Roast Chicken with Thyme and Onions

21 Reviews

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 50 min
Ready In: 1 hr 25 min

“People are always raving about chicken and rosemary, when I think chicken and fresh thyme is superior. This is so easy it's criminal, and the results are fabulous. I sometimes add four or five bulbs of green garlic if I find it at the farmer's market.” - by SABRINATEE

Ingredients

2 lemons
2 (2.5 pound) whole chickens
2 large onions, peeled and quartered
6 shallots, coarsely chopped
8 cloves garlic, unpeeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 sprigs fresh thyme

Hide Checklist

Adjust Servings

Adjust

Metric US

Original recipe yields 10 servings

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
Pierce lemons several times with a fork, and place 1 inside each chicken cavity. Arrange chickens in the center of the prepared baking dish. Place onions, shallots, and garlic around the chickens. Sprinkle vegetables with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Spread butter over the chickens, and line each with thyme sprigs.
Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Increase temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), and continue baking 30 minutes, or until exterior of chicken is golden brown, meat is no longer pink, and juices run clear. Allow to cool about 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Amount Per Serving (10 total)

Calories
641 cal
32%

Fat
47.1 g
73%

Carbs
11 g
4%

Based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Share It

Reviews (21)

Rate This Recipe

LISAKP71

Dec. 16, 2003

"This tasted really great and the family liked it, but I had the same problem I always have with roasting chicken - the clean-up in the oven!!! No amount of foil tenting, various roasting pans or any o..." See morether contraption I come up with makes much difference. Tastes great, but I probably won't make again for that reason."

Marie

Feb. 1, 2004

"I followed the recipe exactly and yet my chicken wasn't even close to being ready in the amount of time given. We had to cut it apart and continue cooking it, then broiling to get the skin brown...." See more"

SunnyByrd

Apr. 23, 2009

"Excellent flavor! My chickens were quite a bit larger than 2.5 lbs (closer to 5 per, I think), so I had to cook them quite a bit longer than instructed, and at a lower temperature so I didn't kill the..." See more outside before the inside was ready - probably about 90 minutes at 350. This is also a great recipe for leftover chicken to use in other recipes, as the flavors aren't too strong or distinctive to blend well with other things. Thanks! "

More Reviews