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Roasted Whole Chicken

Roasted Whole Chicken

Roasting a whole chicken is my "I don't want to put effort into dinner" fallback, so there's no reason to stress about it. A simple seasoning of salt and pepper is wonderful, and you end up with delicious, tender, moist meat.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Calories: 409
Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole chicken
  • olive oil (or butter)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • optional for the cavity: fresh rosemary, thyme, or oregano, garlic, butter, or an onion
  • optional if not trussing: 1 lemon and 1 onion, halved

Method
 

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  2. Wash your chicken. Check the cavity and pull out the package of organs that the butcher put in there. (You can use those another time or now to make gravy. Discard or place in the fridge.)
  3. Once it's washed, pat it dry with a paper towel.
  4. Put anything you want in the cavity: a sprig of fresh rosemary, thyme, or oregano, some garlic, some butter, or an onion. Or, you can leave it empty. Any way is fine.
  5. Truss the chicken. If you do not want to truss the chicken, cut a lemon in half, and put both halves and a halved onion into the cavity. This will help keep the breasts from drying out too badly while the legs are still cooking.
  6. Spritz the outside with olive oil. You can also rub it with butter.
  7. Season it. Simple salt and pepper is wonderful, but you can use any seasonings you want or a blend of seasonings.
  8. Place it in a pan.
  9. Roast it, uncovered, according to the roasting times in the Notes.
  10. Check the temperature before removing from the oven. You want chicken to reach 180 degrees F. (I let it reach 170 to 175 degrees F, then pull it out of the oven; it will continue cooking after it's out.)
  11. When you remove it from the oven, let it sit for about 15 to 20 minutes so that all the juices settle.
  12. Remove the trussing string and place on a platter. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 409kcalProtein: 35gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 133mgPotassium: 360mgVitamin A: 267IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 2mg

Notes

Roasting times at 425 degrees F, unstuffed: 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, 1 to 1 3/4 hours; 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours; 4 1/2 to 5 pounds, 1 1/2 to 2 hours; 5 to 6 pounds, 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 hours.
Roasting times, stuffed: 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, 1 1/2 to 2 hours; 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 hours; 4 1/2 to 5 pounds, 2 to 2 1/2 hours; 5 to 6 pounds, 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 hours.
If you don't have a meat thermometer, purchase one when you purchase your chicken. Without one, you can check it by piercing the leg near the thigh: if the juices run clear and not pink, it's cooked through. You can also wiggle the drumstick; if it moves freely and wiggles easily, the chicken is ready to come out of the oven.
I don't personally use oven bags; I try to avoid plastic when I cook.

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