Brown Sugar Butter Roasted Chicken.
For example, this is the second day this week I’ve posted a bowl of butter with something else extremely delicious being mixed in. Something extremely delicious that is not green. I like.
And if you’re smart you can put two and two together and realize that both of those butters made up one meal. Or you just realized that because I told you. Whatever. Anyhoo, want to come over for dinner? I thought so. This is what we ate on Sunday night. We always eat things like this on Sunday night. You’ll like it. I swear.
Just know that there is nothing new going on ’round these parts. A whole lot of not doing laundry + attempted stuffed turkey homicides + Conway Twitty (ummm who?) music that makes my ears bleed + roasting chickens and never cleaning up the kitchen. It’s like comfort wrapped in a big blanket of bacon.
So yeah… I’m still roasting chickens once a week. I’m sort of obsessed. And you know what? I’m also really annoyed that I’ve totally devalued the word “obsessed” here, even though it perfectly explains my emotions for everything I write about. And I spent a a good 6 minutes hunched over my trusty thesaurus (lies: I have an app) and found no other word I enjoyed more. Hence me still being obsessed with roasted chickens.
And even though I’m obsessed, this picture still creeps me out.
What freaking weirdo posts a weirdo picture like this on their blog? The only thing I like about it is that it reminds me of the time when Monica Gellar walked around with a turkey on her head. I’ve always wanted to do that in real life. Or rather watch someone else do it. Because really…Â I do not want my head stuck up a hen’s hooha.
Oh, but the other thing I really like about that weirdo picture is that is tastes good. The chicken – not the picture.
Brown Sugar Butter Roasted Chicken
1 roasting chicken (Mine was about 5lbs, but any size will do. Just add a little more/less butter and sugar)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon course sea salt*
1 teaspoon black pepper*
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Clean or prepare your chicken for roasting, remove giblets and pat completely dry with a paper towel. [For step by step photos of how I roast a chicken, click HERE.] In a bowl, combine softened butter and brown sugar with a spoon until creamy. Using your hands, rub butter over entire chicken, including underneath the skin if you wish. Sprinkle the entire thing with salt and pepper. Set chicken in a roasting pan breast-side up, or roast it over a beer can like I did: I set a beer can with a few sips of beer left in my pan, shoved it up the chicken’s… you know… and then roasted it. If desired you can layer some slices onions under the chicken, but I did not do this. The butter and sugar really caramelizes and I’m not sure any veggies would hold up underneath it. Roast for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I use Ina Garten’s tip of slicing the leg and if the juices run clear… it’s done! Let rest for about 15-20 minutes before cutting.
*these are just rough estimates, I simply sprinkle salt and pepper all over the entire chicken.
Save the neck for me, Clark.
152 Comments on “Brown Sugar Butter Roasted Chicken.”
This looks a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!
Yum!
Bahaha that totally reminds me of Monica.. and I also feel like it’s going to give me nightmares, so thank you for that. ;-) The recipe sounds amazing though!
SO, that chicken picture is really pretty. I feel like a weirdo for saying a chicken picture is pretty…so you shouldn’t feel like you are all alone ;)
Favorite part of this though, I have to say, was the very last line….one of my favorite movies all year round!! :)
Oh good – someone else said it was pretty! :) I LOVE roasted chicken – and have been buying them pre-roasted lately…just the smell gets me in the grocery store and I get WEAK in the knees!! (and yes, I know I can roast my own for a lot cheaper before anyone pounces on me!)…anyways – I was always going to post pics on my blog before – but it seems some people can be “sensitive” to chicken pictures and it feels like so many bloggers follow food restriction or are vegan this or something that.
Meh. More chicken for me :) – not with brown sugar though! I’ll save that for dessert please :)
I always have to cut that creepy tail thing off before I do anything else to a bird. it totally squicks me out!
Would it disturb you if I said that I would probably devour at least half of the contents of the bowl in the first photo before Mr. Chicken ever even saw it?
I think you may be my sister?
I always wanted a long lost twin!
What an awesome idea!
I have a chicken at home that has a sell-by date of today. Making this chicken TONIGHT!
What a great idea to use brown sugar and butter on a roasted chicken. When there are super great sales on whole chickens I go a bit crazy and buy them up to store in the freezer. This is a perfect recipe to use for my “whole chicken collection” that I now have stored in my freezer!
I need to stock up!
My mom does this butter/sugar glaze, but for ham and often adds dried mustard (and some more water for liquids)…which sounds weird, but tastes fantastiiic.
I think the word ‘enamored’ is quite a good substitute for obsessed…
Oh, he’s just yackin’ on a bone!
Like!
I just saw that whole roasting chickens are on sale at my grocery store. Looks like I know what’s for dinner tonight!
I have never roasted a whole chicken but you just convinced me. It looks unbelievable wonderful!
that looks unbelievable delicious! i love the idea of adding the sweetness of brown sugar to chicken – genius!
have a great weekend
(oh, and i totally appreciate the christmas vacation quote.)
What a roast! This looks so yummy!
My mouth is literally watering, this looks incredible.
I have a confession…I have never roasted a chicken. I am in fact ‘roaster phobic’. It scares me, which is unusual because I can hold my own in the kitchen. Any advice?
Check out this post: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/05/how-i-roast-a-chicken/. I was really afraid at first too, but I promise it is so easy and delicious! And the second time is waaaay less intimidating.
I had never roasted a chicken before reading this blog! The step-by-step was very helpful. I’m not very handy in the kitchen and I do not like raw chicken. That said, I’ve now roasted two chickens! This recipe will be my next one :)
This might be my new favorite way to cook chicken
That chicken looks scrumptious.
Never would have thought to put sugar on chicken, dang that sounds good.
Oh my, I’ll bet this smells delicious when it’s baking too! I agree, that picture is creepy!
Great quote. :) Oh, and great chicken, too, of course.
I think my favorite part is “save the neck for me Clark”. That movie is an establishment in my family during the holidays. And your chicken looked amazing and yummy too. I will cook.
I will be making this next time I make a roast chicken!! Glad I have one in my freezer.
I’m drooling over the butter/brown sugar mixture. Also, I am completely scared of cooking whole chickens. I don’t know why, but I have not mustered up the courage to do it. I wonder if this would work on chicken breasts? I may try that! Or, I may give the recipe to my husband, who does not have a fear of whole chickens, and make him cook it for me :)
Hen’s hooha! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!
I know!! I laughed out loud!
That picture *is* kinda scary! But it all looks delicious! I didn’t get the part about the beer can though…what did you do with it???
This might sound totally bizarre but you know you rinse a chicken and maybe you hold it under the arms to rinse it under the water? Well have you ever thought that it feels like holding a baby upright…like in a tub or after you change its diaper? That’s exactly what I think of and therefore cannot prep a chicken. No lie. I also can’t be the one who has to rub it with olive oil and seasonings before roasting. Too creepy.
The next time my boyfriend is in town, I am roasting him up a chicken. He’ll never want to leave. Law school be damned!
Ummmm…this is my first time visiting your site and I think you are my new best friend. Butter + brown sugar is what I would sneak as a “snack” when I was a little kid. And now you’re roasting chickens with it and referencing my favorite Friends episode ever. Want to join me for a Friends marathon? I promise to make something buttery.
“Save the neck for me, Clark.”
Ha Ha…a classic!
Awesome recipes and always good for laugh! Thanks Jessica!
I can’t wait to try this (recently discovered your blog and made the m&m cookies last week – they were AMAZING!). Do you think I could throw some chopped up red potatoes, carrots and onions around the chicken – would that affect the roasting time much?
I think it will work!
This looks amazing! Seriously! I totally get where you are coming from with the constantly roasting chickens for Sunday dinner. When I was a kid, the two staples of my family’s Sundays were church and roast chicken dinner. Now, as an adult, I still roast a chicken at least once every two weeks but with a little more variation than my mom ever used. Like roast chicken with red onions and orange, or roast chicken rubbed with butter and stuffed with thyme under the skin. This recipe will be added to my arsenal. I can’t wait!!!
I roasted my first chicken thanks to this blog…as well as cooking lots more veggies! Yes, Jessica, you have actually inspired me to eat veggies!! Of course, they might be wrapped in bacon…but still. And Christmas Vacation? Best.Movie.Ever.
Love the quote.. and the chicken too of course. My husband and I also like to throw around a few of Eddie’s classic quotes.
LOVE!
I saw this a few days ago and finally decided I’m making it. TONIGHT. I roast chickens quite often, so I’m excited to see how this sweet/salty combo turns out!
Let me know how you like it! :)
What type of sides would you recommend with this; I usually would do a glazed carrot and mashed potatoes with a roasted chicken, but I’m not sure if this chicken would be too sweet with carrots; and I have a boyfriend who hates mashed potatoes (how awful!)…any suggestions?
This sounds ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Photos of whole chickens always weird me out too!
I just picked up a whole chicken on a whim at the store– FreeBird brand, it was on sale. I had no idea what to do with it until I came to your blog and searched “whole chicken”! I followed your directions and it was super-easy, I’m just waiting for it to roast now. The only part that freaked me out was the neck. That thing was NOT cut off all the way… and I tried cutting it shorter but it was too strong?? TMI sorry.
The point of this comment is to say THANK YOU so much for the clear instructions for roasting my first chicken :)
Big fan of your blog, and fellow Pittsburgher…trying this chicken for Sunday dinner today!
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Thank you Jessica! This chicken tasted amazing! And it was even easy to do (once I got over it having to touch the beast and managed to ignore the tiny ‘hairy’ looking bits on the legs… I just convinced myself that they will burn, burn, burn in the oven!
I reported my success here: http://www.thepreciousthings.com/?p=903
Do you think this would work in the crockpot? I know it wouldn’t be as carmel-y and crispy… but would it be tasty?
hmm I honestly can’t say – I have never roasted a chicken in the crockpot! I can’t imagine that the skin would be crispy, but I think it would definitely cook it.
I think I’m in love.
I’ve roasted some delicious chicken in my time, but this recipe has officially been declared the favorite. Its simplicity appeals to me, and the richness of the flavors…well, words cannot express!! I’d take a picture but there isn’t anything left. I think my dh and #1 son love you! (at, least, your recipes!)
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Can I do this with just chicken breasts? Cuz this looks incredible, but I REALLY don’t feel like walking home from the store with a 5lb chicken AND a 25lb baby. Ha.
I think so! Haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not.
Is the 425°F correct? Shouldnt it be like 350°F?
OK to preheat to 425 but turn it back to 350°F
once you you have chicken about 10 minutes in the oven.
Or have I missed something?
Nope it is 425 – why would it be 350? I roast chickens at 425 for 70-80 minutes or so (depending on the size).
I cant wait to try this! I have been using my go to recipe for roasted chickens (duck sauce/oj/ garlic glaze) but I actually have cooked the chicken at 425 with salt and pepper for 25 minutes then lower to 350 and add the glaze then cook 45(give or take) minutes more. Gets a nice crisp and stays very moist that way. Not sure if that is why but seems to work for me.
Is it cool to use boneless skinless chicken breast?