Garlic Butter Roast Chicken

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Garlic Butter Roast Chicken

This roast chicken might be the easiest Sunday roast of all. Ready in an hour, the garlic brown butter combines with the roasting juices for a simple sauce. Serve with some salad greens (or green peas) and a potato rosti and it’s a full meal.

Total time: 1-2 hours 

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients

  • 1.6kg free-range chicken
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • salt, to season
  • 50g salted butter
  • 10 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised
  • ¼ cup loosely packed parsley sprigs, to serve
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

      Method

      1. 1. Heat your oven to 220C (200C fan-forced ).
      2. Turn the chicken breast-side down on the tray and with a pair of kitchen scissor, cut along either side of the backbone and remove.  Press down on the breast and tuck the wings under the body.
      3. Place skin up on a roasting tray, rub the skin with soy sauce and season with salt. Roast in the oven for 50 minutes. If your oven has a grill, turn on for the final 20 minutes of roasting to brown the skin. Remove the chicken to a serving plate, pour over any roasting juices and rest for 10 minutes.
      4. While the chicken is resting, place the butter and garlic in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Heat for around 5-8 minutes, swirling occasionally, until the butter and garlic have a nutty brown colour. Pour over the chicken, scatter with parsley sprigs and serve with lemon wedges.

      Tip: Rubbing dark soy sauce into the skin – whether a couple of days before or at the last minute – is easily the best way to brown a roast chicken evenly. 

        Recipe by Adam Liaw