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There’s nothing fairly like this straightforward Roasted Hen recipe. Each time I make it, the pores and skin turns shatter-crisp from its butter bathtub, and the tender meat is softly scented with lemon, garlic, and rosemary. There’s additionally a mixture of greens that cooks underneath the hen and take in the buttery hen jus till they’re virtually too good to share. And if you prepare dinner an entire roasted hen, you may spin the leftovers into straightforward meals for days! Speak about a budget-friendly, meal-prep worthy dish. It really is perfection.
“Have made this recipe a number of instances with a 4 or 5 pound hen and I find it irresistible a lot. The meat comes out moist, the pores and skin crispy. I make additional potatoes and carrots beneath and my associate described them as the very best greens he has had (he doesn’t actually like greens).”
Emily
Juicy Roasted Hen Each Time
I’ve tried all kinds of “methods” through the years, however the technique that offers me the juiciest, most flavorful roast hen is splendidly easy. The perfect and tastiest method to hold your hen moist is to make use of a dry brine and rub your hen down with softened butter. (Except you save your bacon fats, by which case, it is best to positively use that!) The dry brine tenderizes the meat, and the butter bastes the notoriously dry breast meat because it cooks. This retains your fowl juicy whereas including a HUGE wallop of taste. It’ll additionally offer you deeply golden, crispy pores and skin.
Now you’ve set the muse for a superbly oven-roasted hen. However why cease there? As that hen roasts and that butter melts, all the drippings fall to the underside of the pan. That is exactly why you fill the pan with carrots, onions, and potatoes. They take in all that unbelievable juice and rework into intensely flavored, unctuous bites.
For the uninitiated, roasting an entire hen within the oven could be intimidating. It used to make me nervous, too! However I’m telling you, it’s simpler than you suppose. You simply have to know just a few useful pointers, and fortunate for you, I’ve gathered lots through the years. All of it comes right down to drying your hen, utilizing salt accurately, introducing fats to maintain the breast meat moist, and utilizing the cavity as a car for taste.
To make the very best roasted hen, use these 4 methods:
- Dry your hen effectively. To verify I get additional crispy pores and skin (I take advantage of paper towels and take my time, as a result of the drier it begins, the crispier it finishes. Don’t skip this step!).
- Use a dry brine. This retains meat tender and infuses taste.
- Get a crispy pores and skin. Coat with herb butter for a deliciously golden brown crispy pores and skin.
- Make each chew stuffed with taste. Stuff the cavity with aromatics to make each chew flavorful.
I present every of the following pointers in motion within the recipe under so you may observe alongside and really feel assured doing it your self!
Roasted Hen
Price $14.83 recipe / $2.47 serving
This roasted hen recipe offers you crispy pores and skin bathed in butter and meat that is softly scented with lemon, garlic, and rosemary. It is a should strive!
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Collect substances. Place a rack within the middle of your oven and preheat it to 425°F. Take away the hen from its packaging.
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Take away the innards from the hen.
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Dry the hen completely inside and outside with paper towels.
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Dry brine the hen by rubbing salt on it, inside and outside (on prime of the pores and skin). Use 1 teaspoon of kosher salt or coarse sea salt per pound of meat. Or ½ teaspoon of tremendous sea salt or iodized salt per pound of meat. Let it relaxation uncovered in your fridge for no less than an hour, however ideally in a single day.
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Chop the greens. Quarter an onion, slice the carrots, and quarter the potatoes.
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Add the dried rosemary to the softened butter and blend completely.
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Half the bulb of garlic and quarter the lemon.
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Add the ready greens to the underside of your roasting pan.*
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Place the hen on a rack over the greens and pat it dry once more, dismissing any additional salt.
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Add the garlic and the lemon into the cavity of the hen.
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Cowl the hen inside and outside with butter. Work your approach underneath the pores and skin on the breast and add butter there too.
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To truss your hen with out utilizing twine, tuck the wings behind the hen’s again (as proven within the step photographs under). This can hold the wings from burning.
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Then, with a knife, rigorously poke a gap in a single aspect of the pores and skin hanging off the breast, masking the cavity opening. Fastidiously stick every drumstick into the opening.**
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Roast your hen at 425°F for about 20 minutes per pound, or till a meat thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160°F and inserted into the thigh it reads 170°F. Take away the hen from the pan and place it on a serving platter. Let it relaxation for no less than ten minutes earlier than carving it. Serve with roasted greens topped with any drippings and revel in.
See how we calculate recipe prices right here.
**The legs might find yourself coming out because the hen cooks and the pores and skin shrinks, however this can assist hold your hen plump and roasting completely.
Serving: 1cupEnergy: 291kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 16gFats: 21gSodium: 334mgFiber: 1g
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The way to Roast a Hen Step-by-Step Images
Collect your whole substances. Set your oven rack within the center and heat the oven to 425°F. Take the hen out of its packaging.
Prep the hen: Take away the innards out of your hen. Reserve them for hen inventory.
Dry the hen completely inside and outside with paper towels.
Dry brine the hen: Season the hen with a dry brine by rubbing salt everywhere in the floor of the pores and skin and contained in the cavity. Persist with 1 teaspoon of kosher or coarse sea salt per pound, or 1/2 teaspoon per pound for those who’re utilizing tremendous sea salt or iodized salt. Go away the hen uncovered within the fridge for no less than an hour, although in a single day is right.
Prep the veggies: When the hen has brined for an hour, chop the greens. Quarter an onion, slice 3 carrots, and quarter 2 potatoes.
Make the herb butter: Add 1 Tbsp of dried rosemary to the softened 8 Tbsp of butter and blend completely.
Slice the aromatics: Slice the garlic bulb in half and reduce the lemon into quarters.
Get able to roast: Unfold the ready greens throughout the underside of your roasting pan.
Set the hen on a rack over the veggies, pat it dry yet one more time, and brush away any extra salt.
Tuck the garlic and lemon items into the cavity of the hen.
Cowl the hen inside and outside with the herb butter. Work your approach underneath the pores and skin on the breast and add butter there too.
Truss the hen: For a easy twine-free truss, fold the wings behind the hen in order that they don’t burn.
Then use a knife to make a small slit within the pores and skin flap close to the cavity opening…
…and slip each drumsticks by the opening.
Don’t fear if the legs come out because the hen cooks. It’ll nonetheless assist to maintain your hen plump and ensure it roasts completely.
Prepare dinner: Roast at 425°F for roughly 20 minutes per pound, or till a thermometer reads about 160°F within the breast and 170°F within the thigh. Transfer the hen to a platter and let it relaxation for no less than ten minutes earlier than slicing. Serve with the roasted greens and spoon any pan drippings excessive. Get pleasure from.
Pull any leftover meat off the bones and retailer it in an hermetic container. Reserve the bones for hen inventory. Merely add them to a freezer-safe container and freeze them till you might be prepared to make use of them. Use the pulled hen for different recipes.
This recipe is fail-safe, so even rookies can observe the instructions and really feel assured from begin to end! Nevertheless, listed below are just a few additional suggestions and explanations to make it even simpler:
What Is A Dry Brine?
Dry brining is the act of salting hen (or some other meat) and letting it sit uncovered whereas the salt attracts out the juices. The hen then reabsorbs the now-salted juices, which tenderize the meat and add deep flavors all the way in which to the bone. That is far superior to only salting the pores and skin on the surface, which leaves you with a bland fowl.
You possibly can dry brine for as little as an hour, however if you need actual magic, dry brine your hen in a single day. Go away it uncovered in your fridge, on the underside shelf, for no less than 8 hours.
Why Ought to I Stuff Hen?
Leaving the hen’s cavity empty is a missed alternative so as to add taste. Stuff the cavity with aromatics, like garlic and lemon. When you’ve got recent rosemary, put a sprig in there as effectively. (If you happen to don’t, that’s OK. You add dried rosemary to your butter on this recipe.) Because the hen cooks, the garlic, lemon, and rosemary launch their essences and fragrance your whole fowl, from the within out.
Ought to I Baste Hen?
I do know, I do know. Each time you see somebody cooking hen on TV, there’s at all times a scene the place they’ve the oven door broad open as they baste their hen in its juices. Don’t imagine the hype. (Stated in my greatest Taste Flav.) You don’t must baste hen to get juicy outcomes. That’s what the dry brine was for in my recipe—leaving the oven door open to baste lets all the warmth escape and ruins the roast.
What Temperature Do I Prepare dinner Hen To?
Insert a thermometer into the breast and pull the hen at 160°F. Keep away from touching the bone for an correct studying. Then, verify the thickest a part of the thigh and search for about 170°F, once more with out hitting the bone.
Bear in mind the magic of carry-over cooking. The hen will proceed to rise in temperature when it’s out of the oven.
- The temperature rises 5 to 10 levels whereas resting.
- After resting for 10 minutes, the hen will settle into the best vary:
- 165°F to 170°F for the breast
- 175°F to 180°F for the thighs
No thermometer?
- Minimize the place the thigh meets the physique.
- Pink or purple juices = wants a bit of extra time
- Clear juices = performed
What to Make with Leftover Roast Hen
If I’m not serving the entire roasted hen immediately, I really like shredding the leftovers and turning them into one thing new. You possibly can spoon it into a comfy hen pot pie soup, fold it right into a conventional hen salad, simmer it right into a white hen chili, or toss it into our one-pot creamy Cajun hen pasta (to call just a few choices!). Add the cooked hen to any recipe that wants a fast protein increase, and also you’ve acquired a simple meal able to go. You can even simmer the bones and create hen inventory!
Storage & Reheating
After the roasted hen cools, pull the meat from the bones and retailer it in an hermetic container together with any pan drippings to maintain it moist; it should keep recent for 3–4 days within the fridge. You can even refrigerate any leftover veggies. When reheating, heat the hen gently by including a splash of broth, masking the dish, and heating in a 325°F oven or in brief, lined microwave bursts. For longer storage, freeze the meat (with drippings or a bit of broth) for as much as 3 months, then thaw within the fridge and reheat the identical low-and-slow method to hold it tender and juicy.
Our Roasted Hen recipe was initially revealed 11/2/22. It was retested, reworked, and republished to be higher than ever 12/10/25.
