Slashed Chicken with Bacon Herb Butter

This Slashed Chicken with Bacon Herb Butter is a lovely family-friendly recipe.

I decided that it was ridiculous that I wasn’t roasting my own chicken.  The convenience of buying a chicken already roasted by the market had become habit.  But that was lazy and (stupid) and there was really no reason why I wasn’t taking on this task at home. I found this recipe for slashed chicken with bacon herb butter from Williams Sonoma, and I had to try it. Doesn’t it sound so delicious??

Ingredients needed:

• unsalted butter
• bacon
• fresh chives
• fresh sage
• fresh thyme
• grated lemon zest
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• one 5-pound whole chicken
• garlic

How to make Slashed Chicken with Bacon Herb Butter:

The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post. Put a 5-quart oval Dutch oven in a cold oven and preheat the oven to 450° F. After the oven has preheated, continue to heat the oven and pan for 20 more minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, raw bacon, chives, sage, thyme, zest, salt and pepper. Stir until well blended and set aside.

Bring home a whole chicken, pull out the gizzards, etc. and set those aside for another use. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry.  

Tips on roasting chicken:

• If you have bacon grease available to you, use that in place of the raw bacon. Just add a scoop of bacon grease to the butter and you’ll impart some of that bacon flavor into the mix.
• The nutritional information on this recipe is not likely to be correct. It’s tough to get the nutritional info per serving from a whole chicken!
• If you are preparing this recipe as GLUTEN-FREE, just be sure to use a brand of bacon that is known to be GF.
• Why roast the chicken upside down? The breast meat stays more tender when the chicken is roasted upside down 🙂. That’s a tip I learned from a friend!

This chicken turns out perfect. The meat is very tender and the flavors of sage, garlic and bacon are well permeated into the meat. This is not the kind of chicken you get when you purchase one of those bulk-roasted chickens at the market, that’s for sure. It’s much, much better. 

Why doesn’t everyone roast their own chickens?  The convenience-factor that our society pushes upon us is trumping the small amount of effort it takes to make it yourself. Do I ever buy roasted chickens from the store? Of course, but if I’ve got an hour to play with I most definitely roast my own. Try it!

More chicken with bacon recipes you might enjoy:

• Roasted Chicken with Bacon and Sweet Paprika
• Easy Jack Chicken with Bacon
• Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce
• Barbecue Chicken and Bacon Pizza 
• Strawberry Chicken Salad with Bacon and Avocado
• Spicy Bacon-Wrapped Cheese-Stuffed Chicken 

5 from 1 vote

Slashed Chicken with Bacon Herb Butter

By RecipeGirl.com (adapted from Williams- Sonoma)

A perfectly roasted chicken with a ton of flavor and tender meat.

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr

Total: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

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Ingredients

• ▢ 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 2 slices raw bacon, chopped into small pieces
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• ▢ 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
• ▢ 1 whole (about 5 pounds) chicken
• ▢ 8 leaves fresh sage
• ▢ 2 medium garlic cloves, sliced thinly

Instructions 

• Put a 5-quart oval Dutch oven in a cold oven and preheat the oven to 450° F. After the oven has preheated, continue to heat the oven and pan for 20 more minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the butter, raw bacon, chives, sage, thyme, zest, salt and pepper. Stir until well blended and set aside.
• Rinse the chicken well and pull out gizzards, etc. from inside the cavity. Pat dry with paper towels. Using a sharp knife cut 6 three-inch long slashes (½-inch deep) along legs, breast and back. Rub herb butter all over the chicken with your hands, pushing the butter into the slashes. Push a sage leaf and a slice of garlic into each of the slashes. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
• Carefully place the chicken, breast side down, in the hot pan. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, registers 165 to 170 degrees, about 60 to 75 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cover loosely with aluminum foil; let rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Carve the chicken and arrange on a warmed platter.

Notes

• If you have bacon grease available to you, use that in place of the raw bacon. Just add a scoop of bacon grease to the butter & you’ll impart some of that bacon flavor into the mix.
• The nutritional information on this recipe is not likely to be correct. It's tough to get the nutritional info per serving from a whole chicken!
• If you are preparing this recipe as GLUTEN-FREE, just be sure to use a brand of bacon that is known to be GF.
• Why roast the chicken upside down? The breast meat stays more tender when the chicken is roasted upside down 🙂

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 730kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 42g, Fat: 61g, Saturated Fat: 26g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g, Monounsaturated Fat: 22g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 234mg, Sodium: 810mg, Potassium: 456mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 1106IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 40mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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