Last Updated on April 21, 2026 by Deliciously Organic Editor
Butterflied roast chicken with red onions is my “I don’t want to cook” meal. It’s fast and requires very little hands-on preparation.
To prepare – I butterfly the chicken, brush it with ghee, add some onions, season with coarse grey Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper, put it in the oven and walk away. About one hour later I have a beautiful chicken with roasted onions!
Here are step-by-step instructions on how to butterfly a chicken. It’s super easy!
If you’ve never roasted red onions, you’re in for a treat. The high heat brings out the sweetness of the onion and those last bits on the edges of the pan are the best!
I’ve made this multiple times for company – two chickens, onions, and a big salad. Throw in some fudgy chocolate tarts, and maybe a glass of wine or kombucha, and you’re done!
I usually have some chicken left over for lunch the next day and then I use the bones for homemade chicken stock. Even in the heat of summer, I don’t mind turning the oven on, because I’m not standing over it to cook.
Turn it on, pop in the food, and walk away. Roast chicken done easy. Welcome to delicious, organic “fast-food”.
PrintButterflied Roast Chicken with Red Onions
This is a variation of a recipe from my cookbook, Deliciously Organic. Other vegetables that you can use are: zucchini, cauliflower, squash, bell pepper, etc.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 (4-5 pound) chicken, butterflied
- 4 tablespoons ghee, at room temperature
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Celtic sea salt, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Onions:
- 2 large red onions, cut into wedges
- 1 tablespoon ghee, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F and adjust oven rack to medium position.
- Pat chicken with a dry cloth to make sure the skin is dry. Stir together softened ghee (clarified butter), thyme, and 1 teaspoon sea salt in a small bowl. Gently lift the skin and rub herbed butter under the skin of breasts, thighs, and legs. Season the entire chicken generously with sea salt and pepper.
- Place chicken in roasting pan. Toss red onion wedges, melted ghee, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour onions around chicken in roasting pan. Roast chicken for 30 minutes and then rotate pan 180 degrees. Continue to roast, about 25 minutes, until crisp and golden brown, and when a thermometer reaches 160°F when inserted in the thickest part of the breast. Remove from the oven and before serving, let the chicken rest for about 15 minutes to allow juices to redistribute.
I love the way the house smells when there is chicken roasting in the oven. Looks amazing, Carrie! If I don’t want to use ghee, is olive oil a good choice?
Thanks! Olive oil has a medium smoking point, so I don’t recommend it. But, you could lower the temp to 375 and use olive oil. It will take about 1 1/2 hours to cook, but then you can substitute the ghee.
Yum, Carrie. This looks perfect!
Just had something almost exactly like this last night!
variations:
Heat the oven to 450 but turn in down to 400 when you put the chicken in. Cooks in 60-90 minutes, depending
I don’t butterfly the chicken (going to try it though!) but I stuff a pricked lemon and a bunch of thyme and rosemary into the cavity (1 each)
In addition to red onions, I do a few cloves of garlic, carrots, celery and sometimes potatoes
I love this meal!
So beautiful and rustic Carrie!
This looks so delicious and the picture is just great, full harmony of colors. We operate an organic farm in Shanghai, China. Drop by and share some healthy treat with us 🙂
Best,
Linda Kearns
Shanghai, China
Foodie & Awareness Builder
This looks wonderful. Such a great example of comfort food!
Just now, I have realized I have never roasted red onions. Not that I did not want to, I just perhaps never got around doing it. I know somewhere somehow I have encountered a recipe needing roasted red onions, but may be the recipe was not inspiring enough. This I’ve really gotta try. This is definitely a ” relaxation weekend with the family” type of dish. Yummy!
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I agree, Carrie, that roast chicken is the go-to no fuss meal!
I actually found this recipe in your cookbook over the weekend and decided to make it last night. It was DElicious! Butterflying the whole chicken made it look pretty too – and the roasted red onions…yum! Thanks for sharing the recipe – I’m sure I’ll be making it again soon!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! And the rosemary sounds like a great idea!
also forgot to say – when I was making the herb butter, I discovered I was out of thyme (out of time? haha) and I used rosemary instead and it came out great!
I made this last night and perhaps got it from your meal plans? Not sure, but it was your recipe. Added summer veggies and a quartered lemon and it was so delish! It’s now a regular here.
Made this recipe a few days ago, it is AMAZING!:)thank you i will be cooking some of your other recipes in the near future!:)))))))
P.s
So easy and delicious, thanks again!:).
Roast chicken is part of our Sunday night dinner rotation. Classic and always fantastic. Yours is beautiful! It’s no fuss and we all need dinners like that.
This is the best.chicken.EVER!! The roasted red onions put it over the top!
Thanks for the feedback, Christi. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This is the second time I’m making this. Butterflying helps with the cooking time. I always had trouble getting the whole chicken done evenly before. I used small white potatoes, whole carrots, and the onions (LOVE red onion any way you use it) and put the chicken on top. As it cooked, I lifted it to stir the veggies around some. They come out tasting so incredibly rich and flavorful. My hubby said he can hardly wait for leftovers tomorrow! Maybe next time I’ll do some sweet potatoes. I used a huge cast iron skillet, which is my fave cookware. And Lodge Cast Iron is still made in the USA. I have cast iron pieces more than 100 years old, and they just add to the look of this gorgeous dish. Thanks a million for this one!
Thank you so much for the feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I make this chicken all the time using the recipe from your cookbook– which is slightly different and uses coconut oil. The coconut oil always “spits” in the oven causing my smoke alarm to go off- which is a little annoying but not enough to get me to stop making this since it is the best roasted chicken I have ever had!
But I’m wondering, will the ghee prevent the smoke or should I just use a slightly lower temperature (425 perhaps)?
I’ve had the same issue lately. My girls are used to opening the doors and windows when I roast the chicken. Ha! I’ve found the ghee is actually worse. I’ve read in a few places to put a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pan to prevent the splattering. I haven’t tried it yet, but it seems like a good idea!
Jut wanted to say I made this on saturday and it was great my family loved it thanks for posting it
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
This recipe is FANTASTIC! I have made it several times and have added cauliflower to the onions. I save the bones for stock- which is awesome because you also have great soup recipes here :)! Keep up the great work!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this tonight. I added some halved baby potatoes to roasting pan. After drying the chicken, I salted it and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge. And, instead of putting the herb butter (which I added garlic salt, & greek spice too) onto the chicken before roasting, I brushed it onto the finished chicken.
That chicken was absolutely spectacular. The skin was crispy and bursting with flavor. The potatoes were perfectly dark and caramelized on the outside and creamy on the instead. The onions were a perfect compliment with deep caramelization.
Thank you for sharing this, its easily one of the best roasted chickens I have ever tasted!
I have made chicken this way for years. You can use extra virgin olive oil that is what I use and dont have a problem. I use Italian seasoning for mine. I also put lemon slices under the skin. I only buy 3 to 31/2 lb chickens only takes 45 minutes.
Hi! This recipe is delishious! This is the second time I made it and it has been such a success with the whipole family. I wanted to add my variations for insight for others…
I used thyme and rosemary and also put potatoes, zucchini, and carrots in the roasting pan with the chicken. This makes it a one pot meal and makes life that much easier. All the veggies come out tasting amazing!
Thanks Carrie!
Would this recipe work on a cookie sheet? I don’t own a roasting pan
Yes, a cookie sheet will work!
This butterflied roast chicken with red onions sounds fantastic! I love how simple yet elegant it is—perfect for a no-fuss meal. Roasting the onions adds such great flavor, too. Thanks for sharing the recipe! I can’t wait to try it for my next dinner gathering.