Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe (Crispy Skin)
with l'épicier
- Preparation 20 min
- Cooking 1 h 25 min
- Servings 4 to 6
- Freezing Absolutely
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🍗 My Sunday chicken, and it’s insane!
When I want to treat myself, this is the one I make. A weekend chicken, tender and juicy, with skin that’s REALLY crispy. It’s crazy good! Salt it generously, that’s where it all happens. You’ll see, everybody’s going to fight over the skin.
🧂 The stuffing, sorted in a bowl
Salting and peppering the inside of a chicken when you’re alone doesn’t go well, man. You’re holding the salt and the pepper with hands full of chicken, no thanks. So I put all the stuffing in a bowl, salt it, pepper it, add the olive oil, mix, and stuff the chicken with that. Problem solved.
🐔 Get a big grain-fed chicken
It gives you a lot of meat. There were three of us at the table, me and my two boys. I ate a breast, they each had a leg, and when I took the meat off the bones, there was still plenty left. And keep the carcass: it makes the best chicken stock on earth.
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🌡️ Take your chicken out 1 hour ahead
I definitely suggest it. Out of the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking, your chicken has time to come up in temperature a little before it goes in the oven.
🧈 Butter under the skin
Go gently. Slide your fingers under the breast skin and be careful not to tear it. It definitely adds flavor to the breast.
🧂 Don’t be scared of salt
Season the stuffing, the butter and the skin generously. It’s good when it’s well salted for the skin, you know?
🔥 Why 400°F
A 400°F oven dries the skin more and makes it crispier. Keep your rack in the center of the oven. Mine was perfect, but if yours browns too fast, cover it with foil.
🌡️ The thermometer is mandatory
Your cooking time changes with the size of the bird. Mine was big and took about 1 hour 25 minutes. What decides is the temperature: 165°F (74°C) in the center of the breast or 180°F (82°C) in the thigh.
🍋 Crush your lemons
When the chicken comes out of the oven, pull out the lemons and crush them over the top. It’s out of this world.
🥔 Make the chicken even better
Add lightly blanched potatoes around your chicken, on top of the onions. That’s a seriously good meal.
🌿 Fresh herbs
Dried herbs will do the job, but for me, fresh herbs in a fresh chicken are a must.
❄️ Storage
It keeps 3 to 5 days in the fridge, well covered. It also freezes really well, deboned and cut up. And keep the carcass for stock.
📅 Make-ahead prep
The day before, mix your butter with the paprika and garlic powder, cut your onions and lemon, get your herbs out, and store everything in labelled containers. If you’re making potatoes, blanch them too. On the day, take your chicken out 1 hour ahead and take your butter out to soften. The stuffing gets mixed and goes into the chicken at the last minute, right before the oven. When your people walk in, the whole house smells like roast chicken.
✅ What to serve with my whole roasted chicken recipe
Potatoes around the chicken are my first choice. Otherwise, try my roasted garlic thyme baby potatoes, with my green beans with white wine and lemon on the side. And if you love this kind of dinner, try my oven-roasted BBQ chicken or my air fryer whole chicken.
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Ingrédients
- 1 large whole grain-fed chicken (about 4 to 4 ½ lb / 1.8 to 2 kg)
Stuffing
- 1 lemon, cut in half
- 1 whole head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 small onion, cut into large chunks
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Butter
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) salted butter, softened
- 1 tsp (5 ml) sweet paprika
- 1 tsp (5 ml) garlic powder
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For roasting
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into large chunks
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Preparation
- Take the chicken out of the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking so it can come up in temperature. Remove the giblets, if there are any.
- Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F (200°C).
- Thoroughly pat the inside and outside of the chicken dry with paper towels.
- In a bowl, combine the lemon, head of garlic, thyme, rosemary and small onion. Drizzle with the olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper, then mix. Stuff the chicken with this mixture.
- In another bowl, mix the butter, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Gently lift the breast skin by sliding your fingers underneath, then slip in a little of the butter. Rub the rest of the butter and the olive oil all over the chicken. Salt generously.
- Tie the legs together with butcher’s twine. Spread the large onion in the bottom of a roasting pan or baking dish, then set the chicken on top, breast side up.
- Roast for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes, until a thermometer reads 165°F (74°C) in the center of the breast or 180°F (82°C) in the thigh. If the skin browns too fast, cover with foil.
- Transfer the chicken to a board and let rest for 15 minutes. Pull the lemons out of the cavity and crush them over the top of the chicken. Carve and serve with the onions from the pan.
For a big chicken of 4 to 4 ½ lb (1.8 to 2 kg), count on 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes at 400°F (200°C). The time changes with the size of the bird, so trust your thermometer.
165°F (74°C) in the center of the breast or 180°F (82°C) in the thigh. An instant-read thermometer is mandatory here.
400°F (200°C), with the rack in the center of the oven. That heat dries the skin more and makes it crispier.
Pat the chicken dry, rub it with butter and olive oil, salt it generously and roast it at 400°F (200°C).
Absolutely. Debone it, cut up the meat and freeze it in airtight containers for up to 3 months.
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