Easy roast chicken, using the most minimal of ingredients and techniques, has found its way into our kitchen more than once in the past month. When time is limited, as it has been for our family lately, nourishing foods become ever more important, and while we strive our best to eat well and to celebrate the bounty of summer, keeping time and effort to a minimum is key. So we opt for easy recipes and simple ingredients that take little time to prepare. We love our roast chickens: Moroccan-spiced roast chicken, roast chicken with prosciutto and, of course, roast chicken with fresh herbs, but it’s this easy roast chicken that we keep coming back to time and time again. It requires such little effort, but provides so much satisfaction and nourishment (wanna skip straight to the recipe?)
For this easy roast chicken, we use the most minimal of ingredients: just olive oil, salt and pepper and a bit of stock or wine. When so few ingredients are used, it’s essential that those ingredients you do use are of the best quality you can afford. A good pasture-raised chicken can average between $12 and $25, and while the initial price point might make you balk – especially if you’re used to the prices of conventionally raised birds which often sell for as little as $.79 / pound at the local grocer.
Buy a pasture-raised bird.
Pasture-raised chickens are raised outdoors with free access to a natural diet of bugs, grubs and sprouts. Fresh water, clean air and an optimal diet ensure that their meat is richer in nutrients – particularly fat soluble vitamins like vitamin E and vitamin A. Moreover, the flavor of the birds is richer and more pronounced than that of conventionally raised birds and, when making an easy roast chicken of only the simplest ingredients, the flavor of a pasture-raised bird can truly make the dish.
The active preparation time in making an easy roast chicken is likewise, minimal. Pasture-raised birds, because they’re more active than conventionally raised birds that our confined to battery cages or overcrowded chicken houses, tend to have tougher meat. For this reason, pasture-raised birds are best suited to long and slow cooking methods. While slow-roasting a chicken at low temperatures before increasing the heat to achieve that lovely golden-colored skin may take extra cooking time, it does not require additional active preparation time. So make this easy roast chicken when you know you’ll be at home with plenty of time to allow the bird to slowly cook through, but still wish to put minimal effort into your supper.
Easy Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 4-pound pasture-raised chicken
- 2 tablespoons unrefined extra virgin olive oil buy organic olive oil here
- dash unrefined sea salt
- dash ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or white wine
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken and pat it dry before trussing it with 100% cotton cooking twine.
- Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and sprinkle the bird generously with unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Place the trussed and dressed chicken into a clay baker or baking dish, adding 1/2 cup stock or white wine to the bottom of the pan.
- Turn oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and roast the chicken, covered, for about three hours.
- Increase the heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and continue roasting for about thirty to forty-five minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bird to rest five to ten minutes before carving and serving.
- Save the chicken’s frame to make roast chicken stock.
I’m assuming you would have mentioned if your clay baker was soaked prior to placing the chicken inside. Maybe this is why your photo shows a beautifully-browned bird on all sides, and why some commenters here found their chicken sitting in it’s own juices. For the record, could you please clarify whether or not you soak the clay baker? Thank you.
Hello! I have so appreciated the recipes and insight you share through your cookbook and website. There used to be a wonderful roast chicken with herbs tucked under the skin as well as ghee and garlic. Do you mind reposting it? Thank you!
Hello, I just wanted to try again to find out the right temp/timing for the roast chicken with butter and herbs recipe. It’s one of my favorites (in addition to your apple cider vinegar one). Thank you!
Do you have a summer-friendly roast chicken recipe? (i.e. to not heat up the house too much?)
We usually just toss it on the Traeger and follow the same recipe.