Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
Slow-roasted garlic and lemon chicken is one of the easiest and most flavorful dinners you can make!
This recipe is very, very easy to make. You simply place the chicken, lemons, thyme and garlic in a large roasted dish, drizzle with ghee, pour over the wine or stock, and then roast it for a few hours in the oven.
I recommend serving it with soaked brown rice or creamy mashed potatoes, and slow-cooked greens with garlic. If there are leftovers, you can place all dishes in a dish and reheat in the oven for an amazing lunch the next day!
PrintSlow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken
Adapted from Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson.
Ingredients
Units
- 1 3-4 pound chicken, butterflied
- 1 head garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves
- 2 organic lemons, cut into eighths
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 1/2 cup white wine (you can substitute with chicken stock)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F and adjust oven to middle position. Place chicken skin-side up in a large roasting pan and arrange garlic cloves and lemon around the chicken. Pull the leaves off of 3 sprigs of thyme and sprinkle over chicken, garlic and lemon. Pour the ghee over the chicken and using your hands, rub the oil onto the skin of the chicken. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Pour white wine in pan, around the chicken. Place a piece of parchment paper over the pan and then cover tightly with foil.
- Place in the oven and cook for 2 hours. Remove the foil and parchment paper from the pan, and turn up the oven to 400°F. Cook the uncovered chicken for an additional 30-45 minutes, until skin is golden brown and breast registers 170°F on a thermometer. Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 4
What a gorgeous chicken! I am definitely going to try this soon!
Ooooh! A new roasted chicken recipe! I've been making roasted chicken every Monday night (after I pick up a beauty at the Sunday Farmer's Market) for years now but have always done the Zuni Chicken method. Looks like it's time for me to try out this one! Thanks for the inspiration!
This sounds so good! I just got some Himalayan pink salt, HimalaSalt, and organic peppercorns from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I think I'll try them out in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Carrie, it is so nice to know that this full, nutritious and tasty meal can be thrown together in minutes and left to cook itself. This sounds like such an elegant meal without being chained to the kitchen.
It's so good, isn't it? This is definitely one of my Nigella favorites too. The way the lemons roast up is probably my favorite part.
One of the most flavorful “simple” chicken dishes I have ever had the pleasure to put together and share with family and friends. Thank you!
This sounds great. I want to try it today but, I’ve got a chicken that is only 2.85 lbs. Do you recommend any adjustments in the cooking time or temp?
You should probably cut the cooking time at the end to 25 minutes, check, and then if needed, cook until done. Enjoy!
Making this chicken for the second time. It is so easy and delicious. I can’t thank you enough for your recipes, posts and blogs.
How would you adjust the recipe using boneless skinless breast? Not that I dont love a good whole roasted chicken but the breasts are what I have on hand 🙂
Pretty OK recipe but does not pluck the excess feathers from the chicken before cooking? How do you clean it? Pretty nasty to have a piece of bird served to you with huge feathers sticking out.
In the United States, it’s implied that when you list a “whole chicken” in a list of ingredients that the bird has already been cleaned and prepped for cooking.