Butter Baked Garlic Chicken

-with roasted potatoes and baby carrots

This might be my new favorite way to prepare chicken...

This dinner was almost devoured so fast, I about didn't have time to document it. Like, seriously seriously fast. I usually roast a whole chicken, but you know what? I didn't feel like preparing the chicken, I had tons of chicken broth in the freezer, and the hubby and I were getting ready to go out of town. It wasn't like we needed the leftover chicken meat. So I picked up a pack of drumsticks, and planned to enjoy not having to disassemble the chicken.

I decided to roast the drumsticks in the same pan as the potatoes and carrots, and selected butter as my fat of choice. Most of the time I use olive oil, but a little bit of butter never hurt anyone. Honestly, I only used 3 tbsp for my whole roasting pan. Combined with a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and the hubby and I had a marriage of flavors we couldn't resist.

Something I may not have mentioned to you, dear blog readers, before- the hubby inhales his food. I'm so serious, and you have no idea. He can sit down with a burger, and I'm not kidding you, I'll look over 2 minutes later and the burger is gone. Long gone. It's insane. When we sat down with our plates during this dinner, he was amazed when he looked at my plate 2 minutes later and it was empty. It could have been because I was ready-to-knaw-my-arm-off starving, or it could be because the dinner was that good. I prefer to believe the latter.

What makes this recipe so darn tasty? It's everything. While preparing the pan, I melted the butter and then drizzled that over the chicken and vegetables. I sprinkled the pan with aforementioned seasonings, and popped it in the oven. After 15 minutes, I basted for the first time. As the chicken roasts, it releases its fat in liquid form. Which is very, very good, especially when combined with the butter and garlic. It's where all the flavor is. Take a basting brush and brush that liquid all over the chicken, potatoes, and carrots. Basting keeps the chicken meat moist and also lends tasty flavor. I usually baste every 15-20 minutes, and the whole pan was in the oven for about an hour and a half. When it's done, the chicken will be 165º and have a lovely crispiness to its skin. The vegetables will be browned on the outside, yet creamy on the inside. 

It is so, so, so good.

Plus, I can't extol the benefits of one-pan meals enough. I love popping one pan in the oven, and pretty much keeping dinner hands off, save for the occasional basting. On top of being delicious, one-pan meals are easy and don't require much cleanup. Even more benefits!

I can't believe we are on the cusp of another weekend. Didn't last weekend just end?? I'm happy to say that this weekend won't be nearly as crazy as last. The hubby has the weekend off (yay!) so I'm assuming it will be an Oscar movie and "Sons of Anarchy" type of weekend. My favorite! As for food, I have nothing planned so far. Eek! On the other hand, I guess I do have limitless possibilities for cooking this weekend. Even though it's only been about 2 weeks without cookies, I keep wanting to bake some more. I mean, when you get down to it, what's life without cookies? 

It wouldn't be as sweet, I'll tell you that much :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Happy Friday!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

6-7 chicken drumsticks

2 baking potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, chopped

2 cups baby carrots

3 tbsp butter, melted

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425º. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine drumsticks, potatoes, and carrots. Drizzle butter over bowl, then season with salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Toss to distribute butter and seasonings. Turn bowl out onto cookie sheet. Shake cookie sheet to ensure chicken, potatoes, and carrots are in a single layer. Bake in the oven for 75-90 minutes, basting with a basting brush occasionally. Chicken is done when it reaches 165º. Vegetables should be turning brown. 

3. Remove pan from oven, and sprinkle with parsley. Divide among plates, serve immediately. 

Printable Recipe

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Garlic Roasted Chicken

Pretzel Crusted Chicken with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Saucy Asian Grilled Wings

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Snickerdoodle Sunday, Treasure Box Tuesday