Recipes Roasted Chicken with Garlic-Thyme Butter 2.0 (2,004) Add your rating & review Grant Achatz's favorite comfort food is a simple roasted chicken. To give the bird extra flavor, he rubs garlicky butter under the breast skin and packs the cavity with more garlic, plus thyme sprigs and lemon quarters. After the chicken is cooked, he uses the juices to make an intensely flavored sauce that's delicious with the bird and the hearty pierogies that go with it. More Roast Chicken Recipes By Grant Achatz Grant Achatz Instagram Chef Grant Achatz is one of the most awarded and recognized chefs in the world. Known for his innovative, emotional, and modernist style of cuisine, he has been named Best Chef in the United States by the James Beard Foundation, honored by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and has given talks and lectures on gastronomy and design at conferences and universities around the world. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 8, 2019 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © John Kernick Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins Yield: 4 Ingredients 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 6 garlic cloves—2 minced, 4 crushed 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme, plus 2 thyme sprigs Salt and freshly ground pepper One 4 1/4-pound chicken 1 lemon, quartered 1/4 cup water Mustardy Potato Pierogies Directions Preheat the oven to 375°. In a small bowl, blend the butter with the minced garlic and chopped thyme and season with salt and pepper. Carefully loosen the breast skin of the chicken. Spread the butter evenly over the breast meat then smooth out the skin. Rub any extra garlic-thyme butter all over the outside of the chicken. Stuff the crushed garlic, thyme sprigs and lemon quarters into the cavity and tie the legs together with twine. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and set it in a small, flameproof roasting pan. Roast for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when an inner thigh is pierced. Transfer the chicken to a carving board and let rest for 10 minutes. Pour the pan juices into a small saucepan. Add the water to the roasting pan and bring to a boil over moderately high heat; scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 2 minutes, then pour the liquid into the saucepan. Season the jus with salt and pepper and keep hot. Carve the chicken and serve with the jus and Mustardy Potato Pierogies. Suggested Pairing The herbal, lemony flavors here call for an elegant, earthy wine like a Syrah-based Côte-Rôtie from the northern Rhône. Rate it Print