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.
- First place the twine under the middle of the chicken
- Next, pull the twine through the armpits of the wings
- Cross the twine and pull it tight, so the skin of the breast meat will stay down and secured while it roasts
- Cross over the elbows of the wings to secure them down, then cross under the crown and pull tight
- Next, go behind and under the legs
- 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.
- Carefully flip the bird over and wrap three times before tying tight.
- 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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Roasted Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 4-5 pound whole chicken
- 2 pounds yukon gold potatoes washed and quartered
- 1 ½ pounds carrots peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces
- 3 heads garlic tops cut off + 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 lemon peeled and pith removed
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Cooking twine to truss chicken
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, place quartered gold potatoes and sliced carrots. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil, pinch kosher salt, and pinch black pepper, toss to combine. Dump vegetables into a large cast iron skillet or roasting pan. Nestle the garlic bulbs on the outskirt of the pan. Set aside.
- 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. I place whole chicken in a colander within the larger bowl I used to toss the vegetables to catch all the juices. Remove the bag of innards from the cavity and the pouch located by the neck. I use a gallon ziplock to place all of these items and any chicken discard to freeze and discard on trash day.
- Using paper towels thoroughly dry the chicken inside the cavity and out, getting in between the wings and legs. Discard paper towels into your bag with other chicken items. Once the chicken is fully dried inside and out carefully move to a plate.
- Sprinkle a bit of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper inside the cavity ( ¼ tsp). Place 2 peeled garlic cloves in, 3 thyme sprigs, followed by the peeled lemon, the final garlic clove, and remaining thyme.
- Truss the chicken, see notes for step by step of best way to truss a chicken for juicy meat and crispy skin.
- Once chicken is trussed, carefully place it on top of the bed of vegetables. You may have to move a few vegetables to ensure it sits evenly on top. Thoroughly wash hands.
- Brush a thin layer of lemon juice on the chicken followed by kosher salt and ground black pepper all over the breast and thighs (I use about ½ tbsp of kosher salt). Place in the oven.
- Roast the chicken for 20 minutes in the oven, carefully remove from the oven and dab a thin layer of olive oil on 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.
- Depending on the weight of your chicken, the roasting time should be about 1 ½ hour total for a 5lb chicken. For a smaller bird it will take less, so begin checking temperature around 45 minutes-1 hour. This time may also be affected if you use a different trussing technique. I rotate the pan halfway through to ensure even cooking. If you see the garlic bulbs beginning to burn, you can use tongs to flip them over.
- The chicken is done when multiple points register at 165F. I test the top front of the breast, back of the breast where it meets the thigh, and the thigh. I test multiple locations to ensure the chicken is fully cooked through.
- Once at temperature, remove from the oven and sprinkle chopped thyme over the top. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting. The cavity will have delicious juices inside, so carefully tilt the chicken to empty over the vegetables before moving to a cutting board to slice.
- I recommend immediately eating the wings, 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.
Notes
Trussing 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. View video in post for additional help trussing whole chicken
- First place the twine under the middle of the chicken
- Next, pull the twine through the armpits of the wings
- Cross the twine over the top of breast and pull it tight, so the skin of the breast meat will stay down and secured while it roasts
- Cross over the elbows of the wings to secure them down, then cross under the crown and pull tight
- Next, go behind and under the legs
- 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.
- Carefully flip the bird over and wrap three times before tying tight.
- Secure by tying an additional knot, so it does not unravel while roasting, and cut off excess string.
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