Go Back
–+ servings
Ebonie Garnica

Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

A butterflied chicken cooks under parchment and foil with whole garlic cloves, lemon wedges, thyme, and a little liquid in the pan. After two hours at a low oven temperature, remove the cover and turn up the heat to brown the skin. Rest the chicken before carving.
This recipe makes one roasted chicken. The number of servings depends on how you portion it.
Print Recipe
Servings: 1 batch
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole chicken 3 to 4 pounds each, butterflied
  • 1 head garlic separated into unpeeled cloves
  • 2 organic lemons cut into eighths
  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 3 tablespoons ghee preferably homemade
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup homemade chicken Meat Stock made from a raw whole chicken or raw meaty bone-in pieces for occasional use, substitute the same measured amount of additive-free dry white wine

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 300°F and place a rack in the middle.
  2. Set the chicken skin-side up in a large roasting pan. Arrange the garlic cloves and lemon pieces around it.
  3. Strip the leaves from three of every five measured thyme sprigs and scatter them over the chicken, garlic, and lemon. Add the remaining thyme sprigs to the pan.
  4. Pour the ghee over the chicken and rub it across the skin. Season generously with salt and pepper. Pour the Meat Stock or wine into the pan around the chicken.
  5. Lay parchment over the pan, then cover tightly with foil. Roast for 2 hours.
  6. Remove the foil and parchment and raise the oven to 400°F. Roast uncovered for another 30 to 45 minutes, until the skin is golden and a thermometer in the thickest part of the breast reads 170°F. Check that the thickest part of the thigh also reaches at least 165°F (74°C).
  7. Remove the chicken from the oven and rest it for 20 minutes before serving.

Notes

This recipe makes one roasted chicken. The number of servings depends on how you portion it.
Roast covered for 2 hours, then uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes. Check the breast for 170°F and the thigh for at least 165°F (74°C); rest for 20 minutes. Allow additional time to prepare the ingredients.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!