Recipes | Roasted Chicken with Lemon, Garlic & Thyme

There is nothing better on rainy Sunday than a Classic Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Thyme... complete with mashed potatoes and gravy, of course.  I love to fix this when we're both home all day, because it makes the house smell so delicious.  Being just roasted chicken and vegetables, this is a relatively healthy dinner.  If you decide to go the mashed potatoes and gravy route (which I think you definitely should), you can control how much gravy and the amount of potatoes you prepare. 

Another reason I love this is because it requires very little prep (10 minutes to stuff everything in the chicken and chop the vegetables?) and even less clean up...  basically a one pot dinner.   Just be sure to allow 1 hour for roasting the chicken.  

Classic Roasted Chicken 
with Lemon & Thyme

3-4 pound whole Chicken

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of Sea Salt

1 teaspoon of Pepper

1 head of garlic, cut in half

1 lemon, quartered

10 sprigs of thyme

3 carrots, largely chopped

1 yellow onion, quartered

10 mushrooms, halved
1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

Sprinkle salt & pepper inside the chicken cavity, then stuff it with the garlic, lemon & thyme. Place it in a dutch oven. Place the vegetables around the chicken, then drizzle them and the chicken with olive oil. Salt & Pepper generously.

Roast at 425 degrees for 50-60 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken).   Remove the chicken from the pan, cover with foil and allow it to rest.  Place the dutch oven on the stove top on a medium heat. While stirring, add 2 tablespoons of flour to the fat drippings from the chicken, then 1 - 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock. Whisk until smooth. Cook 5 minutes until thick and bubbly. If you'd like to thicker gravy, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave, then add 2-3 tablespoons of flour to it.  Mix it in with the gravy.