Meyer Lemon Roasted Chicken with Rosemary
At least once a month we have a roast chicken night. It never gets old and everyone in the family benefits from leftovers, even the pups. It’s a dinner that feeds us for days. From leftover chicken sandwiches and chicken noodle soup, every bite tastes like a new meal. Roast chicken is a weeknight celebration of food and yummy aromas that fills the house. Sierra has been especially tired lately and lost much of her appetite. She’s going on 15 years old this year and her body isn’t like it used to be. But a smells of roast chicken gives her an appetite and she loves her share of warm cooked chicken. So that’s the extra added bonus of happiness of us all and roast chicken dinners more often!

Simple Lemon Roast Chicken Recipe
If you’ve never roasted a whole chicken before, you really should give it a try. Sure, it takes a little time to roast the chicken in the oven, but the rewards are endless. Not only do you have wonderful aromas filling the house, but you get a warm budget friendly meal. Best of all, you have leftovers for chicken soup, salads and sandwiches. It’s a meal that can last for days and it keeps on giving.
Video: Recipe for Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken & Garden Scenes
During this cooler winter-ish time of year we’re overloaded with fresh lemons. As you already know, we’re pretty obsessed with citrus with two meyer lemon trees. The sweet, floral and beautiful aromas of meyer lemons are fantastic. The recipe inspirations with meyer lemons this time of year get overloaded too. It’s hard to catch up to so many fantastic things to do with meyer lemons. But the most basic and favorite recipe is our meyer lemon roasted chicken. Add some rosemary and it’s a weeknight favorite lemon herb chicken dinner.
How to Cook Lemon Rosemary Roast Chicken Recipe
This isn’t a seasonal recipe, though meyer lemons are very seasonal. You can use any type of lemon that you crave. From bright eureka lemons to sweet Persian lemons, let the lemons be your guide. You can also use any herbs that you want. This time of year, the only herb that grows well in Southern California is rosemary. But if you have dried herbs, then your possibilities are even more endless and delicious!
- For extra crispy skin, we give suggestion tips in the recipe box below. Salting the chicken with salt and pepper and letting it rest in the kitchen helps the skin become extra crispy during baking.
- You can make this into a meal prep by having the marinade all ready to go. Or you can marinade the chicken and have it in the fridge before baking. But we suggest you let it sit out for about an hour to come to room temperature OR if you don’t want to do that, just bake it for a little longer. If the chicken is really cold on the inside, it will take a little longer to cook through.
- Buy a kitchen thermometer to test the internal temperature!
Size of Whole Chicken Cooking Times
Whole chickens range so much in size. Anywhere from 3.5 pounds to 5 pounds is common. So cooking times will vary depending on your size of chicken. We usually buy a 4 pound chicken and it works with our baking time below in the recipe box. But to be sure, you should invest in a kitchen thermometer to ensure that your chicken is cooked all the way through. Below are a few good suggestions:
Meyer Lemon & Rosemary Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole Chicken (about 4 lbs./1.75kg)
- 2 Meyer Lemons , 1 for zesting and juice and 1 cut into wedges for serving
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) fresh chopped Rosemary
- 4 garlic cloves , peeled & slighly smashed
- Kosher Salt
- fresh cracked Black Pepper
Optional Vegetables:
- 2 medium potatoes , cut into 1-inch/2.5cm pieces
- 2 carrots , cut into 1-inch /2.5cm pieces
- 3-4 turnips or radishes , cut into 1-inch /2.5cm pieces
Equipment
- Instant Read Thermometer optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Pat dry the chicken. For the crispiest skin – proceed to step 2. For quickest preparation– proceed to step 3.
- Optional for Crispiest Skin: Generously sprinkle salt all over the chicken. Set on a plate, place in fridge and allow to air dry for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Remove from fridge and pat dry water that had come to skin surface.
- Zest one meyer lemon. Combine the 2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil, 2 Tablespoons (30ml) of chopped rosemary, and the meyer lemon zest. Set aside.
- Place the chicken in a baking dish or large cast iron skillet. Brush the chicken with the meyer lemon and rosemary seasoned oil.
- Squeeze the juice from the zested meyer lemon over and inside the chicken then place the squeezed pieces in the roasting pan with the chicken. Place the garlic inside the chicken or under the skin and season the chicken with salt and black pepper.
- If cooking with the vegetables, lightly oil the vegetables and season with salt & pepper. Place them around the chicken in the baking dish.
- Roast at 425°F/220°C for about 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes or until juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh or the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F/74°C when probed with an instant read thermometer. If cooking with the potatoes and carrots: after the chicken & veggies have cooked for about 50 minutes, check the vegetables to see how tender they are. If they are perfect, remove them and set aside until the chicken is done. If you’d like the more tender, return the chicken and veggies to the oven and finish cooking, if needed removing the potatoes and carrots early.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 10 minutes. Carve and serve with the remaining meyer lemon wedges to squeeze as desired.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Enjoy more of our everyday recipes:
- Manhattan clam chowder (tomato based)
- Roasted carrots with mint dressing
- Healthy air fryer salmon recipe
Lemon and rosemary go so well together! The chicken was juicy and flavorful. I’m so glad to find this recipe.
SOOOOO good!!! I love the flavors you brought to this roast chicken recipe.
no trussing the bird? ย I would think those legs and wings would get pretty crispy.
You can certainly truss the chicken if you want! We sometimes prefer crispy legs and wings and that’s when we don’t truss.