Ina Garten’s Perfect Roast Chicken
Updated December 28, 2025
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
- Total Time
- About 2¼ hours
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- About 2 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 whole (5- to 6-pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme
1 lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 Spanish onion, thickly sliced
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 to 4 servings)
17 grams carbs; 342 milligrams cholesterol; 936 calories; 26 grams monosaturated fat; 13 grams polyunsaturated fat; 20 grams saturated fat; 65 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 1207 milligrams sodium; 68 grams protein; 3 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the chicken in a roasting pan just large enough to hold it.
- Step 2
Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both lemon halves and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper.
- Step 3
Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Scatter the onion slices around the chicken. (See Tip for cooking instructions if you'd like to also roast potatoes and carrots with the chicken.)
- Step 4
Roast the chicken for 1 ½ hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy.
- Step 5
Remove all the fat from the bottom of the roasting pan, reserving 2 tablespoons in a small cup. Add the chicken stock to the pan and cook on high heat for about 5 minutes, until reduced, scraping the bottom of the pan.
- Step 6
Combine the 2 tablespoons of chicken fat with the flour and add to the pan. Boil for a few minutes to cook the flour. Strain the gravy into a small saucepan and season it to taste. Keep it warm over a very low flame while you carve the chicken.
- Step 7
Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve immediately with the warm gravy.
If you want to roast vegetables with the chicken, add 8 whole new red potatoes and 4 carrots, cut diagonally into quarters, to the onions. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables for roasting.
Private Notes
Comments
I've found that salting and peppering the chicken a day ahead and letting it dry brine in the fridge overnight immensely improves flavor.
I am an overseas huge fan of NY Times recipes. This one is a good recipe, but I prefer the simple way french make it, if I may suggest. Instead of a gravy with flour, you just use the juice and fat the chicken has rendered during cooking, and make it lighter by adding a bit of hot boiled water to the cooking dish you used, and make sure scrapping all the brown bits on the edges, and mix well, simply with a spoon. You also add a few unpeeled garlic cloves at middle stage of cooking, or at the beginning, depending on how high the oven temperature is. With the thyme, it makes just the perfect, nicely scented roast chicken sauce you fill find in French restaurants. Serve with mash potatoes, or french fries. A classic over here. And of course no one washes their chicken here. Not sure anyone would ever have heard of it. Since only the heat kills the bacterias, I would avoid wasting time and spreading them all over your sink. But, cultural differences …
Instead of making gravy, I serve the chicken with the jus from the pan. Easier and still delicious. And I always add carrots with the onion.
I prefer Patricia Wells method from her book on French cooking. I’ve been making it for years ever since it was published in NYT
Making this RIGHT now in #SoHo...😎 EXACTLY as Ina says... My Loft Smells DELICIOUS.. "Almost" don't wanna eat it.. 😉🤣🍸😎... Thanks, Ina! Cheers *clink* 🥂🍾😎
Started this recipe but don't know what it means to cut a carrot diagonally into quarters. Didn't know whether to peel them. Decided to skip peeling, consulted the internet about cutting, and ended up with these weird thick looking carrot pieces that don't look like the picture. I guess I need an actual cookbook with more and better pictures. I guess recipes are for people who already know how to cook or the basics at least. Argh.