Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe
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This whole roasted chicken is both delicious and budget-friendly. You can use one chicken to make multiple meals, or even pull it apart and freeze some for future recipes.
Roasting a whole chicken is an essential skill unless you are plant-based. Knowing how to cook a chicken to perfection and make several meals from it not only saves time, but money too.
Roasting a chicken gives it incredible flavor, and you can always mix up different spices to create different flavors, preventing you from getting bored with the same ol’ chicken.
Tips For Perfectly Roasted Chicken
- Rub butter or oil under and over the skin – This will help keep the chicken from drying out in the oven.
- Use a Meat Thermometer – Cooking your chicken to the correct temperature is the best way to avoid food poisoning or overcooking. Always make sure your chicken reaches 165F at its deepest parts. (Not inside the cavity. Check it in a few places to be sure the whole bird is fully cooked)
- Start at a high temperature, then lower it – Preheat your oven to 425 and roast the chicken at this temperature for about 20 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 375F. and finish cooking. This will give you crispy skin with perfectly cooked meat.
- Baste your bird – This will give your chicken extra moisture. Just a few times during roasting is all you need.
- Rest the chicken before carving – After you pull the chicken out of the oven, let it rest on the stovetop for about 10-15 minutes. This does two things. First, it lets it cool down enough for you to handle the chicken without burning yourself. Second, it allows the moisture in the chicken to distribute properly, leaving you with nice, moist, meat.
- Use a rack – Using a roasting rack inside a roasting pan allows the hot air to circulate around the chicken as it cooks, making sure that it cooks more efficiently and evenly.
FAQs
How Long Does It Take To Roast A Whole Chicken?
A 4-5 lb chicken – About 1.5 hours at 375°F (190°C). Cooking time depends on the size of the chicken, so use a meat thermometer to make sure everything gets fully cooked.
What Temperature Should I Roast The Chicken At?
Most chickens will roast nicely somewhere between 375F and 425F. But you will need to adjust cooking time to accommodate whichever temperature you roast at. The recipe below uses a combination of temperatures in order to give you crispy skin and tender meat.
How Do I Know When The Chicken Is Done?
Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone. In this spot, your chicken should reach a minimum of 165F in order to be fully cooked. You can test both sides of the chicken as well as a few other spots to be sure.
Make sure when you cut into the chicken that any juices that come from the chicken are clear. Not pink.
Should I Cover The Chicken While It’s Roasting?
No, it’s not usually necessary unless the skin of the chicken starts to get too brown for your liking. In this case, place a loose piece of foil over the chicken to keep the skin from burning.
Why Is My Roasted Chicken Dry?
If your chicken is dry, you probably overcooked it. Make sure you use oil or butter under and over the skin to help avoid this and keep an eye on your chicken with a meat thermometer.
What’s The Best Way To Get Crispy Skin?
Use a clean paper towel to pat the chicken dry before you add any seasoning. Also, make sure to rub a little oil or melted butter over and under the skin. Roast the chicken at a higher temperature, like 425°F, which will also help give you a crispy skin.
Can I Add Vegetables To The Roasting Pan?
You can. But choose vegetables that will hold up well to roasting. Veggies such as potatoes, carrots, and onions are sturdier veggies that hold up well during the roasting process. They will pick up lots of flavor from the drippings in the pan, so there is no need to season them heavily, if at all.
Do I Have To Baste The Chicken While It’s Roasting?
No, you don’t have to baste a roasting chicken, but it sure does help with flavor and moisture. If you choose to baste your bird, do so about every 30 minutes using a baster and the juices from the roasting pan under your bird. The reason you don’t really want to do it more often than that is because the oven temperature will lower too much from the frequent opening of the door to properly cook the chicken.
Do I Have To Truss The Chicken?
I will start by saying I have never done this. However, if the presentation is important to you and you want to ensure the chicken cooks evenly, consider trusting. It helps.
Can I Roast A Frozen Chicken?
It’s best to thaw chicken completely before roasting for even cooking. If you must cook it from frozen, add extra cooking time and check the temperature carefully.
Should I Add Seasoning Under The Skin?
Absolutely. When you first prepare the chicken, run your hand between the skin and the breast meat, making sure to get down into all the little corners. Try not to rip the skin. Then, get your seasonings distributed under the skin for the best flavor ever.
What Can I Do With The Leftover Carcass?
Fill up a large pot of water, and toss in the leftover carcass with some spices. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for as long as needed to get a good-tasting chicken broth. If you save vegetable scraps in your freezer for stock, this is a good thing to add here as well.
Side Dishes To Serve With A Whole Roasted Chicken
If you’ll be serving your chicken as a main course, you’ll want a few sides to go with that. Here are some ideas:
- Roasted veggies
- Mashed potatoes
- salad
- Rice and veggies
- Roasted potatoes
- Polenta
- Dill carrots
- Green beans
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Sautéed Spinach with Garlic
- Wild Rice Salad
- Rice Pilaf
- Salad
- Asparagus
- Buttered Corn on the Cob
- Ratatouille
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Couscous
- Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
- Mushroom Risotto
About The Ingredients
A whole chicken – While you can use any size chicken, for the purposes of this recipe, choose one that is somewhere around 6 pounds.
Yellow onion – Cut into chunks.
Baby carrots – Used whole.
Celery – Cut into larger chunks.
Dried tarragon
Lemon zest
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Ground black pepper
Olive oil
How To Make A Whole Roasted Chicken
Preheat oven to 425℉.
Place your bird on a stable work surface.
Reach in through the larger of the two cavities and pull out the stuff wrapped in paper.
Prepare your veggies to your liking. They will cook down considerably, so don’t worry too much about slicing them properly. Just chop them up roughly into big chunks if you are using them. Place them into the roasting pan around the perimeter of the roasting rack or across the bottom of the pan under the rack. Whatever works best for you.
In a small mixing bowl, mix the tarragon, lemon zest, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and olive oil.
Separate the skin from the meat by moving your fingers around under the skin. You’re not removing the skin, just separating it from the meat so you can get the spices under there.
With your hand, rub the majority of your spice mix under the skin, covering as much of the bird as possible. Rub the remaining spice mix all over the outside of the bird.
Place your bird on top of the roasting rack (or on top of your veggies if you don’t have a rack) and put the whole pan into the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 375℉ and continue roasting until your chicken reaches at least 165F. See notes above on where to take the temperature. Cover loosely with foil if the skin starts to brown too much.
Allow the chicken to sit for 10-15 minutes before you cut into it. Cut and serve.
Storage
Store leftovers, wrapped well, in the fridge, for up to 3 days.
Freezing
It’s best to disassemble the chicken first, then wrap the meat carefully and freeze for up to 4 months.
Reheating
Reheating can be done in any number of ways and will depend on how you use the chicken.
More Chicken Recipes
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Whole Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 lb. chicken (the size can vary a bit)
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 lb. baby carrots
- 1 medium bunch celery
- 2 tbsp. dried tarragon
- 2 tbsp. lemon zest
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉.
- Place your birdie on a stable work surface.
- Reach in through the larger of the two cavities and pull out the stuff wrapped in paper.
- Prepare your veggies to your liking. They will cook down considerably, so don't worry too much about slicing them properly. Just chop them up roughly into big chunks if you are using them. Place them into the roasting pan around the perimeter of the roasting rack or across the bottom of the pan under the rack. Whatever works best for you.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix the tarragon, lemon zest, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and olive oil.
- Separate the skin from the meat by moving your fingers around under the skin. You’re not removing the skin, just separating it from the meat so you can get the spices under there.
- With your hand, rub the majority of your spice mix under the skin, covering as much of the bird as possible. Rub the remaining spice mix all over the rest of the outside of the bird.
- Place your bird on top of the roasting rack (or on top of your veggies if you don't have a rack) and put the whole pan into the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 375℉ and continue roasting until your chicken reaches at least 165F. See notes above on where to take the temperature. Cover loosely with foil if the skin starts to brown too much.
- Allow the chicken to sit for 10-15 minutes before you cut into it. Cut and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted on 6/6/2010.
Made this tonight, it was absolutely delish!!! Cold and windy here, great night for it, hubbie loved it too!!!
Mary Pat – Fantastic! 🙂
I made this last night and it was fantastic! I didn’t have any tarragon so I substituted it with some thyme and oregano and it worked well. I love the lemon zest element. I’ve tried other roasted chicken recipes but this was by far the most flavorful. I used the scraps to make broth overnight in the crockpot and now I’ll have soup for tonight’s dinner with the leftover chicken we didn’t eat. I love getting two meals out of one recipe! This is the first of your recipes I’ve tried and I can say I will definitely be trying more. Thanks for sharing them.
Sandy – My pleasure! I’m honored to have you try one of my recipes! 🙂
I am making this for dinner tonight and noticed in one pic that you had your bird breast side down. Was that on purpose or just an errant photo. Thanks for any response!
Jennifer – Just the photo. 🙂
You have such great information here. Thanks so much. It’s so helpful! I’ll be trying this recipe tonight!
Sara – Thanks so much! Let me know how you like it! 🙂
I roast chicken by rubbing salt into the chicken and the covering the whole chicken with chicken spice. Nothing else is added to the chicken or in the roasting dish. I always open roast chicken at 190 degrees Celsius using 50 minutes per kg or part there of as a guide. When the chicken is done it is remove it from the roasting dish to a heatproof container with a lid. The chicken then rests the closed container for a few minutes. The chicken does not dry out and has this wonderful roast chicken flavour.
We either eat it with veggies, or I turn it into a roast chicken and veggie pie, sometimes it becomes a roast chicken salad, or becomes part of a pasta dish. You dnt need expensive ingredients to make good food, just tweaking the baking temperature makes a big difference.
Elze – Sounds wonderful! And yes, I agree. The temperature really makes or breaks it!