Whole Roast Chicken and Vegetables With Pan Gravy

There is something so comforting about roasting a whole chicken. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I love it. It can be intimidating if you've never done it before, but seriously, its SO easy. It's pretty much fool proof. I like everything about it. It's inexpensive and there are many things you can get out of one bird. I always have left over meat that I can shred and use in a second dinner. I use the carcass for my homemade chicken stock and the latest companion for my roasted chicken has been pan gravy. WHYYYY have I not been doing this my whole life??? It's one of those examples of not doing something just because I hadn't done it before. Well, I cannot tell you how much I was missing out. This pan gravy was SO GOOD and deceptively EASY! 

 

There are a couple of helpful tips in getting an out of this world bird. First, brining is the way to go, for sure. Brining just means soaking the chicken in a mixture of salt water. It makes your chicken INCREDIBLY moist and juicy, it adds flavor and also speeds up your cooking time a bit. Second, be sure to use a fat on the outside of your chicken. It doesn't really matter which fat you choose... I believe I've used them all at one point or another. Each has their different qualities and tastes, but don't get hung up on that, just pick one or a combination of a couple and try it out. You'll know what you prefer after experimenting. I usually use olive oil. Works great for me :) But again, any one or combo of fats works...vegetable oil, olive oil, butter, coconut oil, shortening... whatever you have handy will do the trick. The oil serves a couple of purposes. One, it will make it easy for your spices to stick on the chicken. And two, it gives the bird a nice tasty crispy layer. Yum. OK, lastly, you'll want to decide if your want to stuff the inside of your chicken or not. I really don't ever do this. Mainly because I usually don't have anything on hand I'd want to use to stuff a chicken. And honestly it doesn't make that big of a difference in taste in my opinion. 

 

A good rule of thumb for cooking time is as follows. a 3-5 lb bird needs to cook at 350° for 1 1/4 to

1 1/2 hours.  A 6-8 lb bird needs to cook at 350° for 1 1/2 - 2 1/4 hours. An 8-12 lb bird needs to cook at 375° for 2 1/4 - 3 hours. They all need to reach an internal temperate of 165° - 170°. Keep in mind that if you're stuffing your bird, you'll need to lengthen the cooking time by about a half hour.

Let's get to it.

 

First you'll want to take your chicken out of the package. Remove any giblets or neck or anything that comes inside. Rinse chicken in cold water.

Prepare the brine. The ratio you want is roughly 1 cup of salt for every gallon of water. You can add herbs or lemons here if you want. I usually just stick to the salt water.

 

Dissolve the salt into the water.

Put the chicken into the brine and let in sit in it for at least 2 hours. Not more than 8 hours. Remember to keep the chicken refrigerated.

 

Here are the vegetable sides that I chose to roast with the chicken. Onion, carrots and potatoes. (you can use really ANY vegetable here. Last time I used Brussels sprouts and they were delicious. Most of the time I like to use mushrooms too... I just use what I have on hand.)

Cut into bite sizes pieces. Drizzle a little oil and salt and pepper.

Take chicken out of brine. Allow to air dry for about 20-30 minutes.

Mix spices in bowl.

 

Rub olive oil (or fat of your choice) and then spices on chicken. Add vegetables around the chicken in the pan. Place in preheated oven and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours. (My chicken was 6 lbs)

This is what mine looked like after about an hour. You can periodically stir the vegetables for more even roasting. (I didn't because I forgot)

And here's what it looked like after an hour and a half... make sure to use a thermometer to get the internal temperature. It should be at least 165° before you take it out. It will continue to cook as it rests and the temperature should reach 180°.

Move  your chicken and vegetables to an extra pan or cutting board to rest.

Put your roasting pan with drippings directly onto a burner. Bring the juices to a simmer over medium high heat. Cook, scraping up the browned bits, until liquid thickens. (about 10 minutes)

Here's my "better than bullion" that I'm using instead of my real chicken stock.

 (I usually have homemade chicken stock on hand, but this works just fine too.)

This is what the drippings look like after thickening.

Stir or whisk in flour and cook while stirring, about 1 minute.

Should look like this after 1 minute.

 

Gradually whisk in stock and water.

Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until gravy thickens. Should be about 5-8 minutes.

The finished product.

 

Terrible picture, but I was too hungry to make it look nice :)

 

Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe

1 5-6 lb whole chicken

1 cup kosher salt (for brine)

Cold water

Various vegetables

2-3 Tablespoons Olive oil (or fat of choice)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

 

Gravy

Roasting pan with chicken drippings

1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 chicken stock

1 cup water

salt

pepper

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

FOR THE BRINE:

Unwrap chicken and remove giblets and neck from cavity. Rinse with cold water. Prepare the brine by dissolving kosher salt into water. Submerge chicken in the brine and allow to soak for 2-8 hours. Remember to keep refrigerated.

ROASTING:

About an hour before roasting, take the chicken out of the brine and rinse with cold water. Allow to air dry for 20-30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut the vegetables and drizzle with a little oil. Season vegetables with salt and pepper. Stuff the chicken if you choose. Mix spices in a bowl. Rub the chicken with oil and then rub the spice mixture on top. Put in preheated oven and roast for 1 1/2 hours or until skin is golden and crispy and internal temperature reaches 165°. Remove chicken and vegetables from pan and place in a extra pan or on a cutting board to rest.

GRAVY:

While chicken rests put roasting pan on burner and heat juices and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Cook, scrapping up browned bits until liquid thickens. (about 10 minutes). Add flour and cook, while stirring, until blended. (about 1 minute) Gradually whisk in stock and water. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until gravy thickens. (about 5-8 minutes). Season with salt and pepper and serve over chicken or mashed potatoes. Enjoy!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by :)

 I'm always happy to hear your feedback or answer any questions you have!