I made this chicken to throw into my chicken noodle soup the other day but I’m regretting not making another one at the same time so that I could shred it all up and put it on salads or sandwiches and to just eat throughout the week in addition to my soup! But it’s really super easy to make so I just need to get my hiney up to the store to buy another chicken and make myself another one. 

I HIGHLY recommend smoking this chicken if you have a smoker but if not, it’s still so super yummy baked in the oven. 

Ingredients:

• ~5 pound chicken
• Several bunches of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, marjoram, sage, whatever smells good and speaks to you)
• 10-15 whole garlic cloves
• Oil 
• Salt
• Pepper
• Dried herbs (same as fresh)

Instructions:

• Dry your chicken off with paper towels and pull out the neck and organs (I saved these to add to my bone broth in the crockpot, that way I could get some of the great nutrients in them without having to actually eat organ meat). 
• Season the inside of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper.
• Rub oil all over the outside of the chicken and then massage the salt, pepper, and your dried herbs all over the outside. 
• Stuff the fresh herbs and garlic into the cavity. 

If smoking your chicken:

We put the chicken in the smoker, inserted the temperature probe into the breast, and set the smoker on low, around 200 degrees, so that the chicken could get a lot of that smoky flavor.

I didn’t have all day to just let the chicken cook that low, so I gradually turned up the temperature every 30 minutes or so until it got to 325 degrees and then left it there until the internal temperature read 165 degrees.

If baking: 

Set your oven to 425 and cook for about 1 ½ hours, or until the internal temperature is 165.

Pro Tip: Use those gorgeous roasted/smoked garlic cloves in literally any recipe that calls for garlic. You will not be disappointed. 

-Jen Lyman, RDN, LD, CLT