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Lime Roast Chicken with Asian Inspired Butter

Lime Roast Chicken with Asian Inspired Butter

Jun 28, 2025

This butter is so yummy. It would be amazing with Yuzu instead of the Lime, but our yuzu had finished for the year. The butter would be lovely placed on top of white fish, salmon or tofu before roasting, grilling or frying.

You can adjust the ingredients to suit what you have available or what you like to eat. 

Ingredients

  • One whole chicken approx. 1.5kg

Asian Butter

  • 4cm piece of peeled ginger
  • 120gm butter
  • 3 Cloves of garlic 
  • Zest of 2 Limes, (Tahitian, Beerss, Yuzu, Rangpur, Kusaie, Key)
  • 1 Lime that has been zest, remove all pith leaving the lime segments
  • 2 Spring Onions, white and green parts
  • 2 Kaffir lime leaves, remove the hard vein down the middle of the leaf
  • 4 Long red chillies. These are the ones commonly available in the supermarket. We love chilli and we find these too mild so we use 3 red chillies  for colour and flavour and one Habanero for heat.
  • 1 Tbs Fish sauce
  • 1Tbs Soy Sauce
  • 1/2 tsp Citrus salt or regular salt
  • Ground pepper to taste

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C
  2. Place all ingredients for the Asian butter in a blender or magic bullet
  3. blend until smooth. You might find that not all the liquid gets incorporated into the butter. That's OK,  just use it with the butter
  4. Rince chicken and then pat skin and cavity dry
  5. Place your fingers between the chicken skin and breast. Move your fingers gently separating the skin from the breast, being careful not to break the skin. Move your fingers as far back and down the sides as you can.
  6. Spread half of the butter mixture around the cavity of the chicken
  7. Using a teaspoon, gently put the rest of butter mixture under the skin of the chicken. 
  8. Place your fingers on top of the skin. Using gentle pressure spread the butter mixture evenly over the chicken's breasts and down the side
  9. Tie or skewer the legs together
  10. Place chicken breast side up in a roasting dish
  11. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and oil
  12. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. check after 1 hour 10 mins. Pearce the thickest part of the leg. The juices should run clear.
  13. Rest for 15 minutes.

Photo Above: This photo shows the cooked chicken with the Asian butter under the skin.

Variations: The Asian butter can be modified according to what you have or your flavour preference. Delete anything you wish. You might like to add any of the following:

Lemongrass, roasted peanuts, galangal, miso paste, orange, lemon, onion, kepac manis (sweet soy sauce), star anise.

We like the following butter combinations:

  1. Lime, chilli, peanuts, kepac manis, light soy
  2. Yuzu, miso, soy sauce, ginger, garlic
  3. Orange, chilli, light soy, ginger, star anise