Butterflied Rosemary Roasted Chicken Recipe

It’s no secret that we love chicken. We bake it, stuff it, cook it with honey – we just can’t stop. It’s easy, it’s juicy and it loves flavor. Orange, garlic, lemon, herbs — anything.

Classic Rosemary Roasted Chicken Recipe with a Twist

This time we matched rosemary and lemon with the chicken. Classic, right?

Before roasting we crust the chicken with lots of chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. Then, it’s roasted alongside a bunch of vegetables like onion, sweet carrots and potatoes.

The twist, though, is that we roast two lemons at the same time. They caramelize a little and the juices become less tart and slightly sweetened. After everything has roasted, we squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl, add any pan juices and whisk it with a tiny bit of mustard and olive oil — making a roasted lemon vinaigrette.

We love this roasted chicken recipe. Don’t you just want to dive in?

That’s the roasted vinaigrette – it adds so much flavor to the chicken.

Butterflied Chicken? Explain, please.

To butterfly a chicken means to remove the backbone of the chicken. All this does is flatten out the whole chicken, helping it roast as evenly as possible and cook just a little quicker than your usual roasted chicken. Plus, since all of the chicken skin is facing up, it browns nicely — we love that.

It even makes serving a breeze.

We’ve shared photos and instructions for how to remove the backbone below in the recipe, but if you prefer, skip it and roast the chicken as you would normally — it will just take a little longer.

We really are in love with this chicken recipe — the rosemary, the roasted vegetables and that roasted lemon vinaigrette are all so good. But, don’t just take our word for it. Find out for yourself. We’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.

You may also enjoy:

• Our Simply Roasted Chicken Recipe
• For the perfect side, try our Cheddar Roasted Broccoli Recipe (Cheesy Baked Broccoli)
• Try Delicious Organic’s Butterflied Roast Chicken with Red Onions
• Or, see Thomas Keller’s Favorite Roasted Chicken Recipe

Butterflied Rosemary Roasted Chicken Recipe

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Why we love this recipe. We make roasted chicken almost every week. It’s easy for us to do and we can enjoy it as roasted chicken or turn it into chicken salad, chicken soup or whatever else we dream up. One twist we’ve added is to roast two lemons at the same time as the chicken. This way, they become slightly sweeter and are perfect for making a simple sauce to drizzle over the cooked chicken.

What you need to know. By butterflying the chicken, it will cook slightly faster, but more importantly, it will cook more evenly than if we were to roast it normally. Also, we love that all the skin browns nicely since it’s all facing up. If you would prefer, skip butterflying the chicken and roast normally — it will just take a little longer.

Equipment you’ll need. You will need a large rimmed baking sheet, poultry or sharp kitchen scissors, a chef’s knife, measuring spoons, tongs, a small bowl and a whisk or fork.

Created By: Joanne and Adam Gallagher

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Roasted Chicken

• 1 whole chicken rinsed and pat dry (3 to 4 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Roasted Vegetables

• 2 small onions, peeled and quartered
• 3 to 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Roasted Lemon Vinaigrette

• 2 lemons, halved
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat Oven

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Prepare Chicken

1. Position the chicken so that the back is facing up and the drumsticks are pointing towards you. Using poultry or sharp kitchen scissors cut down one side of the backbone. Then, cut down the other side of the backbone, removing it completely. (You can reserve the backbone for stock later).
2. Now flip the chicken and press it down towards the work surface so it flattens slightly.
3. If wet, pat chicken dry with paper towel then rub both sides of the chicken with the oil, rosemary, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place chicken breast-side up on baking sheet. Then, tuck the wings under the chicken.

Prepare Vegetables

1. Toss vegetables with 1 tablespoon of oil, rosemary, salt and black pepper. Arrange vegetables around chicken on baking sheet.

Roast Chicken and Vegetables

1. Place halved lemons, cut side up, around vegetables and chicken then roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 1 hour.
2. After 30 minutes of roasting, rotate the baking sheet so the chicken cooks evenly.
3. Once roasted, transfer chicken to a cutting board, cover loosely with aluminum foil then let rest about 10 minutes.

Make Roasted Lemon Vinaigrette

1. Use tongs to squeeze juice from roasted lemons into a small bowl. Then, pour any juices left on the baking sheet into the bowl. Add mustard then whisk. Taste then add oil, salt and pepper as needed. (We added about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to tone down the tart lemon).
2. Slice chicken or cut into quarters. Then serve alongside roasted vegetables and roasted lemon vinaigrette.

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About the Author

Adam

I'm Adam Gallagher and alongside my wife, Joanne, I photograph and share favorite recipes from our kitchen. Sharing our recipes began as a hobby, turned into a dream and now has become our business. I just love that.