Garlic Butter Roasted Chicken with Mandarin Orange

If you love roasted chicken, this roasted garlic butter chicken you will love how easy this dinner recipe is to make! This oven-roasted chicken recipe is full of all of the good stuff, garlic, fresh herbs, and sliced oranges. You will love how moist and flavorful this roasted chicken is!

Tonight I am making one of my kids' favorites. We love using fresh herbs for roasting chicken. It makes a tasty dinner that even my picky one will eat.

If you have been looking for an easy delicious, family-friendly meal, you will love this herb chicken recipe!!

If you love chicken as much as we do, you will want to check out ALL of my delicious Gluten Free Chicken Recipes.

Why Make This Recipe:

1. The secret to this garlic butter roasted chicken is to stuff the fresh herbs, garlic, butter, and mandarin orange under the skin. This allows the flavors to seep into the meat while roasting in the oven.
2. This is one of those recipes you love because it is easy...and it is easy to make ahead if you are short on time.
3. This chicken dinner is made with lots of fresh herbs. If you love to cook and bake with fresh herbs as well, here are some easy tips for growing fresh herbs in your kitchen window so you always have them on hand for baking!

Ingredient Notes:

• Whole Chicken - You can use any size of chicken; note a large chicken will take longer to bake. You can also use other cuts of chicken. Try to get it with skin so you can stuff the seasonings under the skin.
• Mandarin Oranges - You can use any orange; the flavor of mandarin orange really blends well with the herb blend.
• Butter - I used salted butter. You can substitute and use ghee if you prefer.
• Garlic - Fresh is best.
• Fresh herbs, including rosemary, thyme, and sage.
• Salt and Pepper to taste

What are the best herbs for chicken?

Many herbs have flavors that work well with chicken. Here are some of my favorite herbs for herb-baked chicken:

• thyme
• rosemary
• sage
• tarragon
• parsley
• chives
• oregano

Allergen Information:

• This recipe is gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, and soy free.
• To make this recipe dairy-free, use plant-based butter or ghee.

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Step-By-Step Directions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350º F. Chop up the fresh herbs and add them to a small bowl. Mix well with the melted butter, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. This is the garlic butter mixture in which you will coat your garlic butter roasted chicken.

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Step 2: Take the raw chicken and make small cuts under the breast skin and legs. Take some of the herbed garlic butter and rub it all under the skin. This will allow the flavors to cook deeply into the meat. Rub the extra on the outside of the chicken.

Step 3: Next, slice a mandarin orange or tangerine. Add these orange slices under the skin as well. (Note you can use any oranges, but I love the mandarin flavor in this recipe.)

Step 4: Bake the chicken in a large 12-inch cast iron pan or roasting pan. Serve hot. Use a digital thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken to ensure it is 165º F.

Try it with this homemade gluten free gravy, or make a gravy from your pan drippings!!

Recipe FAQ:

Check out my fun roasted chicken webstory for even more tips.

Serve With:

• Mashed Creamy Rutabagas
• Roasted Bacon Potato Roses
• Kale and Apple Salad
• Christmas Dinner (roast and vegetable sides!)

📖 Recipe

Herb Roasted Chicken

Sandi Gaertner

A deliciously easy roasted herb chicken with tangerine slices. The whole family will love this flavorful chicken dinner.

5 from 30 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Meal Recipes

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Calories 376 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 pound whole chicken
• ▢ 3 tablespoons salted butter
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh sage
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 3 cloves fresh garlic minced
• ▢ 1 mandarin or orange sliced

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 375º F.
• Add chopped herbs, melted butter, minced garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well.
• Make small cuts to open the skin under the chicken breast. (You can also do this for the legs if you like.)
• Stuff some butter herb mixture in both and rub along under the skin. Rub the extra all over the outside of the chicken.
• Slice the tangerine and add slices under the skin.
• Bake for one hour, or until the meat registers 165º F with a meat thermometer.
• Serve hot.

Notes

1. You can use any size whole chicken, just note a larger chicken will take longer to bake.
2. You can use fresh herbs or dried, I definitely think the fresh herbs add a lot more flavor.
3. Bake in a 12-inch cast-iron pan, a roasting pan, or a 9x13 pan.
4. To make gravy, add your pan drippings to a saucepan. Add ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and some leftover herbs. Simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes. Put 2 tablespoons potato starch or tapioca starch into a small bowl, add ¼ cup of the gravy, and whisk. Pour it into the gravy pot and whisk.
5. Serve hot.
6. This herb-roasted chicken will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator, or put in a ziplock freezer bag and freeze it. It will keep up to 4 months in the freezer.

SPECIAL NOTE

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn't test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 376kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 27gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 540mgPotassium: 312mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 564IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 2mg

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

This post was updated from an older December 2017 post with more recipe details.