This was the moment I decided to have my first piece of meat after going over a decade without! I paid $23 for that 3lb chicken because I bought a hormone-free, vegetarian fed, free-range chicken. Fortunately I have since found that Costco will sell two 4lb chickens that were raised in the same humane manner for just $20- a real deal! I like to think it's worth the extra cash to get properly raised meat, and I imagine it impacts the taste, too.
I'm telling you, if you eat meat you should probably be roasting a chicken at least once a week: it's a minimal prep time, flexible recipe and is pretty much guaranteed to be delicious. Once you throw it in the oven you have over an hour to hang out while the chicken makes your home smell incredible, and then you take it out and have a really impressive meal! Plus you'll have leftovers to make easy meals the next day or two.
To make it you'll have to have the chicken, it's best if you have fresh herbs, and the rest is up to you. Don't take recipes like this too seriously. I have some suggestions below.
Perfect Roast Chicken
- 1 whole chicken, 3-4lbs
- 1 or more fresh herbs such as: rosemary, thyme, sage
- 1/2 - 1 Lemon
- Garlic, smashed and peeled, 2-5 cloves
- Onion
- Celery (optional)
- Carrot (optional)
- Butter and olive oil
- Salt and fresh ground pepper
Now, I've made a perfect roast chicken with just 1 spring onion, half a lemon that had been zested and half juiced and was sitting in the fridge a couple days, a sprig of sage and a bunch of smashed cloves of garlic. It doesn't take much to get crazy flavor. Just have garlic and lemon? Go for it. Just herbs and onion? I bet it'll be amazing. Although you can always part with the fresh herbs, they really do make a difference. Especially on the skin.
Rinse the chicken inside and out and then place on a foil-lined pan. Cover the top, sides, bottom and inside the cavity with a generous amount of salt and fresh cracked pepper. I usually crack a bunch of pepper ahead of time in a bowl to make it easy, I'm super paranoid about cross-contamination with raw chicken. Melt a 1/2 tablespoon of butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil (just pop in the microwave for a few seconds) and then mix in a tablespoon or so of finely chopped herbs. Using a brush, cover the entire chicken thoroughly with the mixture, top to bottom. Then stuff the cavity with whatever sounds good! I've had great results with lemon, a couple springs of herbs, smashed garlic cloves and half an onion. If you have celery and carrots throw those in there, too (it doesn't take much, 1/2 a stick of each). Tie the legs together with twine (I never have twine so I roll up a small piece of tinfoil and use this) to keep all the goodies inside. If you have extra onions and veggies you can make a bed and lay the chicken on top of it.
Now, depending on how much time you have there are a couple of options for cooking. For slower but better results I like to cook it for an hour and 15 minutes at 350 degrees, then raise the temperature to 375 and cook for 30 more minutes. If you're in a crunch you can cook at 400 for 1-1.5 hours depending on the size of the chicken. Just be sure the chicken temperature reaches about 165 degrees, and you want to have a nice golden crisp skin. The juices will run clear (and it will be JUICY!) and the leg should be loose as though you can pull it off. Just be sure to let it rest 10-15 minutes before serving so you don't lose all the juices.
TJ and I always take off the skin when we actually eat it which makes it a bit healthier, and you still get great flavor. YOU'RE WELCOME and ENJOY!
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