Let's be real for a second, chicken breast is not the best. It can be dry and bland. If it's not the best quality, the chicken can even be stringy (yuck!). As you can see, I'm not a huge fan of chicken breast but I will gladly eat it if it's on the bone. Roasting chicken on the bone is almost a guarantee that the meat will be juicy and delicious. To ensure that the chicken will be the most tender, I added buttermilk to the mix resulting in this utterly delicious buttermilk herb roasted chicken served with poblano gravy. You know it's a winner when the first thing your husband says is, "wow that's tender."

Recipe

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Buttermilk Herb Roasted Chicken with Poblano Gravy

Total Time2 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: chicken

Servings: 4

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Buttermilk herb roasted chicken

• 1 3-4 lb whole chicken
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon thyme fresh, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon rosemary fresh, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic minced
• 2 tablespoon butter softened
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 3 cups water divided

Poblano gravy

• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken stock

Instructions

• Whisk together 2 cups buttermilk with 2 tablespoon salt until the salt dissolves. Pour the marinade over the chicken and marinate overnight, turning the chicken once halfway through.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade, scraping off the excess buttermilk. Combine 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme with 1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 2 tablespoon softened butter. Loosen the chicken skin and spread the butter under the skin directly on the meat.
• Place the onions on the bottom of a roasting rack and pour 1 ½ cups water into the pan. Place the rack on top and the chicken on the rack. Roast the chicken for 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the poblano gravy. Place the pepper directly on the stove so that it is cooking on the flames over medium heat. Char the pepper, rotating it as it blackens. Remove the pepper and place it in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it steam for 10 minutes. Remove the charred skin and discard the seeds and stem. Roughly chop the pepper and set it aside.
• Reduce the oven to 375 degrees, add another 1 ½ cups to the roasting pan and continue to bake the chicken for 45 minutes - 1 hour or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees – 165 degrees.
• Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Tilt the chicken to drain the cavity juices. Pour the cooking juices along with the cooked onion into a blender with the roasted poblano pepper. Blend the mixture until smooth.
• Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a medium saucepot over medium heat. Add ½ tablespoon flour and whisk to combine. Add 1 cup chicken stock and the poblano puree. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Season the gravy with salt and pepper.
• Carve the chicken and serve with the poblano gravy.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Buttermilk is amazing. It makes pancakes extra fluffy, ranch extra flavorful, and chicken extra tender. The enzymes in buttermilk help break down the protein while the acid tenderizes the meat. If you ever had a doubt about the wonders of buttermilk, now is the time to give it a try.

Since buttermilk is only slightly acidic, you can marinate the chicken overnight without worrying that the acids will toughen up the meat.

The following day, scrape off the excess buttermilk from the chicken and season the meat with the herb butter. Fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic, and butter will add flavor and make the chicken even more tender. I mean, at this point, you really can't expect anything but the juiciest roasted chicken.

I used a 3 ½ lb chicken but if your chicken is larger, you may want to up the amount of herb butter.

While the buttermilk herb roasted chicken is in the oven, make the poblano gravy. Char the peppers on the stovetop with the peppers directly over the flames. They may look burned but you're going to remove the skins. Besides, extra char means extra flavor! Set aside the pepper until the chicken is ready.

To check if the chicken is ready, insert a thermometer in between the leg and breast, making sure not to hit the bone. Once the temperature registers 165 degrees F, you're good to go. Let the chicken rest while you finish the gravy.

Carefully tilt the chicken to drain the cavity from its juices. Pour all of those lovely juices along with the onion and stock on the bottom of the baking pan into a blender with the roasted peppers. Cook the poblano puree with chicken stock and thickener, simmering for about 5 minutes. Carve up the chicken and serve with the poblano gravy.

This buttermilk herb roasted chicken was so flavorful and juicy that the poblano gravy wasn't absolutely necessary. However, the gravy does add a certain flair to the chicken, making it extra delicious. Roasted chicken for the win!

For more roasted chicken inspiration check out this roasted chicken with chorizo stuffing!