How to Roast a Whole Chicken in the Oven

How to Roast a Whole Chicken in the Oven

Once you learn how to roast a whole chicken you will wonder why it took you so long to try it! The flavor is delicious and you can make 2 at once and end up with meat to use for future easy dinners!

Course Recipes

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 3 30

Total Time 3 50

Servings servings

Calories 873kcal

Author Sharon Garofalow

Equipment

Ingredients

1 - 2 Whole Chicken cleaned
2 cups Chicken Stock
1 onion quartered
1 lemon quartered
Extra flavoring ideas are herbs spices, butter, beer

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325°F.
Place the cleaned chicken breast side down in a roasting pan. (Spraying with oil isn't a bad idea).
Add a cup or so of chicken stock to the pan.
Season your bird with whatever spices you want, at the very least consider salt and pepper.
If using, cut up lemons and onions and place in pan around the bird in the pan.
Repeat with more stock every half hour or so, basting the top of the bird with a little liquid each time.
Place in the oven and roast at 325°F. total roasting time should be about 3.5-4 hours. A meat thermometer should read 180°F.
Tent the outside with foil if the chicken is getting a little bit too brown.
I like to remove the meat from the bird as soon as it is cool enough to handle.
If eating a portion that night, I serve it as is with a veggie and starch.
Whatever is leftover, I will portion into freezer bags and freeze so I can have cooked chicken ready for future meals.

Notes

I always wait for whole chicken to be on sale for around .80 cents a pound before buying. And I always buy at least 2 to make at once since you are going to be cooking for hours.

I noted the servings as 4 since one bird can more than adequately feed my family of 4. If I make 2 chickens, I can usually get enough chicken for at least 3 meals for my family.

If you want to bake the chicken with the beer, just use about half the amount of chicken stock and make up the difference with the beer.

Nutrition