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Basic Roast Chicken

Name: Basic Roast Chicken
Prep time: 20
Cuisine: Basic, French

(26 votes, average: 3.73 out of 5)

20 min prep

8 servings

Carrot Icon for Number of Ingredients Size

7 ingredients

There is nothing quite so delicious as a juicy roast chicken, nor is there an impressive-looking main dish that’s easier to cook. Chicken is also an excellent source of protein, which helps the body...

1 whole chicken
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, kept whole
½ a small onion, kept whole
½ medium lemon
8 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste

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Nutrition Facts

Calories

346 cals

Fat

24 g

Saturated Fat

7 g

Polyunsaturated Fat

5 g

Monounsaturated Fat

11 g

Carbohydrates

2 g

Sugar

0 g

Fiber

1 g

Protein

28 g

Sodium

381 mg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Remove any packet of giblets from inside the chicken. If you aren’t squeamish, set aside the chicken’s neck and give the rest to the cat. He will be very happy.
Rinse the chicken under cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel. Remove the excess fat from just inside the body cavity. Rub the chicken all over with a little olive oil. Salt and pepper it. Set it in a lightly oiled roasting pan.
Squeeze the lemon over the chicken, then put the rind into the body cavity along with the shallot, garlic, chicken neck and 2 sprigs of thyme. Lay 4 of the remaining thyme sprigs over the breast and tuck 2 in the creases between the legs and the body. Put the bird in the hot oven on a middle shelf.
Roast the chicken for 15 minutes per pound, plus 15 minutes at the end. For a 4-pound chicken that would be 75 minutes. Baste the chicken from time to time with the juices that form in the pan. When the cooking time is up, stick a skewer in the leg-body crease to test for doneness. The chicken is ready if juices run clear, without any trace of pink.
Rest chicken for 10 to 15 minutes, lightly covered in foil on top of the stove. This will make it more succulent. There will be a lot of liquid in the pan after the bird has rested. Use it for gravy. Here’s how: Spoon off as much of the clear, excess fat from the top as you can, then heat the remaining gravy in a small saucepan until it boils. Taste for salt.
Cut up the chicken into 8 to 10 pieces. Use chicken scissors if you have them -- it’s much easier than carving! Add any juices from the carving into the gravy. Serve on a warm platter with the hot gravy.

Chef Tips

The portioning may seem stingy. Most of us are used to eating servings of half a chicken in restaurants, but that’s too much. Go easy. The recommended portion size for proteins from meat or fish is 3 to 4-ounces, meaning the meat on a 4-pound chicken should feed 8 to 10 people. Make up your plate with delicious roast veggies instead!

Registered Dietitian Approved

Our recipes, articles, videos, and more content are reviewed by our Registered Dietitian Kate Ueland, MS, RD, CSO, a board-certified specialist in oncology nutrition, to ensure that each is backed with scientific evidence and follows the guidelines set by the Oncology Nutrition for Clinical Practice, 2nd Ed., published by the Oncology Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, a professional interest group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society.