Stuffed Roast Chicken with Lemon and Cilantro

This lemon, butter, and cilantro-stuffed whole chicken is one of the easiest lunch or dinner recipes. Simply add the ingredients and let the oven do the magic. Isn't that all we long for in this busy life?

It's, therefore, a perfect recipe for busy moms or nine-to-five workhorses who don't have the desire or time (or both) to spend hours in the kitchen. Not to mention that this chicken also seriously tasty!

Considering the amount of butter in this recipe, you might initially feel worried and start counting calories right away, but don't rush with your judgment! Most of the butter goes into a flavourful sauce, and you are the one to decide on the amount of sauce that you spoon onto your plate.

Also, the sauce is anything but plain. The combination of lemon and cilantro is literally amazing! It's rich and rather salty, and the butter adds softness to it. Note, though, that you must have a rather close relationship with cilantro because there's a bunch of it!

The best part about this recipe is that it's very tasty, easy to make, and doesn't require hours in the kitchen. So, let's make it a chicken day today!

Ingredients

Chicken is the star of this dish, and all the other ingredients are only there to enhance its flavor and create a beautiful duo of flavors and aromas. If you're lucky enough to buy a chicken at a bargain price and are thinking of a budget-friendly recipe, this is exactly what you're looking for.

To make this stuffed chicken, you'll need:

• raw chicken (great if you can opt for a home-grown, clean chicken that's free from antibiotics, growth hormones, and other nasty additives)
• butter (non-salted)
• fresh lemons
• fresh garlic
• a bunch of fresh cilantro
• salt (measurements in this recipe are tailored to the kosher salt or pink Himalayan salt, but regular table salt can also be used instead of kosher salt - start with the given measurements and feel free to adjust the saltiness to your liking)
• ground black pepper

Directions

1. Prepare the filling: Cut lemons into smaller pieces (not too finely; cutting each lemon into eight pieces will work), mince garlic cloves, and chop cilantro. Then, take a medium-sized bowl and add soft butter (not melted butter, but rather at room temperature), 1 teaspoon of salt, some ground black pepper, the chopped cilantro, and lemon pieces. Mix well with your hands, squeezing the ingredients so the lemon juice combines with the rest.
2. Fill the chicken: Place the chicken breast side up on a casserole dish and rub it with salt and pepper on the outside. Cut small "pockets" into the skin of the chicken and stuff each cavity with the filling that you prepared in Step 1. Finish by adding the filling on top of the chicken. Don't throw any of the filling away. If you feel it's enough, just put the remainder on the chicken and let it melt and run down, adding to the flavourful sauce.
3. Roast the chicken in the oven for 50-70 minutes at 200°C (392°F). Spoon the chicken with the sauce from the baking dish occasionally.
4. Serve with your preferred side dishes. Oven-baked or mashed potatoes are a great choice!