Last Updated on September 17, 2023
ButcherBox’s Whole Chicken coupled with an air fryer gives you the opportunity to rotisserie-ify your own bird with flavorful, crisp, heavily seasoned skin and succulent meat. As well as being more satisfyingly delicious because you made it, this recipe will probably have dinner ready faster than that trip to the store too.
Rubbed in all the aromatics of a rotisserie chicken, we recommend carving this bird and displaying it on a platter so you can then season it even more right before serving. That means a squeeze of juicy lemon (that’s been air fried), a sprinkling of fresh thyme (in addition to the thyme that’s baked in) and a drizzle of more olive oil. It may come as a surprise, but this recipe calls for first cooking the bird breast side down then flipping it. This ensures the breast meat cooks a little slower, so it doesn’t dry out before the rest of the meat.
Ingredients
- 1 ButcherBox Whole Chicken, fully defrosted, giblets removed, excess skin trimmed and skin patted dry
- 1 tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 2/3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves and stems, chopped
- 2 small lemons, 1 zested and both halved
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for serving
- Flake salt, for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the spices by mixing the salt, black pepper, onion and garlic powders, paprika, 1 tablespoon thyme and lemon zest together with a fork. Add the olive oil and mix in. Place the chicken on a sheet pan, trim any excess fat with scissors and discard. Rub the spice paste all over the chicken skin (and under the skin when easy to do so), getting into all the nooks and crannies. If you have a little extra spice mix, sprinkle it in the main cavity of the chicken.
- Set up the air fryer by taking out any extra racks or trays, leaving only the base tray for the chicken to sit on, then spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray (or brush with high heat cooking oil). Place the chicken breast side down in the air fryer, spray the lemon halves or drizzle with olive oil and arrange in the cavity. Cook at 350º F for 30 minutes. Flip the chicken so it’s breast and legs side up and cook for 10 minutes longer. Check to make sure the thickest part of the breast meat has an internal temperature of 165 º F then take the chicken out and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board before carving.
- Remove the lemon halves, carve the meat, arrange on a platter. Sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoons of thyme leaves over it. Squeeze the lemon halves all over, covering the meat with juice. Drizzle more olive oil over and sprinkle with flake salt.
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