Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe
A whole roasted chicken recipe is a must for any cook. Oven roasted chicken is perfect for Sunday dinner, and a whole roasted chicken is also a good option for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays if a turkey or ham is too much food for a small gathering. Not only is my whole roasted chicken crispy, but is also flavorful, moist, and tender. Even though my whole roasted chicken recipe uses the flavors of Thanksgiving, you can modify this roasted chicken recipe once you know the basics. In addition, I roasted vegetables with the chicken, so my whole roasted chicken and vegetables could be a full meal. Although roasting a whole chicken looks hard, it’s actually easy: you just have to follow my oven roasted chicken tips.
Whole Roasted Chicken With Vegetables and Crispy Skin:
My whole roasted chicken recipe starts with a buttermilk brine. As explained in a myfearlesskitchen.com article, a brine uses the principle of osmosis to pull water into the meat’s cells. Similar to the use of yogurt as a chicken marinade in Indian cuisine, the slightly acidic nature of buttermilk not only makes the whole roasted chicken more moist but also more tender without making it tough. Considering the frequent use of buttermilk in Southern recipes, I think it is the most appropriate brine for a Thanksgiving oven roasted chicken and vegetables.
After bringing the whole chicken for at least 4-8 hours if not overnight, the next step in the whole roasted chicken recipe is to take the chicken out of the brine and leave it outside of the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes before prepping the whole roasted chicken so that it can come to room temperature. In a seriouseats.com article, chef J. Kenji Lopez-Alt says that letting meat come to room temperature before cooking it not only makes the meat cook more evenly but also makes it juicier.
Also, be sure to put some vegetables into the roasting pan when making my whole roasted chicken recipe. Oven roasted chicken with vegetables is delicious because the drippings from the chicken moisten and flavor the vegetables.
However, the most important part of my whole roasted chicken recipe is the herb butter. Mixing garlic and spices with butter is the perfect way to flavor your whole roasted chicken, so the key to any whole roasted chicken recipe is to spread the butter both on the skin and under the skin. Putting the butter on the skin of a whole roasted chicken makes the skin crispy, and putting it between the skin and meat flavors the meat. As you can see, the herb butter is the most important part of any roasted chicken recipe.
Although oven roasted chicken recipes differ, I prefer to start my oven roasted chicken at a lower temperature, and then turn up the oven at the end. Also, instead of flipping the chicken halfway through to keep the breasts moist, a combination of buttermilk brine, herb butter, and foil tent make the breast meat in my whole roasted chicken recipe moist and tender without any hassle.
The last step of my whole roasted chicken recipe is to recover the chicken with foil and let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving: letting meat rest before cutting will lead to less moisture of loss when carving.
Crispy Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe:
Ingredients
- Brine:
- 5 lb chicken (2.267 kg)
- 1/2 gallon of buttermilk (1.89 liters)
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- Herb Butter:
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried sage (NOT rubbed or ground--dried sage is not in powder form)
- Vegetables for chicken cavity (1 orange, 1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1/4 golden delicious apple)
- Vegetables for pan (I used potatoes, golden delicious apples, butternut squash, and onions)
Instructions
- Brine 5 pound chicken (2.267 kg) in 1/2 gallon of buttermilk (1.89 liters) for 6-8 hours of overnight.
- Remove from brine, and allow to come to room temperature (30-60 minutes).
- Make herb butter with butter, garlic, and spices.
- Cut potatoes, butternut squash, apples, onions, etc. for roasting pan and for cavity.
- If using a rack, put foil over the rack, and use a knife to poke holes in the foil (cleanup will be easier).
- Put cut vegetables into roasting pan.
- On separate plate, prep chicken by rubbing herb butter both on and under the skin.
- Stuff cavity with 1/2 orange, apple scraps, onion, and garlic.
- Spread excess herb butter on vegetables in roasted pan
- Place chicken on rack on top of roasting pan.
- Cover sides with foil, leaving front and back exposed.
- Bake: 350 F, covered, 2 hours
- Bake: 400 F, uncovered, 35 minutes, uncovered
- Turn off oven, then let rest in over for 5 minutes (uncovered).
- Remove from over, cover with foil, and let rest 15-20 minutes before serving.
Whole Roasted Chicken Video Tutorial:
Be sure to check out my video tutorial for whole roasted chicken:
Sources:
https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/06/the-food-lab-7-old-wives-tales-about-cooking-steak.html
