Super Easy Whole Roasted Chicken from Elyse Kopecky
Roasting a whole chicken doesn't need to be intimidating.
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This recipe will result in the juiciest and most flavorful chicken with crispy skin. Once you get in the habit of roasting your own whole bird, you’ll never go back to store-bought rotisserie chicken. In the winter, I roast a chicken nearly every week as part of my meal prep routine because it provides delicious protein for multiple meals. Don’t toss the bones! Stash them in a bag in the freezer until you have time to make a nourishing bone broth.
[Part of the Mastering Meal Prep with Elyse Kopecky series]
Read the transcript, and find the recipe, below:
ELYSE KOPECKY:
Another regular in our household, especially as the cooler temperatures come in the fall and winter, my family loves whole roasted chicken. A lot of people are intimidated by roasting a whole chicken, but it’s surprisingly easy and so much better than a store-bought rotisserie chicken. The first night we’ll eat the whole roasted chicken as a main dish with a couple sides like roasted potatoes and salad. And the second night you can take the leftover chicken and shred it up and use it in bowls or tacos or quesadillas. And for lunches, I love to have extra protein to put on top of my quinoa and grain salad. So I’ll just take some of that or I’ll chop up the chicken and make a chicken salad with a little bit of yogurt or mayonnaise and mustard. So it’s another really versatile protein that the whole family will love.
I also love to use every part of the chicken. So at the end I toss the leftover bones into the freezer in a bag, and then you’ve got the really good ingredients at the ready for making bone broths, which are super nourishing. The other thing I love about making whole roasted chicken is it feels fancy and it’s great. You can serve it, you know, for a dinner party, for a holiday meal when guests are coming over for dinner. And so I definitely recommend trying our recipe a couple of times until you get the hang of it. But once you do it, you’ll realize how easy it is to roast your own whole chicken.
Elyse’s whole roasted chicken recipe can be found in Run Fast. Eat Slow., or check out her simplified version, below.
Simple Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (about 6 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dried poultry seasoning blend (oregano, thyme, sage)
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small yellow onion, cut into wedges
- ½ lemon, cut into wedges
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove the giblets from the cavity of the chicken (discard or save for stock) and place the chicken on a roasting pan. Pat dry with a paper towel.
- In a small bowl, create a run by combining the oil, dried herbs, salt, and pepper.
- Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the onion and lemon.
- Cover the chicken on all sides and crevices with the herb rub and place breast side up in the roasting pan. Fold the wing tips underneath the chicken.
- Cook until a thermometer inserted in the inner thigh registers 165°F and the juices run clear, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. For best results, do not open the oven to check on the chicken until the hour mark. (An 8-pound chicken will take longer, about 1 hour 30 minutes.) Let rest for 20 minutes before carving.