Recipes

Sara’s Roast Chicken with Sage and Garlic

  • Serves

    serves 4

  • Cook

    2 hours

ANDRE BARANOWSKI

This simple but delicious roast chicken is based on a recipe in Olives and Oranges by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox.

Ingredients

  • 1 (4 lb.) chicken
  • 1 lemon
  • 22 fresh sage leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 8 sprigs parsley
  • 2 small onions, quartered
  • 2 carrots, cut into 2" pieces
  • Fleur de sel

Instructions

Step 1

Heat oven to 475°. Rinse chicken under cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Peel lemon, avoiding white pith. Finely chop lemon peel, sage, and garlic together; place in a bowl. Add butter and 1 tsp. salt. Stir to combine. Quarter the peeled lemon; set aside.

Step 2

Using your fingers and a small, sharp knife, loosen skin of chicken from breasts and thighs. Slip butter mixture between skin and flesh, spreading it evenly. Rub skin with oil; season skin and cavity with salt and pepper to taste. Stuff with quartered lemon, parsley, and 1 quartered onion. Tie legs together with kitchen twine, if you like.

Step 3

Put remaining quartered onion and carrots into center of roasting pan and place chicken on top of them. Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 400˚. Continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh (without touching bone) reads 165°, about 1 hour more. Transfer chicken to a platter; sprinkle with fleur de sel; let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Continue to Next Story

Want more SAVEUR?

Get our favorite recipes, stories, and more delivered to your inbox.