Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen the whole chickens next to the packages of chicken breasts at the grocery store and totally loved the price, but had no idea what to do with it?
Maybe you waved it off saying “next time” or even purchased a rotisserie chicken instead. Totally fine, but I’m going to show you not only how EASY it is to make your own whole roast chicken at home with just three ingredients (spoiler alert: it’s just a whole chicken, salt, and pepper) but also how insanely DELICIOUS it is! I have to hold myself back every time a Perfect Roast Chicken comes out of the oven – skin audibly crispy, and meat tender and juicy. This is a must-have chicken recipe to keep in your back pocket.
The method I use for roasting a whole chicken with just salt and pepper comes from Thomas Keller of French Laundry fame. Ben and I have been roasting chickens using his method for years – it’s a weekly staple during the fall and season that shall not be named, especially. Thomas is known for using simple techniques to turn good ingredients into great dishes, which couldn’t be more evident in this recipe.
What To Know:
- Value: I purchased the chicken you see here for $2.29/lb. That’s over 50% less than I pay for a package of TWO CHICKEN BREASTS. Buying a whole chicken is incredibly economical – you get way more bang for your buck – plus you can use the bones to make your own homemade chicken stock.
- Versatility: One of the best things about roast chicken is that the possibilities for using the meat are endless. Chop or shred the cooked chicken then add it to soups, salads, wraps, casseroles, tacos, etc. I’ll give you 10 ideas for using the chicken meat at the end of this post.
- Crispy skin tip: To ensure you get SUPER crispy skin, pat the entire chicken – inside and out – with paper towels before seasoning and roasting. The dryer the chicken, the crisper the skin!
How to Make Perfect Roast Chicken:
Start with a 3.5-4lb whole chicken. If you can only find larger or smaller, that’s totally fine, just adjust the roasting time accordingly. Remove the chicken from the packaging then any giblets that might come inside (I find organic chickens tend to come with the giblets, while regular chickens do not.) Pat the entire chicken, inside and out very, very dry with paper towels. This will ensure a super crispy skin.
Lastly, season the chicken generously inside and out with salt and pepper. That’s it! Nothing else needed. You’ll be AMAZED at how delicious this simple seasoning combo is!
Next step is to tuck the wings under the body. If you left them hanging there, they’d burn. So, take the tip then fold it up, over, and under the wing, making sure it’s snug against the body.
Last step is to tie the legs together with kitchen twine. You can buy kitchen twine in the baking aisle at the regular grocery store, or at any specialty grocery store.
Place the chicken inside an oven-safe skillet (this is enameled cast iron,) roasting pan, or on a cooling rack set atop a large, rimmed baking sheet then use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to pierce the chicken breast skin in a few places. This ensures the skin doesn’t bubble up and burn.
Double Temperature Roasting:
My biggest tip for getting a perfect roast chicken, besides patting it very dry before seasoning, is to roast the chicken at a super high heat first, to get the skin crispy, then lower the heat and continue roasting until cooked through. That said, roast the chicken at 450 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is deep golden brown, then turn the heat down to 425 and roast for an additional 20-30 minutes or until a digital thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the breast. I love my Thermopen!
Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes before carving, then watch your family feast! I hope you enjoy this super simple yet super delicious recipe!
10 Ways to Use Roast Chicken:
- Make Homemade Chicken Enchiladas with Gluten-Free Enchilada Sauce for an easy dinner.
- Shred then combine chicken with BBQ sauce and layer with shredded cheddar cheese in tortillas. BBQ Chicken Quesadillas, anyone?!
- Chop chicken then make Mayo-Free Chicken Salad for a quick lunch.
- Add the chopped chicken to my Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chicken Enchilada Skillet to get dinner on the table in minutes.
- Make Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup even easier.
- Make homemade chicken stock: remove all the meat from the bones then add the carcass to a large soup pot with a handful of garlic cloves, 2 stalks celery, 1 carrot, 1 chopped onion, salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. Cover with water then simmer for 4-5 hours. Skim fat from the top after it’s cooled then chilled.
- Toss chopped chicken with Caesar dressing, sliced cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and shredded parmesan cheese then pile onto a wrap and roll.
- Add chopped chicken to this healthy, delicious Kale and Wild Rice Bowl.
- Shred or chop chicken then add to Fried Rice or stir fries.
- Toss chopped chicken with buffalo sauce then add to lettuce wraps with chopped bacon, tomatoes, and avocados.
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Perfect Roast Chicken
Description
Easy Roast Chicken calls for just 3 ingredients - chicken, salt, and pepper - yet is the most tender and juicy roast chicken you'll ever eat.
Ingredients
- 3.5-4lb whole chicken, giblets removed
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pat entire chicken, inside and out, very dry with paper towels. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper inside and out (use more salt than you think you should - trust me!) Tuck the wings underneath the bird (refer to picture in post) then tie legs together with kitchen twine.
- Place chicken breast-side up in an oven-proof skillet, roasting pan, or onto a cooling rack set atop a rimmed baking sheet then use a knife or kitchen shears to snip the skin in a few places on the breasts (this ensures the skin doesn't bubble up and burn.) Roast until the skin is deep golden brown on top, 25-30 minutes, then reduce heat to 425 degrees and continue roasting for 20-30 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165 when inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.
Notes
- My 3.94lb chicken roasted for 30 minutes at 450 and 30 minutes at 425.
- Easy side dish idea: Toss chopped potatoes with extra virgin olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper then spread onto a foil-lined, nonstick-sprayed baking sheet and place into oven with the chicken after turning heat down to 425 degrees. Roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring/flipping once.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Perfect, all the way around, first the chicken, and then the festivities.
Don’t forget that you can use the bones to make bone broth! After you pick the meat off, just throw the bones into a crockpot with veggie scraps, onions, garlic, peppercorns and then fill with water. Let it got for 10-24 hours and you have some delicious stock!
Thanks for the inspiration chix ideas! We eat chicken so much and I’m trying to loose a few point before my IVF in January. Fingers crossed. Prayers said. And I hope this doesn’t sound too weird, but thanks for including a close up picture of yourself, as beautiful as you are, no one is as perfect as the magazines sometimes make me feel like we are supposed to look like. Thanks for that! And yes, you are gorgeous! I’m a mom of 2 girls, so don’t be creeped out. And I love Ree too, unfortunate you didn’t meet her. I’d LOVE to meet you both!
This looks divine! Now can you find me a hunky man to do the carving? The last time I tried to carve a turkey or chicken it’s didn’t go down well. I think I’m secretly meant to be a vegetarian.
Not sure if you know but advice here in the UK and the US is NOT to wash chicken – there is far more risk of spreading harmful bacteria by washing than not. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/washing-chicken-can-cause-campylobacter-food-poisoning.aspx and http://drexel.edu/dontwashyourchicken/
I personally feel ok rinsing the chicken under a slow stream of water, but you could definitely skip this step if it makes you uncomfortable!
I think I’ll stick with science – reading the various articles and the very real dangers to young children of this particular air-borne bacteria caused by washing chicken I err on the side of caution.
So, you don’t wash the blood off the chicken, you just cook it in the blood? I apologize, but Yuck!! I’ll stick to washing the chicken, haha. Almost 30 years going strong of ALWAYS washing chicken/Turkey and I haven’t been sick yet!
YUM! Thanks so much for this. I always buy Costco rotisserie chickens for the week, but seriously how easy is this to make? AND CHEAP! I will be going home and making one tonight. I cannot wait! Oh and I am totally with you on rinsing the blood off the chicken :) YUCK is right!
This makes roasting a chicken seem doable even for a vegetarian like me who has NO idea how to cook meat. Even though I’m vegetarian, my family members aren’t, so I like to cook meat once in a while. I will definitely give this a try and hopefully incorporate it into my rotation!
I have been so into roasting chicken lately. You can’t beat the price, ease and leftovers! Bon Appétit has a recipe for roast chicken with a butternut-tahini puree that is to die for. Mmm, now I’m hungry!
I love such chicken!
The Pioneer Woman was in Cincinnati (my home town) about a month ago and I waited in line for 3 hours to get my books signed! She was the sweetest person :)
You must have just made an “unlucky” bar choice <—- HA! Pun. The Minneapolis sports bar I was at was equally divided between hockey and the football game. Hope you and your momma had a fun trip anyway :)
Bahaha, yes, so very un-lucky!!
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Kristen: do you have a recipe for chicken gravy that would pair with the roast chicken? Isn’t it kind of dry and boring just serving roast chicken with nothing on it?
Honestly the chicken skin is so delicious that we don’t make gravy/jus and it is so, so good!
Dinner tonight was leftover chicken in your Friday Favorite Kale Caesar Pasta Salad from a few months ago. Perfection. Can’t wait to try your technique!!
This is probably a silly question, but do you buy the chicken frozen? If so, how do you go about thawing it out? Thanks!
Hi Hilary! IF you buy a frozen chicken, just let it sit in the refrigerator, in the package, for a day or two and it’ll be ready to go. :)
Thanks! I seriously can not wait to try this!
I was going to pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner, but this sounds easy enough to do myself. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this tonight and it turned out perfectly! I’ve never done a whole chicken or any whole anything however and was slightly- no, super- grossed out- but the ick factor was worth it and I like to think I grew a little bit as a cook :)
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OMG! This has become a weekly meal! Loved the taste and simplicity and time! Thank you IGE!
I tried to roast my chicken, and it turned out fine, but I had a problem with the juices exploding inside my oven while the chicken was roasting, which kinda filled the house with smoke. How do I stop this from happening?
Hi Darlene! You could try poking a few holes in the skin with a sharp knife before roasting. That way the juices will have an escape route.
I made this roasted chicken this weekend. The chicken fryers were on sale for $0.88/lb, so I said OK, I’m going to try IGE’s basic way. I must admit, I did put pour some melted butter over the chicken before seasoning it. But it turned out delicious, and I’d definitely make it again!
I love roasted chicken too. For Christmas I got a good pair of kitchen scissors and a 14 ” cast iron skillet. I now spatchcock my chicken (easy peasy, lemon squeezie, Google it) and roast it in half the time. I can also toss cut up veggies around the sides and let them cook in the chicken juice.
Made this chicken last night, and it was the best roast chicken I have ever had. I have tried a few other recipes that were more complicated, and not nearly as good. This will now be a weekly meal for sure. Thanks for a simple, and perfect recipe!
I’m so glad to hear it – we love it too!
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Hi! I have been following your block for so many years! :-) I made this roasted chicken tonight and it was my first time ever making a whole chicken! I am so grateful for this recipe! The skin was crispy! The insides were juicy!! I used your 30/30 minute for 4 pounds as my gauge. I will make this again! I’m really proud of myself – you’re great!
Yesssss – so glad it turned out perfectly for you, Jamie!!! You’ll make this recipe forever!
I love roast chicken. We would usually make one for a Sunday supper and then after supper, I would cut the chicken off the bones and turn right around and get chicken stock started. Then later in the week I’d make soup. We did that so many times. Then I got busy with work and it stopped happening so much. If I didn’t start the stock right after supper, the carcass would just sit in the fridge, so I learned to just do it the same night. With roasted potatoes and fresh thyme, I can just imagine how good that smelled!
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I moved to France two months ago and still am overwhelmed trying to figure out what to cook. I made this recipe and it was amazing! Simple and delicious. Thank you so much!
I can’t believe how delicious this recipe is! My husband said it’s the best roast chicken he’s ever had.
Wondering why rinse the chicken?
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OMG soooo good AND so easy! Thanks for another great recipe!
Thank you for sharing the Perfect Roasted Chicken!
Just salt and pepper!
Just perfect!!!!!
This truly is the perfect roasted chicken. I have tried many recipes through the years, including many from celebrity chefs. I almost didn’t try your recipe, because it seemed almost to simple, but I decided to try it last week based on your reviews. It was delicious! I’m making it again tonight. Excited to have found your site. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
SO glad you made the leap, Gretchen! Thanks so much for your review and recipe rating!
Have you tried this on steam bake/roast mode in the oven? I’ve got a new oven with the steam feature and am curious if I need to alter the cooking time or temp at all.
Hi Mollie! I haven’t – my oven just comes with bake/broil/convect options.