As the temperatures start to dip and the evenings become darker earlier, we often crave a recipe that is both simple, warm, and hearty! Sometimes you just need to pop something in the oven and not think about it for a minute. Our Perfect Roast Chicken, adapted from Ina Garten’s version, is a combo platter of all of those things. Prep the chicken and vegetables and toss into a roasting pan.
Pop into the oven. Wait an hour and a half. And then, before you know it, you have a beautifully golden roast chicken with potatoes, carrots, and onions that have been soaking in that chicken broth! One pan, minimal clean up, and a satisfying meal that checks all of the boxes. Enjoy!
Perfect Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 5-6 pound roasting chicken
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large bunch fresh thyme
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large Spanish onion, thickly sliced
- 2 pounds Gold baby potatoes
- 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1 cube Knorr bouillon
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour *Cup-4-Cup for GF
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the chicken in a roasting pan just large enough to hold the chicken and vegetables. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of the lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
- Roast the chicken for 1-1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. After about 45 minutes, scatter the onions and potatoes around the chicken, and cook for remaining time. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy.
- Remove all the fat from the bottom of the pan, reserving 2-3 tablespoons in a small bowl. Add the chicken stock to the pan and cook on high heat for about 5 minutes, until reduced, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add bouillon. Combine the chicken fat and 2 tablespoons of butter with the flour, and add to the pan. Boil and stir for a few minutes to cook the flour. Strain the gravy into a small saucepan and season it to taste. Keep it warm over a very low flame while you carve the chicken.
