A timeless roast chicken recipe, perfect for any time of year! Serve it up with roast potatoes and gravy in winter, or with a light salad in summer! This recipe is making up part of my Autumn and Winter recipe series, alongside my curried parsnip soup and many more!

The Roast Dinner

Roast dinners, or the Sunday Roast, hold a special place in my heart. I’m sure this is true for most other British people, it really is a key part of our culture! I’ve had many great roasts, and many not so great roasts, but they do keep me coming back.

The roast dinner can trace it’s origins back to the 18th century and further back. The story goes that families would save to buy a large cut of meat to eat on Sunday, as it was the Sabbath. They would put the meat in the oven as they prepared for church in the morning, and then the vegetables as they left the house. By the time the family returned from Sunday service, the meal would be fully cooked and ready! This mainly started during the industrial revolution, as larger cuts of meat became more accessible and affordable. There is a great article on Farmhouse Inns tht goes into more detail.

Traditionally in British cuisine, beef is the most common choice of meat for a roast. Roast chicken is probably the second most popular I think! It’s accessible and usually pretty cheap. Other alternatives are usually pork belly or loin, or lamb shoulder or leg. Common sides will normally include roast potatoes, yorkshire puddings, assorted vegetables, cauliflower cheese and of course gravy!

My Roast Chicken Recipe

This is a recipe that I obviously make a lot for a Sunday roast. This does not mean it is only applicable for that though! As mentioned before, this can be served alongside a nice salad in summer just as well. I make this with lemon and herbs in the cavity, and herb butter under the skin, but the general process and timings will work with any spices and seasonings you want!

Chicken has a tendency to go dry when roasted, particularly at the breast. It can be difficult to maintain moist chicken breast while ensuring the legs are cooked through and the skin is crisp. Normally, you’ll need to do a bit of work to help achieve this. There are a few methods you can use, and the one I prefer is to stuff garlic butter under the skin. This achieves bothkeeping moisture in the breast, while also giving it some fantastic flavour! You could also try wet brining the chicken, but this is not something I normally do.

The consequence to using butter like this is that it can stop the skin from getting as crisp. As a result, you should still apply some oil to the outside of the skin too! I normally use olive oil for this and use it to help keep the salt and pepper seasoning on the skin as it roasts.

Finally, I stuff the cavity with lemon, thyme and rosemary. This releases some wonderful, aromatic flavour during the roasting that permeates the meat from the inside. Combined with the garlic butter, salt and pepper, this should give the meat all the flavour you’ll need! If you want to, you can quite easily apply some seasonings to the skin before roasting too. I would recommend combinations of cumin, coriander and paprika, or possibly numeg, cinnamon and allspice for this.

The final tip I would give is to roast the chicken over a bed of vegetables and herbs. This flavour will also release and permeate the chicken subtley, but the veg will caramelise and absorb all the chicken juices. You can then put some flour in here with wine and chicken stock and make a truly mind-blowing gravy. The veg may look burnt when they come out, but don’t worry! This is fine and where all the great flavour is for that gravy.

Classic Roast Chicken. Simple & Succulent!

A timeless & delicious roast chicken recipe, perfect for any time of year! Serve it up with roast potatoes and gravy in winter, or with a light salad in summer!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Resting Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: British, European

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the Chicken

• 1 Large Chicken Roughly 1.75kg
• 2 sprigs Rosemary
• 1 handful Thyme
• 1 Lemon

For the Vegetable Base

• 1 Yellow Onion
• 2 Carrots
• 2 stalks Celery
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 3 sprigs Rosemary
• 1 handful Thyme

For the Garlic Butter

• 50 g Butter
• 12 stalks Chives
• 3 cloves Garlic

For the Gravy

• 2 tbsp Plain Flour
• 500 ml Chicken Stock

Method

 

1. Heat an oven to 200°C fan (220° no fan).
2. Remove the butter from the fridge and let it soften. Finely chop the chives and garlic and mix in with the butter to make the garlic butter Leave it out the fridge to remain soft.
   
3. Roughly chop your onion, carroy and celery and smash the remaining garlic cloves. Scatter them over the botton of a baking tray alongside the thyme and rosemary.
   
4. Place the chicken on top of the vegetable base.
   
5. Slice the lemon in half and stuff it into the cavity with the remaining thyme and rosemary.
   
6. Gently separate the skin from the breast from the cavity side. Stuff the garlic butter under the skin and use your fingers to massage it all the way along the breast until it is distributed evenly.
   
7. Cover the skin in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
   
8. Put the chicken into the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. The chicken should be 72°C at the thickest part of the breat, and the juices should run clear.
   
9. Remove the chicken from the tray and cover with tinfoil. Leave it for 15 minutes to rest.
10. Put the roasting tray on the hob over medium heat. Add the flour in and mix in with the vegetables.
11. Pour in the chicken stock bit by bit and mix it in, letting the flour mix in without clumping.
12. Cook over medium heat until the flavour has all released from the tray and the gravy as thickened. Strain into a jug to serve!