Serve up a simple, juicy masterpiece, crusted with herbs.
A good roast chicken recipe cannot be beat. This recipe makes a deeply flavorful, moist roast chicken on a bed of vegetables for an easy, sophisticated one-pan dinner.
In Praise of a Basic Roast Chicken Dinner
There is no more perfect dinner than a simple roast chicken, especially one crusted with herbs like thyme, sage, parsley, and rosemary. Warm and homey, impressive yet uncomplicated, roast chicken works as Sunday dinner with guests, or as a make-ahead midweek meal.
Yet something about making a whole roast chicken can intimidate people. But that is only because homemade roast chicken looks like a big deal. In fact, it is downright easy.
Herbes de Provence may sound, well, foreign (because it is), but it is simply a widely-available dried herb blend featuring some combination of thyme, marjoram, rosemary, fennel seed, lavender, and savory available at almost any grocery store.
How to Brine Chicken for This Roast Chicken Recipe
First, you must brine this chicken. Do not skip this step.
This recipe — like all good roast chicken recipes — should be brined between eight and (ideally) 24 to 48 hours in advance. Coat the roast chicken in a generous amount of salt, then give it time to penetrate deep into the meat.
Brining dries out the skin, which will make it nice and crispy brown. Brining also makes the meat tender and flavorful. Plus, your work is already finished by the time you’re ready to put it in the oven.
Salt, pepper, olive oil, and a liberal sprinkling of fresh herbs and herbes de Provence are all you need. The herbs are optional; salt and pepper alone makes a great roast chicken. But the herbes de Provence create something woodsy and well-rounded.
Looking for a great side dish? This Italian Artichoke Casserole, inspired by traditional Italian stuffed artichokes, makes a simple but special vegetable side.
Bake the Chicken in a Hot Oven
Roast chicken should be baked in a hot oven. Some recipes call for different temperatures. However, I firmly believe that a hot oven (here, 425 degrees Fahrenheit) serve two purposes:
- Makes the skin brown and crisp, and
- Cooks the chicken more quickly without the meat drying out
How do you make roast chicken? Tell us in the comments, below.
You may also like these great recipes:
Easy Roast Chicken With Herbs
Ingredients
- 1 5 lb. whole roasting chicken, preferably air chilled, giblets and neck removed
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 rounded tablespoon Kosher salt
- 12 turns freshly-ground pepper (about 1 teaspoon)
- 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
- 1/2 bunch fresh, flat-leaf parsley, bottom half of the stems removed
Instructions
- Remove any giblets and the neck from inside the chicken, if included, and pat the chicken nice and dry with a few paper towels, inside and out.
- Place the chicken in a greased or parchment-lined casserole pan, and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the olive oil over the entire chicken using your fingers or pastry brush.
- Generously sprinkle the salt over the entire chicken, top and bottom -- especially the breast and legs. Nestle the chicken breast-side up in the casserole. Add the pepper and herbes de Provence, and stuff the cavity with the parsley so that the leaves poke out. NOTE: This may seem like an egregious amount of salt. It is not. By brining over eight to 48 hours time, the salt will soak into and distribute throughout the entire bird, and not just stay on the surface. Put the entire casserole into the refrigerator, uncovered, and let brine for a minimum of eight hours, preferably between 24 and 48 hours. (Make sure the chicken doesn't come into contact with any other food.)
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. You have the option here to put the chicken directly on a bed of root vegetables, such as thick-sliced onions, carrots, potatoes, and so on. They will cook along with the chicken perfectly.When the oven is fully heated, roast the chicken, uncovered, on the center rack for approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until a thermometer inserted into the dense meat on the side of the breast next to the thigh tests 162°F and the juices are clear.PRO TIP: Poultry should be cooked to 165°F. I remove the chicken at 162°; the temperature will continue to rise a few degrees even once the chicken is removed from the oven because of carryover cooking. Cook's Illustrated has a great article on carryover cooking.
- Remove from the oven, loosely tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes so the juices settle into the meat. Spoon some of the pan juices over the chicken. Serve immediately, adding more pan juices as desired.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
28 comments
Rita
What do you think about brining the chicken in water with the herbs and salt? And is dry brining better than wet brining?
Unpeeled
I have always been a firm believer in a dry brine. It’s no muss/no fuss, makes the skin very crispy when roasted, and the meat turns out very juicy and tender. I definitely think that wet brining could work as well, but it seems like an extra step when a simpler method will do. Plus, you can put the dry-brined chicken straight in the oven! Hope this helps.
lowandslow
Switched to dry brining many years ago for all my proteins except when making corned beef where the liquid has pink salt (curing salt) in it which keeps the meat from turning grey.Dry brining is better IMO and uses less fridge space.Need to get some herbs de provence.
Carol
Absolutely delicious!! I roasted mine on a bed of carrots, onions, baby potatoes, and mushrooms. I also brined for 48 hours and was a little leary of the high baking temp but it was perfectly cooked in the time frame given in the recipe!
Unpeeled
Wonderful, Carol! Yeah, 425 does seem like an abnormally high temperature, but it does help get that nice browned crust.
Sandra B
try Kosher chickens – for this recipe because they are already ‘brined’
Unpeeled
Great tip!
Liz
Hi, Lisa! Do you recommend bringing the chicken to room temp prior to roasting, or do you put the casserole dish in the oven straight from the fridge?
Unpeeled
Hi, Liz! Sorry for just getting back to you on this. I just put the bird straight into the oven from the fridge. Always works just fine. I hope you enjoy!
Lisa D’Abramo
Thank you Lisa for responding so quickly!!!
Me too,I like to lay the chicken on a bed of carrots,sweet potatoes, onions & russets….
But, just wasn’t certain about placing vegetables in the cavity while the brining process is going on …
Now I know!?
Thank you !