This roasted chicken is stuffed with lemons and oranges, rubbed with rosemary butter, and baked atop carrots and potatoes to make a complete meal the whole family will love.
I don’t know that love of food is necessarily a Southern thing, but it’s certainly a thing in this Southern family! Not only do we love to cook and eat together, but we even love to talk about food! Our group texts are about what we’re cooking and eating that night, our Christmas gifts are food-related, we go to food festivals and cooking classes together… To say we’re a family of foodies would be an immense understatement.
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This roasted chicken recipe came to us from my oldest brother Will via text message one night after he made it for his family… You want to talk about some foodies, his kids are 7 and 9 and not only do they love to cook and eat, but they have sophisticated, grown-up palettes and a meal like this is right up their alley.
In Will’s text to us, he tell us that he made a “paste” out of butter, lemon and orange zest, garlic, thyme, and rosemary. As delicious as the thyme sounds we didn’t have any on hand, so we left it out of this recipe.
You take the paste, rub it up under the skin and all over the outside of the chicken. Then, season with salt and pepper and stuff the chicken with half the oranges and lemons.
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If you cooked the roots and the chicken the same amount of time the carrots and potatoes will get all mushy, so cook the chicken for about 45 minutes on its own first, being sure to use a rack to keep it up off the bottom of the pan.
Later you can add the potatoes and carrots to the bottom of the pan to replace the rack and top them with the remaining lemons and oranges, rosemary, and olive oil. Put the chicken back on top and return it to the oven until the chicken is done and the roots are tender.
Hey! If you’re reading this then you love citrus flavors. You should check out our Orange Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Orange Frosting. They are the best!
We can’t thank Will enough for sharing this one… it’s unique, delicious, and beautiful enough to serve to company during the holidays. Don’t forget to comment below and tell us what you think!
If you’re here you must love chicken so be sure to get the recipe for our Italian Chicken in Creamy Pan Sauce. It’s to die for!
Check out Meal Plan Monday for this and lots of other great recipes.
Citrus Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 Roaster chicken 5-6 lbs
- 2-3 lbs fingerling potatoes
- 5-6 carrots peeled
- 3-4 lemons zested (1) and thinly sliced
- 2-3 oranges zested (1) and thinly sliced
- 3 sprigs rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Combine ingredients for herbed butter. Rub half mixture under skin on chicken and the rest on the outside of the chicken. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Stuff chicken with half the lemon and orange slices (don’t forget to remove the unmentionables first!)
- Place chicken on a rack inside a roasting pan. Cover wing tips with tinfoil, tie legs together, and bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove chicken from oven and rack from pan. Line bottom of pan with potatoes and carrots. Top with remaining citrus slices and rosemary sprigs and drizzle with olive oil.
- Place chicken directly on top of potatoes, carrots, and citrus. Return to oven 45 minutes-1 hour (or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender).
- Serve with pan juices spooned over chicken and veggies.
This chicken sounds out of this world! The flavors are amazing! I was born on a small farm in Connecticut, but live in North Carolina now. We love food too! Always spreading the love with homemade goodness!
Thanks, Jessica. It is a pretty outstanding combination of flavors.
I bet it would be great using some lemon & orange sage too.
I looove oven roasted chicken as it gives it such a delicious crunch and flavor. The addition of citrus makes it even more flavorful n I’ll have to try soon.
Thanks, Molly. Hope you enjoy!
This is such a beautiful dish. So impressive the young kids love it. Mine are getting more adventurous as they get older, and I’m thinking they would love this too. So hearty and healthy!
Thanks so much, Valentina!
This is so mouthwatering!
Thanks Rebecca!
My kids would love this for dinner! Chicken and oranges pair so well together and this sounds perfect. Recipe saved!
Awww… thanks so much, Hanady. Hope you enjoy!
Ths chicken looks and sounds amazing, and I will be making it this week.
Looks like Will offered a major winner! I am definitely going to try this!
Thanks, Susan! You’ll love it.
Easy solution rosemary gets the first win, Jade gets the second, then rosemary gets the grudge match.
Easy solution rosemary gets the first win, Jade gets the second, then rosemary gets the grudge match.
We made this chicken tonight for dinner, and it was yummy.
Yay! So glad y’all enjoyed it!