Roast Chicken with Herb Butter
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This roast chicken recipe features crispy, golden skin, herb butter, and a rich Dijon pan sauce—simple enough for a weeknight, impressive enough for company.
There’s nothing better than a home-cooked meal to bring everyone to the table, and this roast chicken with herb butter is exactly that. Adapted from The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time by Laurie David, it’s the kind of dish that works just as well for a Sunday dinner as it does for an easy-but-impressive weeknight meal.
The chicken is slathered in a bright, flavorful herb butter made with fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, lemon zest, and a touch of honey. As it roasts, the butter melts into the meat, infusing it with rich flavor, while the shallots and garlic caramelize in the pan. And to finish, a quick Dijon pan sauce made straight from the drippings—no extra effort, just incredible flavor.
Pair this roast chicken recipe with Parmesan smashed potatoes and roasted carrots for a meal that’s simple but special.
“Wonderful, easy, and foolproof recipe.”
What You’ll Need To Make Roast Chicken
- Fresh Thyme, Rosemary, And Sage: Infuse the herb butter with earthy, aromatic flavors that enhance the chicken.
- Shallots And Garlic: Used in both the herb butter and roasting pan, these aromatics add depth, sweetness, and a rich, savory base to the dish.
- Lemon Zest: Brightens the herb butter with a fresh citrus note that balances the richness.
- Honey: Adds a touch of sweetness to the herb butter, enhancing the overall flavor.
- Butter: Softened for the herb butter to keep the chicken moist and flavorful, and added to the sauce for a silky finish.
- Olive Oil: Helps caramelize the shallots and garlic in the roasting pan while keeping the chicken skin crisp.
- Chicken: Using bone-in, skin-on chicken is key for the best flavor and juiciness—the bones help retain moisture, and the skin crisps up beautifully in the oven. You can cut a whole cut-up chicken or 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.
- Kosher Salt And Black Pepper: Work together to enhance flavor and help crisp the skin.
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth: Forms the base of the sauce, picking up all the delicious browned bits from the roasting pan.
- Dijon Mustard: Gives the sauce a subtle tang and depth of flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the herb butter. Finely chop the thyme, rosemary, and sage. In a small bowl, mix the herbs with the shallots, lemon zest, honey, and butter until well combined. Set this mixture aside.
Step 2: Roast the chicken. Toss the shallots and garlic with olive oil in a roasting pan or large oven-safe skillet. Keeping the garlic unpeeled prevents it from burning while still infusing flavor into the pan juices.
Pat the chicken very dry with paper towels. (Removing excess moisture from the skin before roasting is key to getting that crispy, golden-brown exterior.) Place it in the pan over or around the shallots and garlic. Rub the herb butter all over the chicken and under the skin. Getting butter under the skin ensures that the flavors reach the meat, not just the surface. Sprinkle evenly with salt and season with black pepper.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the skin is golden brown. Reduce the heat to 375°F and continue roasting for 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked through. Lowering the temperature after initial browning prevents the chicken from drying out while ensuring even cooking. Total cook time should be under an hour—avoid overcooking.
Transfer the chicken and shallots to a serving platter, cover with foil, and discard the garlic. Letting the chicken rest is important; it allows the juices to redistribute, making the meat more tender and juicy.
Step 3: Make the sauce. Pour off the fat from the roasting pan, leaving the browned bits behind. Those browned bits (fond) are packed with concentrated flavor—they’ll make your sauce deeply savory. Place the pan over high heat, add the chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Whisk in the Dijon mustard and scrape up the brown bits, cooking until reduced by half, 5 to 8 minutes.
Finally, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter.
Pour the sauce into a gravy boat and serve alongside the chicken. (Straining is optional; I never bother.)
Video Tutorial
More Chicken Recipes You May Like
Roast Chicken with Herb Butter
Ingredients
For the Herb Butter
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 5 fresh sage leaves
- 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the Chicken
- 6 shallots, peeled and halved
- 1 whole head garlic, cleaned, unpeeled, and cut in half horizontally
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 chicken, 4 to 4 ½ pounds (1.8 to 2 kg), cut into 4 or 6 pieces (or 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts)
- Herb butter (above)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the Sauce
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F (235°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Make the herb butter: Pull the herbs from the stems and finely chop. Combine the chopped herbs, shallots, lemon zest, honey, and butter in a small bowl and blend well. Set aside.
- Place the shallots and garlic in a roasting pan or large oven-safe skillet and toss with the olive oil (it's okay if the garlic breaks apart a bit). Pat the chicken VERY dry with paper towels (this will help the skin to crisp) and place it in the roasting pan. Use a soup spoon to rub the herb butter all over the chicken and under the skin too (if you don't eat the skin, rub a lot of it underneath!). Sprinkle the salt evenly all over the chicken and season with fresh pepper to your liking.
- Place the chicken in the oven and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown. Turn the heat down to 375°F (190°C); continue to roast for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until done. Chicken should be done in less than an hour; do not overcook.
- Transfer the chicken and the shallots to a serving platter to rest and cover with foil. Discard the garlic.
- Pour off all the fat from the roasting pan, leaving the brown baked-on bits in the bottom. Add the chicken broth and place on the stove over high heat; bring to a boil and whisk in the mustard. Using a whisk or wooden spoon, scrape up and combine the brown bits with the broth and continue to cook until the liquid is reduced by half, 5 to 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter. Pour the sauce into a gravy boat and serve alongside the chicken. (You can strain the gravy if you'd like, but I never bother.)
Notes
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this a few weeks ago and it was divine! I used dairy free butter under the skin and it worked just as well, so moist! The bird looked beautiful too, perfect crackly golden skin. My husband approved!
I’ve used this recipe before and I loved it! Thank you for all you do. Publish a book already!
I was thinking I could maybe use this recipe on my thanksgiving turkey? I bought a bone in 5.4 lb turkey breast. (There’s only two of us.) will the cook time and butter work? And is it safe to butter the night before?
Thanks, Tori! Hoping to have good news about a book to share soon 🙂 I think this recipe would work really well with a turkey breast. Cook time will be about the same but keep an eye on it; hard to say for certain. And yes, fine to butter the night before.
Delicious!! Food coma! Thank you so much ? We had a lot of left over turkey so I’ll be using your quesadilla recipe tonight! Thanks again!
Hi Jenn,
Made this for dinner tonight using half a roaster chicken but with full amounts of everything else. It turned out delicious and so moist and tender! Served with a side of mashed potatoes, rice, and roasted broccoli. Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Hi Jenn-
I’ve had great success with many of your recipes and plan to try this next. If I substitute dried poultry seasoning as you mentioned, what amount do I use?
Thanks!
Hi Sharon, Sorry for the confusion — I meant the poultry fresh herb blend, not dried.
Can this be prepped the night before & kept in the fridge before popping in the oven when company arrives?
Absolutely 🙂
RE the Sunday night Roast Chicken:
1. Does the chicken get covered with a lid/foil in the oven while roasting?
2. Is the roasting temp/time for regular or “convection” roasting
Thanks!
Hi Karen, No lid and the temp/time is for regular roasting.
Jenn
enjoy your site and recipes, in this recipe what is the point of an entire head of garlic.
It’s not inside the chicken just in the open pan, will it add any flavor at all to the roasting chicken, wouldn’t it be better inside the bird.
Hi Jim, Glad you are enjoying the recipes. Good question. The garlic simply flavors the juices in the pan. You could definitely put it inside the bird, if you use the whole bird rather than chicken pieces.
Will this recipe work on turkey?
Sure, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking time.
Your recipes are amazing! I would like to try this one but I don’t have fresh sage. How much would I need if I use ground sage?
Hi Peachy, I’d use about a half teaspoon. Hope you enjoy it!
I’m so excited about this recipe! If making it using a full chicken, should I cook it the same way– at the same temp and approximately the same time increments?
Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipes! I love your blog.
Hi Chrystie, It will take longer to cook. Here are instructions: Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Spray a rack (preferably a v-shape) with non-stick cooking spray and place the chicken on top. Tie the legs together with kitchen string. Roast for 20 minutes, until the skin is golden. Turn the heat down to 375 degrees, and continue to roast for about an hour and ten minutes more, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. (Keep an eye on it — if it’s browning too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.) Tent the chicken with foil and let rest for about 20 minutes. Tilt the chicken over the roasting pan to release the juices, then transfer to a cutting board. Carve the chicken and serve.