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Family-friendly meals made easy!
Make everyday family moments count, with easy recipes that everyone will love. Join our email community to receive tested recipes and tips.
Make everyday family moments count, with easy recipes that everyone will love. Join our email community to receive tested recipes and tips.
Everybody needs a reliable roast chicken in their recipe repertoire. This one relies on very minimal prep and yields a big payoff. Enjoy a succulent, crispy-skinned bird for dinner tonight, shred the leftovers for lunch or a bubble-up bake tomorrow night, and even use the chicken carcass for soup to freeze for later. The possibilities are endless!
Look below for the ingredients you’ll need to make this roasted chicken.
Baby Potatoes: There are a lot of varieties of baby potatoes, but they all have a thin skin and hold their shape well, perfect for roasting whole. Choose any variety you like. They usually come in a 24-ounce bag.
Baby Carrots: Another timesaver! Baby carrots, which are already washed and prepped, come in a 16-ounce bag.
Yellow Onion: Yellow onion is a classic ingredient in roasted chicken. It has a sharp, clean flavor that gets sweet when roasted and holds its shape well for serving.
Garlic: Look for a large bulb with tightly-packed cloves.
Whole Chicken: We’ve opted for a smaller chicken to cut down on roasting time. If you can’t find a 4-pounder, a larger one will work, but keep in mind it will need longer to cook.
Other Ingredients You’ll Need: Olive oil, salt, pepper.
Here’s how to roast a whole chicken.
Toss the potatoes and carrots with oil and seasonings. Push the vegetables towards the outer edge of the roasting pan and add the garlic and onion in the center.
Season the chicken all over (and inside!), and rest it breast-side up on top of garlic and onion.
Roast until the veggies are caramelized and soft, chicken skin is crispy and browned, and the meat is cooked through. Use a food thermometer to make sure the thickest part of the thigh is at least 165°F. Carve and serve the chicken with vegetables, drizzling pan juices over the food. If you're new to cooking whole birds, here's a primer from our kitchen on how to carve a chicken.
If you have any leftovers, here’s how to store and reheat them.
Transfer any leftover chicken and vegetables to an airtight food storage container and store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
While we don’t recommend freezing the vegetables, shred any leftover chicken and place in an airtight food storage container or freezer-safe zip top plastic bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Heat oven to 450°F.
Place potatoes and carrots in a 13x9-inch baking dish or roasting pan. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
Place the onion and garlic in the center of the pan, pushing the other vegetables aside slightly, creating a bed for the chicken to sit atop.
Rub remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil all over the chicken. Use the remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons salt to season the chicken all over, including inside the cavity.
Place the chicken, breast-side up, in the center of the roasting pan or baking dish atop the onion, garlic, potatoes, and carrots. Roast the chicken for 15 minutes; then, turn the oven down to 400°F.
Roast for another 30 minutes or until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F. Let the chicken rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Serve with carrots, potatoes, onion, and any pan juices. Garlic cloves can be squeezed out and served.
Use a fork to squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves, and mash the pulp into the pan juices for a super flavorful, savory sauce to serve with your chicken.
Tie the legs of the chicken together with kitchen twine for a simple way to ensure your chicken is cooked evenly and stays nice and juicy.
