Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken. Whether unbrined or with the option of brining in lemon garlic, spices & thyme this is a super juicy and flavourful roast chicken recipe that makes the perfect Sunday dinner. 

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken

UPDATE April 16, 2016 – today, I’m updating this post with slight modifications to my brine recipe and a couple of extra tips.

First of all, this recipe will be plenty flavourful even if you skip the bringing process. Lots of people have written to me over the past few years to say just that. If you don’t have time to brine, don’t let that deter you from trying this recipe, it’s still one of the best roast chickens you’ll ever try. I would say if you are not brining, you’ll probably get best results with a fresh and not a frozen chicken.

I don’t use as much salt as many do in their brines but I’ve modified the amount to provide a bit more seasoning to the meat. Also the amount of brine in this recipe is really sufficient for 2 chickens or a turkey. If making only 1 chicken you can easily make only half of the brine.

Top tips for a perfect chicken:

Another tip is to use a large enough container, don’t crowd your chickens or turkey into too small a container and decide not to use all the brine you’ve made. I have a large food grade plastic bringing bucket but lately I’ve been using a camping cooler (even a styrofoam disposable one will do). I use a bag of ice still in the bag, added to the cooler to keep everything nice and cold for 24 hours.

One thing I didn’t mentioning the original post was that when I carve the chicken or turkey onto a platter, I cut the hot lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the pieces before serving for an extra punch of bright lemon flavour.

On this occasion we also served the chicken with one of my kids favourites, Smash Roasted Potatoes which are pictured in the background with some simple steamed broccoli as side dishes for this satisfying comfort food meal.

From April 21 2009:

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken

This simple brined roast chicken was Sunday supper for us this week. It is definitely the most flavourful roast chicken I have ever eaten. Our whole family loves this roast chicken and if leftovers are planned I have to make two of them for sure.

Boiling the lemon for the cavity is a great technique that I saw on one of Jamie Oliver’s shows a while back, because it gives the lemon a head start in infusing the meat with flavour; it works really, really well.

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken

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Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken

This recipe is also one of our TOP 50 Best Lemon Recipes! Be sure to check out the whole collection of sweet and savoury recipes HERE:

Best Lemon Recipes

Yield: 4 servings

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken - brined in lemon, spices & thyme

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Lemon Thyme Roast Chicken - brined in lemon, spices & thyme. A super juicy and flavourful roast chicken recipe that makes the perfect Sunday dinner.

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Ingredients

• 3 tbsp peppercorns
• 4 tbsp dry thyme
• 4 tbsp anise seeds or 4 whole star anise
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 cup boiling water
• 6 litres water
• Juice of 1 whole lemon + peel
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 chopped onion
• Few sprigs fresh thyme if you have them
• ¾ cup brown sugar (Here you can experiment with flavours by using equal amounts of other sugars like honey, maple, molasses or brown sugar.)
• 1 cup kosher salt
• A 3 to 4 pound chicken (you can brine 2 chickens at once; see notes)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Season the skin with some chopped fresh thyme, dried can be substituted
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small whole lemon
• About 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 cloves peeled garlic

Instructions

1. In a small bowl combine the peppercorns, thyme, anise, cloves and boiling water.
2. Set aside to steep for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the brine.
3. In a large bowl combine the 6 litres water, lemon juice and peel, garlic, onion, sugar, salt and fresh thyme if you have it plus the herbs that have previously steeped.
4. Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved, then submerge the chicken/s entirely in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or preferably overnight.
5. Pull the chicken from the brine and pat the skin dry with paper towels. Rub the entire surface of the chicken with the olive oil.
6. Season the skin with a little chopped fresh thyme.
7. Boil 1 lemon for about 10 minutes.
8. Stab the lemon about a dozen times with a fork and stuff it into the cavity of the bird along with the thyme and garlic cloves.
9. Roast uncovered on a rack in a preheated 375 degree F oven until a meat thermometer reaches 185 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the breast meat ( approximate 1 ½ hours or longer depending on the actual weight of the chicken).
10. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 - 15 minutes before carving. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice onto the carved chicken pieces before serving.

Notes

• This recipe had incorrectly said to season the chicken with salt before going in the oven. That line has been removed because bringing a chicken completely seasons the meat.
• Also, the brine amount is sufficient for 2 chickens if the container is the right size. The container should be big enough to be able to hold the chickens plus the brining liquid and have the chickens completely submerged.
• The same brine works well for turkey too.

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Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1/4 chicken
Amount Per Serving Calories 837Total Fat 28gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 289mgSodium 961mgCarbohydrates 59gFiber 6gSugar 43gProtein 109g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.