Chimichurri roasted chicken

This chimichurri roasted chicken recipe is prepared by roasting a whole chicken or individual pieces with chimichurri butter or sauce made with fresh herbs, garlic, vinegar, lime juice, butter or oil.

En Español

When I was growing up my mom was semi-vegetarian, this meant that at home we mainly ate vegetarian meals and occasionally chicken/seafood. However if ate at friends or at a restaurant, we could choose to eat whatever we like, which as result was usually beef or pork.

We had chickens mainly for eggs, and would only eat one for special occasions. My mom always felt bad about ending a chicken’s life, so in order to minimize the chicken’s suffering she would pour a shot of punta or aguardiente (sugar cane alcohol) down the chicken’s throat. Even now the smell of roasting chicken reminds of those special times when we have it as a kid.

I’ve always been a fan of using chimichurri sauce as a marinade. It works great for beef, pork, chicken, lamb and even seafood. I use either a traditional chimichurri or my balsamic chimichurri, but usually add a little extra vinegar when using it as a marinade.

When roasting a whole chicken I like use butter to help keep it moist, so for this chimichurri roasted chicken I made a chimichurri butter and used it underneath the chicken skin so that it would both add the chimichurri flavor but also keep the chicken perfectly moist.

This recipe for chimichurri roasted chicken can be made with a whole chicken and also with individual chicken pieces. If you are preparing this recipe with individual chicken pieces then you can use regular chimichurri sauce – the only recommendation is to use regular oil, and not use extra virgin olive oil in this recipe since its smoking point is 375F (light olive oil is fine). If you have space on the roasting pan I also recommend adding potatoes, onions and/or carrots – you can toss them or baste them with a bit of the chimichurri also, their flavor when roasted with chimichurri is amazing!

Chimichurri roasted chicken

Chimichurri roasted chicken recipe or chicken roasted with fresh herbs, garlic, vinegar, lime juice, butter or oil.

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Course: Main dish

Cuisine: Fusion, Latin American, South American

Keyword: Chicken, Chimichurri butter, Chimichurri roasted chicken, Roasted chicken

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• ~4-5 lbs whole chicken or ~3 lbs of assorted chicken pieces

Chimichurri butter:

• 1 cup of butter 2 sticks or 8 ounces, room temperature
• 1 bunch of parsley leaves only
• 5-6 sprigs of fresh oregano use leaves only
• A handful of fresh basil leaves
• 6-8 garlic cloves crushed
• 4-5 green onions or scallion stalks
• 1-2 teaspoons of chili pepper flakes or 1 small red hot pepper seeded and deveined, diced
• 3-4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

To bake with the chicken:

• Onions potatoes or your choice of veggies

Instructions

For the chimichurri butter:

• Place all the ingredients expect for the butter in a small food processor and pulse until the herbs are finely chopped.
• Add the butter and continue pulsing until you have smooth creamy mix. Can be made ahead of time, but should be brought back to room temperature before using to prepare the roasted chicken.

For roasting or baking the whole chicken:

• Rub about half of the butter chimichurri all over chicken, including under the skin. Save the rest of the chimichurri butter for basting and for serving.
• Pre-heat oven to 425F
• Place the vegetables (onions, potatoes, etc) under chicken in baking or roasting pan.
• Bake the chicken (uncovered) at 425F for 30 minutes
• Lower heat to 400F, baste chicken and bake for another 50-60 minutes, basting every 15-20 minutes.
• During the last 5-10 minutes, add additional chimichurri butter or chimichurri sauce on top.

Variation with chicken drumsticks or individual chicken pieces:

• Prepare either the traditional chimichurri sauce or quick chimichurri sauce, use regular oil or light olive oil.
• Marinate the chicken pieces with ¾ cup to 1 cup of the chimichurri sauce, save the additional sauce for basting and serving. You can marinate the chicken several hours in advance if you have time, and if not just rub the sauce over the chicken pieces right before baking.
• Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
• Arrange the chicken pieces on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. You can also add potatoes or other vegetables (rubbed with chimichurri sauce).
• Bake the chicken pieces for about 30 minutes, then turn the chicken pieces and vegetables over. Baste the chicken with some of the reserved chimichurri sauce.
• Continue baking for another 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is browned and fully cooked. Exact time will vary based on your oven and the thickness of the individual chicken pieces.
• Brush the additional chimichurri sauce when done and serve immediately.

Chimichurri sauce recipes:
Quick chimichurri sauce
Traditional chimichurri sauce
Balsamic chimichurri sauce

Step by step prep photos for the whole roasted chicken with chimichurri butter:

Preparation photos for the individual roasted chicken drumsticks (or other pieces) with chimichurri sauce: