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“Ben, don’t throw your chicken at the stove!” I shout as my 2 year old hurls his favorite stuffed chicken in my direction with a peal of laughter. It’s sheer pandemonium as my 3 boys do laps through the kitchen and living room, my older two running at top speed, and the baby with his little crab crawl trying to catch up to them. I’m attempting to make them some oatmeal for breakfast and think about what I’ll be writing in this post. And with this recipe, what strikes me most at this particular moment is that you could prepare this simple-yet-elegant chicken dish the night before, when no children are around to chuck stuffed animals at you, or crab crawl in your path, or shout odd phrases like “Banana juice!” at you. So peaceful, so quiet. Just you and the chicken in the kitchen.
To make this lovely chicken, I highly suggest you use an enamel coated dutch oven like this one. I have a Lodge 6 Quart Dutch Oven. They’re available on Amazon. The price might seem a little steep to you if you’ve never tried to buy a dutch oven before, but some of these can run you well over $100. I will tell you that this has been worth every penny. I make most of my stews in here, use it for frying, and even bake artisan no knead breads in here (oh, yes, even allergy friendly ones). AmazonBasics has an even cheaper one that’s highly reviewed and rated, but I can’t personally speak to how well it’s built. I love my Lodge dutch oven. I used to use a pretty bulky black enamel roasting pan, which I still have for when I cook whole turkeys, but I’m honestly not a fan and may invest in a larger dutch oven one day so I could be rid of it entirely.
On to the recipe! For this recipe, I buy a 3-4 lbs whole chicken. With the potatoes, this feeds my family of 5 for two nights. This chicken was not on sale, but it was $.99 per pound. So for about $4, I have fed my family 2 dinners. This is a cheap meal, but can be super classy. A well dressed chicken and potatoes can easily be that special Sunday meal with the family. And it’s so easy that even if you’ve never cooked a chicken before, you can make this!
So first, I don’t want to needlessly trip into the debate here, but some people believe you have to rinse your chicken out of the packaging, and others believe this spreads bacteria all over your sink and a wet chicken will not brown. I see the merits of both positions, but I confess I rinse my chicken. I clean my sink thoroughly afterwards so the bacteria is less of a concern, and as for browning, the last step to cooking this chicken is to broil it until browned once the chicken is fully cooked to make that delicious caramelized crust.
Another debate is whether to put the chicken breast side up or down. Let me be clear–we’re putting spices all over this bird, but it cooks for the entirety of the time in one direction. I put the chicken breast side up. I’ve probably put the bird in breast-side down, and it has come out well cooked and moist every time.
One thing I’d like to emphasize to save yourself some grief: prep your ingredients before you deal with the chicken. When I cook this, I have three mixing bowls: one for my lemon juice, one for my salt, and one for all of my other spices. I also peel and quarter my potatoes and have them set aside so when it’s time to add the potatoes, I just position them around the chicken, season them, and they’re done. Also, make sure you have an empty sink and clear workspace because like I said, rinsing the chicken spreads bacteria, and you should disinfect everything that the raw chicken has touched that is not getting cooked on.
Once the chicken and potatoes are in the dutch oven, you could store it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it, up to the next day. I like to have this prepped the night before so I could just add it to the oven when I’m ready to cook dinner for the following night.
We serve this with white rice, making sure to ladle some of the chicken sauce over the rice for added flavor. It also pairs beautifully with a garden salad and roasted veggies. Hope you enjoy!
Roasted Chicken With Potatoes
Equipment
- Roasting Pan or Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken 3-4 pounds
- 2 Lbs Potatoes (4-6 large yellow or white)
- ½ Cup Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbsp Salt (separated)
- 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Oregano dried
- ¼ tsp Basil dried
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prep your spices and lemon juice in 3 small mixing bowls. Put lemon juice (½ cup) into bowl 1, salt (1 Tbsp) into bowl 2, and all the rest of the spices (including the additional tbsp of salt) into bowl 3. Give it a stir so the spices are evenly dispersed.
- Peel and quarter your potatoes and set them aside.
- Rinse chicken and remove any inner organs. (Side note: Some whole chickens come with the heart and liver, etc., but I don't like the taste of these so I don't cook them. You could cook them into a chicken stock to add even more nutrition, so if you plan to do so, save them.)
- Let the chicken drip most of the excess water away, then put the bird into your dutch oven or roasting pan.
- Sprinkle lemon juice over both sides of chicken and under the skin.
- Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of salt over both sides of chicken and under the skin.
- Sprinkle about two-thirds of your remaining spices over both sides of chicken and under the skin.
- Put your potatoes around the chicken by squeezing them into the nooks around the chicken. Sprinkle them with the remaining spices.
- Cover and bake in the oven until cooked, when the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees. This takes about 2-3 hours. If you don't have a thermometer, look for the meat pulling away from the bones.
- When the chicken is cooked, uncover it and put it on a low broil. As it broils, watch carefully for the skin to caramelize, but be careful not to burn it. This step could take 15 minutes, but should be checked at least every 5 minutes.
- When the skin has caramelized, you're done. Pull the dutch oven out of the oven, and let the bird sit 15 minutes before carving.
- Serve with any desired sides.
Notes
Have tips, tricks, advice, or questions? Feel free to leave a comment below. Buen provecho!
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