using extremely large or juicy lemons. Some readers have commented that the flavor is too lemony. I LOVE a really lemony chicken but no harm in cutting the amount in half if that's not your thing!
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
This recipe first appeared on Bowl of Delicious as “Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary Whole Roast Chicken.” It has been updated with new photographs, clearer instructions, and the option of adding potatoes based on suggestions from reader comments.
Marie Scorsone
I’ve messed up on my temperatures a couple times so but it came out good I did it for about an hour and a half total it was delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jessica
What herbs would you suggest as an alternative to rosemary? Thanks so much! :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
You can really use any of your favorite herbs in this! Thyme works really well, or oregano, or a mix. You can also use a dry seasoning blend, like Italian seasoning. For a brighter, lighter flavor, try lots of fresh dill (which would be great with the lemon). Really, you can’t mess this one up. Hope that helps!
Julie
I’ve made your recipe before and loved it. I can’t remember if I improvised and added a little bit of water to the bottom to help protect my enameled cast iron. Is it okay to put everything in there dry? Thanks!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked the recipe! I almost never add water to the bottom of the pot- the liquid from the onions and from the chicken itself will provide enough liquid as it cooks to coat the bottom of your pan. That said, adding water won’t HURT- and in fact, it will result in more drippings that you can use as stock or make gravy with. The only con to adding more water is the chicken will be more submerged, and will result in less crispy skin on the sides. Hope that helps!
J
Love it. Made as prescribed.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks so much! Glad you liked it :-)
Anjali
Can you use Brussel sprouts as one of the vegetables? If so at what point would you add them to the Dutch oven?
Elizabeth Lindemann
I’ve never tried it, so I’m not sure! But here’s what I’d do, if you want to experiment with it. If you add them in the beginning underneath the chicken, the brussels sprouts might become a little mushy, as they are cooked for a very long time, so I think as long as you are ok with a soft texture it would be worth trying at that point. But if you have extra room on the sides of the Dutch oven, you could mix them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl, then add them around the chicken about an hour before it’s done cooking. Hope that helps!
Stephanie Garcia
This chicken dish came out so moist and delicious, it had the best flavor ever! The potatoes were perfect! The instructions are very easy to follow and an easy clean-up when done. I will recommend this to family and friends!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Emmy
This was amazing! Super delicious and really, really easy to make. I’ve been looking for a good roast chicken recipe to make in a Dutch oven and this was just perfect so thank you! X
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yay! So happy to hear you liked it- thank you for the comment!
Greg
The chicken turned out fantastic but I think I will skip the lemons next time. I lined the bottom with potatoes, carrots and onions and everything just tastes like I’m eating a lemon. Chicken was nice and juicy and the vegetables were the perfect consistency.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it! It IS lemony. If you still want a little lemon flavor without it being too much, I recommend skipping the juice and just using the zest.
Ann
Delicious recipe. I added whole kalamata olives to the onion/potato layer and we loved it. Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
I LOVE the idea of adding kalamata olives to the veggie layer! Thanks so much for sharing this suggestion, and glad to hear you liked the recipe :-)
Tasnuva
This was absolutely delicious, thanks so much!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
JUDY
MAde this tonight for the family and it was enjoyed by all. Ages range from 4 to 76 and all in between. I made this exactly as written except added some carrots and left out rosemary as I didn’t realize I was out…. still delicious and no one knew any different. The skin was crispy and the meat was so tender and juicy. Served with rolls and salad. Thanks for another great recipe. :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So happy you and your family liked it!
Michelle Parkin
Wonderful, simple recipe resulted in the best chicken I have ever cooked! Cooking it for a second time and subbing out thyme for the rosemary… can’t wait to see what its like! Thank you for sharing your recipe :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I’ve made it with thyme and oregano before and it’s just as delicious!
G D
The chicken was amazing! Maybe the best chicken that I’ve ever made. It was quite a bit of work, but worth it.
I was not a fan of the potatoes as they came out. The ones submerged in the liquid had a nice taste but soft (I really like crispy potatoes) . The potatoes above the liquid were dry and undercooked. Now here is where the real magic comes in, I stored the remaining potatoes/onions with all the liquid in the fridge. The next day I poured it all in a pan and fried it. The butter/lemon/onions fry up beautifully and honestly when they were done cooking they were probably the best potatoes that I’d ever made as well! The trick is to fry them on medium heat until it almost looks like they are burning. The onions were black and crispy, and the potatoes on the sides touching the pan were black as well. Don’t worry, it’s not burnt, just nicely caramelized, delicious, and crispy!
So next time, the only change I will make is removing the chicken from the pot once cooked, and then frying the potatoes/onions in a pan and eating them both together.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it and thanks very much for explaining what you did with the potatoes! Sounds delicious!
Andrea
I added some cut up carrots with the potatoes and onion and cooked on 425 for 1.5 hrs (my usual roaster time) and it was PERFECT!!! Definitely more moist than using my roasting pan
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Andrew Farrow
I have made this 5 times at this point. It is a family favourite! I add 8-10 garlic cloves around the chicken (we are a garlic family) and it really brings up that intensity. This lad time I added a curry to the butter rubber (about 1 tbsp) and it added nicely to the overall flavour.
Thank-you for this wonderful recipe. It was easy to follow and feeds a very hungry family!
As a side note: the soup broth it made was by far the most flavourful that I have ever had. Next time I will scale the recipe for a full turkey (look out thanksgiving!)
All the best.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your family like it! I LOVE the idea of adding curry, and about scaling it up for a turkey. And I agree about the soup broth- it’s out of this world. Thanks for the comment!
Lacey
Amazing turnout! Chicken is so nice and moist! The potatoes and onions are perfect. THANK YOU!!!!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
You are so welcome, and thank you for the comment! Really glad you liked it :-)
Jim Groves
Elizabeth,
Could you explain why you think the cover should be off, versus say it being on and then removed at the end to crisp the skin? (I’m a new Dutch oven owner). I have seen similar recipes and the opinions seem to vary. I’m not actually challenging your technique, I’m just curious why?
As a disclaimer, I tried it with the cover on and it was delicious, but it wasn’t done in the recommended time and I had to put it back in.
Jim Groves
I’m going to cook one for lunch and I’ll use your method and report what I find. (My wife is a 2nd shifter, so sometimes we have our main meal at noon).
Elizabeth Lindemann
Let me know how it came out!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Good question! And a disclaimer that I haven’t actually tried to cook it in the oven with the cover on. BUT, I do often cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker (https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/slow-cooker-whole-chicken/) and have tried sticking it in the oven after it’s done to crisp up the skin. It works OK, but to get that really crispy, cracker-like crisp skin, you want to roast the chicken for the whole time uncovered. I find the sides of the Dutch Oven are a nice compromise, where it keeps the moisture in on the sides and roasts a really juicy chicken, and the top gets super crispy. Hope that helps explain a little more, and thanks for the question!
Jim Groves
It came out great! The sites that advise cooking with the lids on claim its the moistest, juiciest chicken you can make, but with the lid off I found there was no loss of moistness or tenderness and yes.. the skin was markedly better. My wife even commented that the skin was much nicer to eat. There was less juice/broth at the bottom of the Dutch oven, but as a result the potatoes were a little crispier too. Not a bad thing. All in all, I don’t think the lid is necessary at all, the chicken will stay moist but also have crispier skin. I was worried about the 475 starting temperature, but needlessly, as the top of the chicken came out perfectly golden crispy. If I had a tweak or suggestion it would be..I think you’re right about cooking the potatoes separately for extra crispiness.. But in their place, use that room in the dutch oven for carrots on top of the onions. Just regular old carrots (not baby cut), washed and cut in like 1 inch pieces. The carrots really absorb the lemon/garlic/rosemary flavor more than I would ever expect. Really nice. Thanks for the reply and the recipie!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yay! So glad it came out good for you, and thank you so much for the thorough comment about your experience!
Angela
I received the Le Cruset as a wedding present and I was thrilled. Not only is it beautiful but I’ve watched my mom make so many meals in it. Now that I have my own I was really eager to make something yummy. I tried your recipe and it was delicious!! Hubby and I enjoyed it so much. We had a sweet potato on the side too. This recipe definitely is going to be in my rotation. Thank you!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Aw yay! So happy this worked well for you, sounds like a delicious meal with the sweet potato!
Val
This is a delicious recipe! I loved the lemony flavor. The veggies that I included were onions, potatoes and carrots. Unfortunately they did not get cooked thoroughly so we put them in another pan to roast them. In the end it all worked out and was quite delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it! Yes, this sometimes happens with the potatoes in the bottom of the pan, but glad you were able to roast them separately!
Catherine
I made this tonight in my 5 1/2 Dutch oven. It came out wonderful! Crispy skin and juicy meat. I will definitely be using this recipe again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Pat Mullen
This was my first time cooking a whole chicken and thanks to this recipe it came out perfect! Super easy and stress free. Also this might be one of my new favorite ways to make potatoes.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So happy to hear your first time roasting a whole chicken went well!