I will show you how to roast a chicken in the oven easily step by step in my video recipe further below.
Your perfect baked whole chicken will be perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy flavorful on the inside.
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Do you and your family enjoy a good sunday roast? I recommend my easy boneless pork loin roast.
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🔪 How to cook a whole chicken in the oven?
My mother would frequently make a hearty, comforting chicken roast meal on Sundays and I fell in love with it early on.
Her french roast chicken is an oven herb baked chicken.
Follow the simple roast chicken recipe steps to make your own roast chicken easily at home!
Step 1
Separate the neck and giblet from your chicken if there is any.
Rinse your chicken and pat dry with a paper towel.
Tie the legs together if you have a kitchen yarn.
I find it easier to work this way.
Step 2
Place the whole raw chicken (breast up!) into a roasting pan or casserole or similar.
Your chicken should fit in and you should have space to add other ingredients such as mushrooms, potatoes, vegetables of your choice.
Step 3
In a bowl mix the fresh thyme, chopped garlic, salt and pepper with the olive oil.
Pour the olive oil mixture over the chicken and leave some over to rub it into the chicken (because your store-bought chicken comes gutted and hollow and we want to add flavor there too).
Step 4
Cook your chicken in your preheated oven at 350 Fahrenheit/ 180 Celsius until you have a cooked crispy oven baked chicken.
Take out the chicken every 15-20 minutes to baste it with the roasting pan sauce or pour over sauce.
Don't skip the basting part, it's essential!
Step 5
Leave your baked chicken to cool before you carve it out.
Enjoy!
That's it, just follow these steps and find more details in the recipe further below to learn how to roast a chicken in the oven.
⌛ Cooking duration
The roast chicken cooking time in the oven depends on the size of your chicken.
A smaller young chicken will cook faster, a large chicken will take much longer to cook through.
Your Chicken will be uncooked on the inside and dry on the outer parts if your chicken cooked on high heat but not long enough.
The right balance between the size of your chicken, the oven temperature and roasting time is important for a perfect crispy skinned oven roasted chicken.
Size and cooking length
I roast my Chicken at 350 Fahrenheit/ 180 Celsius.
Use the same temperature for the following chicken sizes to determine the best temperature to bake chicken.
- Cornish Game Hen - A young chicken, weighs less than 2 pounds/ 1 kilogram. Cooking time = 40 to 50 minutes
- Broiler (aka Fryer Chicken) - About 6 to 7 weeks old, weighs somewhere between 2 to 5 pounds/ 1 to 2.3 kilograms. Cooking time = about 50 to 60 minutes
- Roaster - About 8 weeks old, weighs more than 5 pounds/ 2.3 kilograms. Cooking time = about 1 hour to 1h 20mins hour
I usually get a broiler chicken because they tend to cook more evenly and the meat turns out juicier as well.
However, I highly recommend that you get a meat thermometer to determine the roast chicken temperature on the inside!
Perfect Roast Chicken internal Temperature is about 170 Fahrenheit/ 75 Celsius.
Check at the body, where you have the most of meat, at the deepest point.
💡 Tips
Baste your chicken frequently with the oily sauce. The chicken meat will remain moist, tender and juicy and the skin will turn out crispy.
I take out my chicken every 15 or so minutes and baste it with the juice in the pan.
Make a few cuts into your chicken if you are unsure if your chicken will cook through properly.
This can help when you have a large chicken and when you are going to carve it out anyway right after the roasted chicken has cooled down.
Use your meat Thermometer to check on the internal temperature of your roast chicken. Do not exceed 180 Fahrenheit / 80 Celsius.
🧂 Seasoning
My mum's recipe is a French herb roasted chicken seasoned with fresh thyme and garlic.
Olive oil blends well with the fresh herb and keeps the chicken meat moist and will turn it into a crispy roast chicken
I love adding mushrooms as well such as button mushrooms (aka champignon de Paris) or Chanterelle and Oyster Mushrooms.
👁️ Serving
- Fragrant Rice
- Potatoes
- Candied Carrots
- Green Beans
- Brussels Sprouts
Dear Reader, what side dish you want to serve with this roast chicken?
Global Food Recipes
with Spices and Herbs
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📖 Recipe
how to roast a chicken in the oven
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- 2 Tablespoon Thyme Fresh packed
- 1 Whole Chicken broiler type *see post for size
- 8.8 ounces Mushrooms whole or halved
- 3-4 Shallot cut into pieces
- 3 pieces Garlic Cloves cut roughly or sliced
- 1 ¼ cup Water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit/ 180 Celcius.
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil, 1 Teaspoon Salt, ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground, 2 Tablespoon Thyme Fresh
- Remove the chicken neck and giblets if there are any. Rinse the chicken, tap dry with a paper towel and place the chicken with the breast up into a roasting plate1 Whole Chicken
- Take some of the olive oil mixture and rub into the chicken. Tie your chicken legs together if you like (I prefer it that way). Rub the remaining olive oil mixture over the chicken breast into the skin.
- Place the mushrooms, shallots and the rest of the garlic around the chicken. Take the chicken dish into the oven to roast.8.8 ounces Mushrooms, 3-4 Shallot, 3 pieces Garlic Cloves
- Roast the chicken for 15 to 20 minutes and take it out again. Pour water over the chicken and mushrooms. Take the chicken plate back to the heat into the oven1 ¼ cup Water
- Repeat the process every 15 minutes by pouring/basting the sauce in the plate over the chicken. That will keep the chicken meat moist and will crispen the skin.
- Check with a meat thermometer if the chicken is done by pocking into the main body. The chicken is cooked through when you have reached 170 Fahrenheit/ 75 Celsius.
Is the 1 1/4 cup of water to pour over the chicken, divided over the 3 times (1/4 each time), or is it 1 1/4 c each time?
No, place the chicken into the oven. Roast it for about 15 minutes, take it out, and pour all the water over the chicken and into the roasting pan. I clarified it in the recipe card again with the ingredient quantity next to the step in light grey. Then you just need to roast it further and take the chicken out every 15 minutes or so, to baste the chicken with the liquids that are already sitting in the pan. That way your chicken will turn out crispy on the outside and juice on the inside.
I love the use of mushrooms in this recipe! Thyme is used a lot in Jamaican cuisine so I always have it at hand. I would love to try this recipe - I'm going to make sure I update my grocery list. Lovely photographs, Helene! 🙂
The roast chicken is so good! It's one of the ultimate comforting foods, especially for lunch on Sundays 🙂
Nothing beats a good roast chicken, Helene and I have to say, yours looks superb! I love the addition of thyme. I usually season chicken with sage but I actually prefer thyme. Must try it next time.
Thank you so much for sharing...
sundays are definitely the perfect days for a meal like this!
Yummy! The chicken looks so moist and delish. Thanks for sharing all the great roasting tips!
This is a lovely way to cook a chicken and I had a feeling this was a French recipe. This is great comfort cooking and perfect for a Sunday night xx
yes I completely agree Charlie =) Was it the thyme that gave it away? =P
My friend makes something similar to this and it is divine!! 😀
Flavouring this chicken looks perfect 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you for this wonderful post, Helene. Love for your mum seems to be infused into your words and recipe <3
Oh yes the lavender fields are amazing and the air smells so wonderfully too. I really miss the south, is it very visible in this post? 😉
We love roasted chickens in my house. In fact my husband would be happy eating one every night of the week. Your mums recipe sounds wonderful and moist. I'll have to give it a try.
haha just like my husband. lol Those boys no?! 😉
A whole roast chicken is such a classic dish. An absolute comfort food for me. This one looks amazing.
It has been a long while since I last did a whole chicken. I love thyme and use it a lot in my baking too. The chicken looks very tender and delicious, Helene.
Oh yes I saw that you used it a lot in your cooking. Thank you for your compliment.
Great looking chicken! Roast chicken is one of those dishes we have at least once a month - it's such good stuff! Thyme is probably my favorite herb, and I use it with everything, but I agree it's terrific with chicken. Good post - thanks.
I didn't have it for a very long time. Only when we got our oven in september I had the chance to make it once again. It's great isn't it? =)
Oh, yes. Now I must put a whole chicken on my shopping list! Your roast chicken is picture perfect!