Dutch oven roast chicken with lemon, garlic and herbs
This method of roasting chicken changed my life. Tender, fall-of-the-bone, fragrant and full of the good things in cooking; lemon, garlic and herbs. No more basting, cleaning the oven or worrying about a dry roast – you simply place a quickly prepared chicken into the oven, forget about it for an hour and a half or so then take the lid off for a bit of browning.
I made a potato salad a while back which makes a nice accompaniment or you could even try some roast vegetables with rosemary.
Recipe for dutch oven roast chicken with lemon and herbs:
1 whole chicken, cleaned and trimmed
1 medium lemon, halved
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
Tuscan herb seasoning (dried fennel, basil, rosemary, garlic and oregano)
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
Olive or grapeseed oil
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place chicken into large Dutch oven or similar cast iron casserole dish with a lid.
With small, sharp knife make a few small slices over the body and legs of the chicken. Insert pieces of garlic in each opening. Place 1/2 the lemon and the rest of the garlic pieces in the cavity of the chicken and the other half of the lemon into the Dutch oven. Drizzle olive oil over chicken and sprinkle on herbs and seasoning – massage into chicken.
Roast for an hour and a half with the lid on then remove the lid, increase the temperature to 190C and roast for another 20 minutes. This will depend on the size of the chicken obviously – As a guide, a 1.5kg whole stuffed chicken takes about 30 minutes per 500g of weight to cook in an oven preheated to 180°C (reference: taste.com.au).
Drain juices from chicken pan. Allow to sit for 10 minutes covered with foil then serve with vegetables of your choice.
BlogLovin'
Your pictures never fail to inspire me to get in the kitchen and start cooking… this is no exception! The lemon garlic chicken looks so yum, and simple. I received a Dutch oven for Christmas, and had yet to find an excuse (and an exciting recipe!) to try it out. Looks like I’ve found a good reason to use it now, thanks
This totally inspired me and I went out and made this right after I read it. So easy and so yummy! Can’t wait to make again and this time, I’ll have to take some photos
Great to hear Ai!
Loving your site Emma. It’s so clean and fresh. It just sucks you in to read the next article and admire your pictures. Look forward to your updates.
Thanks David
This looks really good, i can imagine using fresh ingredients is ideal too (i would probably cheat in the case of this recipe and use lemon pepper seasoning)
Hello Emma! A friend of mine forwarded me this post after we both got a Dutch oven each last weekend! We had been on the lookout and bumped into a good clearance sale! Next thing I know this yummy recipe from a splash of vanilla!!!
Thank you!!!
Awesome Madhu
, thank you to your friend for passing it on.
I purchased my Dutch oven on sale as well, a few years ago. You’ll wonder how you did without it, they’re amazing.
Dear Emma
Hi, tried your recipe last night. The roast chicken was very yummy.
Just found the bottom side of the chicken was not crispy. How can I improve?
Thanks!
Hi Doris
I’ll update the recipe in a moment but for now, I’d say before you take the lid off to brown the top of the chicken, drain the juices, brown the top for 20 minutes then turn the chicken around so the base is facing the top and brown that side for another 10-15 minutes or so.
Let me know how you go – I’m planning on roasting a chicken in the next couple of weeks so will give it a try.
Dear Emma
Thanks so much for your advise. I suspect the result is not as good due to my oven is not the real oven (I used convection microwave oven). After putting in the 26cm Staub pot inside, I barely can put my hand in it with glove. Nonetheless, I will try your method. Just another question, the bottom side always stick to the pot despite I spread oil before I roast.
After roasting for 90 mins, I think the chicken is so tender and if I turn the chicken around, probably the chicken will tear apart. Have you experience this before? Any more tips for me?
Thank you so much Emma!
Sorry Doris, I don’t have any experience with convection microwaves so can’t give you any advice about that unfortunately.
When I roast the chicken in the oven, it’s tender but is able to be transferred without falling apart too much.