There’s something primal about roasting a whole chicken, and it’s actually much, much easier than you think. This recipe sticks to the basics and it will never disappoint. You can do this.
WHOLE ROASTED CHICKEN
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt/Pepper
Optional: Twine
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Pat your chicken dry, if there is a bag of giblets inside the chicken you can remove it and throw away.
- Place the chicken in a cast iron pan. If you don’t own one, no worries.. just use any oven-safe pan or baking dish, as long as it has tall enough sides to collect the drippings.
- Rub olive oil all over the outside of the chicken making sure to get in all the crevices. This will make the skin crispy so don’t hold back.
- Generously sprinkle salt and pepper all over the bottom of the chicken, then flip it over and do the same to the top. Now, with the breast side up, sprinkle some garlic powder and onion powder all over. I’d love to give you exact measurements but it’s really not necessary. (But I know you still want to know so let’s just say 2 teaspoons of each..)
- Truss the legs using twine, and tuck the wings back – click here for a step by step on how to do this. This step is completely optional and mainly helps your presentation. If you skip this step I assure you, your chicken will taste just as good and still look totally fine.
- Place the chicken in the oven, and set your timer for 60-75 minutes, depending on the size of your bird (see notes below on timing and carving!)
- Let the chicken rest on a cutting board for a few minutes, and take a look at the pan drippings left over. This is your new best friend! I like to add just a splash of chicken stock, and whisk it all together. You can add corn starch or arrowroot to thicken it into more of a gravy if you like. I put in a small ramekin and use to dip my chicken in.
NOTES
- The biggest reason people tell me they are intimidated to roast a whole chicken is that they never know when it’s done. You’ll read in pretty much any other whole roasted chicken recipe that you should allow 20 minutes per pound of chicken (so, an hour for a 3 pound bird.) I don’t go by this rule. Every oven is a little different, every chicken is a little different, and every time you make a whole chicken you’ll get better and better about timing. But one hour is a good rule of thumb for the minimum time it will take, and I suggest not opening your oven to check until a full hour has passed. After years of roasting a whole chicken almost every week, I basically give my birds 1 hour and 15 minutes regardless of the size, and put it back in after carving if I think they need a little extra time.
- When in doubt, place a meat thermometer into a thick part like the thigh – you’ll want a reading of about 165 degrees.
- Don’t stress about what size chicken to get. I like to buy the biggest one available and eat the leftovers for lunch.
- Carving the chicken is a fun process that you’ll undoubtedly mess up the first couple of times around. The good news is that no matter how badly you carve the chicken it will still taste great. You’ll get better each time and eventually you’ll be a pro. Watch this step by step video to get started.
- Don’t overlook the pan drippings, they really take the chicken to the next level!
Brendan says
That was way easier than I thought it would be. Thanks for an easy to follow – no nonsense – recipe! Time to go check out that avocado pudding recipe 😛
David says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Helen says
Yum! I have a suggestion for you if you don’t mind taking suggestions from a non-professional (but very experienced) cook. I am in love with spatchcocking my chicken (and turkey on Thanksgiving). Just use a sharp knife or scissors, cut the back out (I save it to make stock), flatten it out on the breast side, place 3 or so cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed a bit, a whole onion cut into quarters, a stick or two of celery, cut in half, and a couple of carrots, under it, and roast. I use the drippings, mix in a bit of chicken stock, along with those chicken-deipping-enriched veggies, smashed up, to make a sauce/gravy. They flavor it, color it, and thicken it a bit. It is so good!
David says
I recently started doing this on the grill in the last couple of months, it’s great! Will write my recipe for that soon. Thanks for sharing, and I’m a non-professional myself so I fully appreciate the thoughts!
Herb says
Hi, any update on this recipe, ;). Thanks!
David says
Thanks for bumping this up! I’ll get to work!
Larry says
I came to comment the same thing, spatchcocking has made my experience with chicken so much more predictable. I know that almost no matter the size the chicken it will cook 70 mins at 350 and be perfect and juicy every time. Occasionally my spouse will come home with a really heavy like 6+ lb chicken and I’ll give it 10 more minutes. The best part for me, 100% of the skin is crispy and delicious, frankly I could go without the meat sometimes. 😉
Maryanne says
You put it back into oven after carving?? That is a brand new concept for me. I grew up with extremely well done to burnt chicken due to my dad’s preferences so dont like under done meat, nor do i like cardboard chicken. I will try this!!!
David says
I’m totally with you on that. The only time I don’t put it back in is if I feel the chicken is totally done. But if you follow this and the bird is anywhere over 4 or 5 pounds you should have plenty of space to put it back in and not risk over cooking!
Trina Nishitani says
Give the giblets to Clyde. So healthy raw for dogs. My dogs eat nothing but raw meat…no sickness, no gas, no bad breath. Give him “live” food instead of “dead processed dog food”…no cancer later either.
David says
Interesting! I’m definitely going to look into this. Too many perfectly good giblets go to waste in this house…
claudine rogers says
I love the conversational, encouraging way you write your recipes. I’m not a very frequent cook, but I’m tempted to try this.
David says
Thank you! If you try it, let me know how it goes. I’m glad this resonated with you, when I write I’m always trying to talk to the person who wants to try making something they never have before.