This roasted whole chicken and vegetable recipe is the perfect family dinner. The whole chicken is filled with aromatics, roasted in the oven, and will leave you with tender juice meat, and crisp skin. The juices released from the roasted whole chicken, gives you caramelized roasted vegetables and a beautiful pan sauce. This roast chicken recipe is easy, full of flavor, and your new dinner go-to.

Prepping the vegetables

For the vegetables in this recipe I used: quartered gold potatoes, peeled carrots, and open whole bulbs of garlic. Tip: do not cut the vegetables too small or they will not hold up during the roasted process. If you see the garlic begin to burn, you can flip them over to face down during the roasting process.

Prepping the chicken

When handling chicken, contamination safety is the biggest priority. I recommend prepping the chicken in the sink, since it is an easily washable surface and will limit contamination.

To prep the chicken, first you need to remove the bag from the cavity and the pouch that is usually located on top of the neck. I typically place in a ziplock, then freeze until it’s garbage day. I place colander inside of a bowl to catch all the juices while I dry the chicken with paper towels. You want the entire chicken dried, inside the cavity and out. (I add the paper towels to my discard ziplock, ensuring not to touch anything else without washing my hands).

Stuffing chicken

Once the chicken is fully dried, I move it to a plate. Sprinkle kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper inside the cavity. Next, I place two garlic cloves in the cavity first, followed by half the thyme, a mostly peeled lemon, then the final clove of garlic and rest of the thyme. The lemon keeps the meat moist while it roasts.

Trussing a whole chicken

There’s the traditional way to truss a chicken and then there’s Grant Crilly’s way to truss a chicken. I agree with Grant, that the traditional way of trussing a chicken leaves you with a dry breast, soggy skin, and uneven cooking. I now always use this technique. Attached is a video to supplement the step-by-step below.

1. First place the twine under the middle of the chicken
2. Next, pull the twine through the armpits of the wings
3. Cross the twine and pull it tight, so the skin of the breast meat will stay down and secured while it roasts
4. Cross over the elbows of the wings to secure them down, then cross under the crown and pull tight
5. Next, go behind and under the legs
6. Bring the twine over the top of the knee’s and cross the twine under the crown again. When you pull the leg’s of the bird should straighten out.
7. Carefully flip the bird over and wrap three times before tying tight.
8. Secure by tying an additional knot, so it does not unravel while roasting, and cut off excess string.

Finishing touches, pre-roast

Once the chicken has been trussed, carefully place it over the top of the bed of vegetables. You may have to move a few vegetables around to balance the bird. Give it one last pat with paper towels to ensure its fully dry. Next, I brush lemon juice over the entire bird, followed by kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Into the oven she goes!

Roasting the chicken

I start the chicken at 450 degrees F, to jump start the crisping. I roast for 20 minutes at 450. I remove the chicken after 20 minutes, and brush olive oil onto the skin. I do not baste the chicken after this point, because it will cause the skin to steam, soften, and get chewy. Place back into the oven, dropping the temperature to 425F.

Cook time

Cook time will vary according to the weight of your chicken. I always choose between 4-5 pound chicken, with this one above at 5 pounds. For a 4 pound bird, it should take about an hour. My 5 pound bird took an hour and a half to cook. After the chicken has been roasting in the oven for 1 hour, remove the chicken and take the temperature of the top of the breast, back of the breast where it meets the thigh, and see where you are in relation to 165F. You want to test multiple spots on the chicken, to ensure you aren’t hitting bone and that the chicken is fully cooked.

Finishing touches

Once the chicken is registering at 165F, remove from oven and I sprinkle chopped thyme over the top. Resist the urge to baste, you worked for that crispy skin, don’t mess it up now! Allow the bird to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

I recommend immediately eating the wings, yes…before you even cut and serve the chicken. They are SO crispy and your reward for your hard work! To serve, cut the breast in slices with a sharp knife. Serve with the roasted potatoes, carrots, and squeeze out the garlic cloves. Don’t forget the pan sauce, it’s the best part! Drizzle over the entire plate.

To store, carve the entire chicken and place in a sealed container. You can use this recipe for meal prep throughout the week, use the chicken shredded in soups, in so many dishes.

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