The Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner5 (1)
Who doesn’t love a good roast chicken? It’s a show stopping dish packed full of flavor that is perfect for family gatherings or just a mid-week hearty meal to warm you up. The Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner is also a super simple dish to make; just prep your chicken, bang it in the oven then the next thing you know you’ve got a mouth-watering feast to tuck into
It’s all about technique when making the Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner
This recipe is a sure-fire way to get you beautifully juicy, moist chicken with a lovely crispy skin. The secret is to carefully separate the skin from the meat and stuff that area with butter and garlic. So, like so many dishes it seems the secret as always is butter and garlic! Nothing wrong with that we say!
The best way to stuff the Chicken is to carefully open a gap between the meat and the skin of the Chicken. Almost all store bought Chickens will have this gap on the top of the Breast, where the neck of the Chicken once was. Use this opening to carefully massage in as much of the Garlic Butter mixture as you can into the Chicken
Be careful when you are stuffing the Chicken to avoid breaking the skin. It’s not a deal breaker if you do break the skin, however it will result in more of the Garlic Butter escaping from the Chicken. The goal is for the Chicken to retain as much of the Garlic Butter as possible, which will absorb into the Chicken Meat as it slowly roasts. So be careful and take your time when completing this step
Trussing the Chicken
The other technique when preparing your Chicken is to Truss it. Trussing is a technique that involves using cooking twine or string to compact the drumstick and wings of the Chicken into the main body. This is an important step as it will ensure that all those pieces will cook evenly, and at the same time as the Breast and Thighs
If you do not Truss your Chicken those outside parts will cook a lot quicker than the thicker cuts on the inside of the Chicken. Trussing the Chicken means you’ll have all parts of the Chicken cooked evenly, and at the same time
Trussing Chicken may seem intimidating to those who have not done it before but trust us, it is a very simple technique to learn. We’ve made a video of how to perfectly truss a Chicken on our YouTube Channel which we highly recommend you check out
Classic Vegetable Sides make for the Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner
We love having our Roast Chicken served along with roasted Potatoes and Onions. Cooking the vegetables in the same roasting dish as the chicken ensures all of those beautiful juices from the chicken gets absorbed into the vegetables. What’s more, the dish is all cooked in 1 pan so when the chicken is done you’ll be good to-eat everything!
No need to be fussy about which types of Potatoes and Onions to use
When it comes to a Roast Chicken Dinner, the star of the show is always going to be that beautiful Chicken. It requires the most amount of attention, and rightly so. The vegetable sides dishes have an important role in the meal, however even they will fully admit they’re not the stars on the plate. Therefore, we don’t want to be too prescriptive about what types of Potatoes and Onions to use
When it comes to Potatoes many will say that Yukon Gold will be the best choice for roasting. Honestly though, whatever potatoes you get your hands on will be great. Sure, you may have some variety in texture and a subtle difference in flavor, but does that really matter? Roasted Potatoes are a magical dish that taste unbelievable, regardless of what type of Potato you use
Particularly when you are roasting them in a large sheet pan with a whole Chicken. The juices from the Chicken and all that melted Butter will make its way out of the Chicken and drench the potatoes in delicious flavor. For some added luxury, we also recommend placing a few potatoes directly underneath the Chicken. They won’t get crispy, but what they will get is brilliantly flavored as they roast
The same applies to Onions. Our personal preference is Red Onions, and you’ll find we feature them a lot in most of our recipes. They are a little bit sweeter and look beautiful on the plate. They roast exceptionally well and caramelize beautifully in this recipe
Spanish, Yellow, or White Onions are also great to use. If you like, you can try a combination of different types of Mushrooms in this dish and see which ones you prefer. Having different types of Onions in the dish is a fun way to try the subtle variance in flavor that each Onion brings to the table. They will also look very pretty on the plate too!
Recipe Details
4 people
20 minutes
1 hour
1 hour, 20 minutes
The Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Large Whole Chicken
- 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
- 4 Garlic Cloves, Roughly Chopped
- ½ cup Parsley, chopped
- 4 Sprigs Thyme
- 4 Sprigs Rosemary
- Juice of 2 Lemons
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 2 Lemons, Halved
- 4 Large Potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 4 Red Onions, peeled and quartered
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Begin by trussing your Chicken. This is a classic technique to ensure the chicken legs and wings are tied nicely into the rest of the Chicken, ensuring an even cook through. There is a great video on our YouTube page on how to truss your Chicken
- In a small bowl mix together the Garlic, Butter, Lemon Zest and Parsley. Season liberally with Salt & Pepper. Grab a small handful of the butter mixture and carefully rub it throughout the area of the chicken between the skin and the flesh
- The best method here is to start at the top of the breast (where the neck was) and use that opening to get under the skin. From here you can push the butter throughout most of the chicken. It doesn’t matter if everything isn’t covered, just get into those large areas as the butter will melt and spread throughout during the cooking process
- Retain about ¼ of the butter mixture and spread that across the top of the Chicken Skin. Place the Thyme, Rosemary and the Halved Lemons into the Chicken Cavity – this will add even more flavor and lovely aromas to the Chicken during cooking. You can also add whole Garlic Cloves if you have any spare
- Place the Chicken in the middle of a large baking tray and scatter your Potatoes and Onions around the tray. Season the vegetables with Salt then place tray into an Oven pre-heated to 375 degrees and cook for 1 hour. For extra flavorful Potatoes, try placing a few of them underneath the chicken. They’ll get drowned in flavor during the cooking process and be delicious!
Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner Recipe Instructions Continued
- Once the internal temperature of the chicken reads 150 degrees, remove and rest. The Chicken will continue to cook once resting so it’s ok to bring it out at a lower temperature than the typical 160 degrees. It’ll get to that heat during the resting stage
- While your Chicken is resting you can make a gravy using all those delicious pan juices. To do so, place the roasting pan on the stove top over medium / low heat. Add 1 tbsp. white flour to the pan and whisk to incorporate. Slowly add a little bit of water while continuously mixing until you get the gravy consistency you like. Season well with Salt and Pepper then place in a bowl for serving
Carve that beautiful Chicken up and serve along with those amazing vegetables & gravy and enjoy! If you like you can also check out our other amazing side dishes to get creative on what to serve your Perfect Roast Chicken Dinner with!
We hope you enjoyed this recipe. Here are a few more recipes that we think you will enjoy if you’re after big flavors that are easy to prepare:
- Ribeye Steak Dinner with Asparagus and Mash
- Hanger Steak Frites
- Easy Chicken Burritos
- Harissa Chicken and Vegetables
- Beef and Guinness Pie
- Cajun Chicken Mac and Cheese
Happy Cooking!
