There are tons of ways to roast a chicken but this is My Favorite Way to Roast a Whole Chicken! It’s great to eat as is, perfect for topping salads, chicken pot pie or chicken salad!

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There is a very fine line for me when it comes to perfectly cooked and over cooked dry chicken. I’m also partial to some parts of the chicken but will eat other parts without a fuss if that’s what I have. For example, when I was little, I use to love chicken legs. Now my favorite part of chicken is the chicken thigh. For a while I only ate chicken breasts, even though I’m not a huge fan of them because that seems to be what ever restaurant around here serves when they have chicken on the menu, but chicken thighs taste better in my opinion.

Then there is the over cooking of chicken that has haunted me since I started cooking. I’ll be 100% honest with you, I still haven’t mastered cooking chicken breasts perfectly every time.

I can almost get it perfect each time but I don’t know if it’s just me but  it always seem a little too dry to me. However, chicken thighs are one of my favorite meals to make and I make some pretty darn good chicken wings.

“…chicken thighs are my favorite part of the chicken and I make some pretty darn good chicken wings…”

Up until a few years ago, I never cooked a whole chicken (that was edible) and I stuck to crossing my fingers any other time I made chicken.

Then I started to work on some ideas for whole chickens and started to fall in love with Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa).

As some of y’all know, I learned how to cook from watching the Food Network so when Ina was on TV talking about different ways to cook a chicken one day, I sat down with my notebook and took notes. She makes everything look so perfect.

There were a few different chicken recipes on that episode but the one that really stood out was the roasted chicken recipe. Ina says that she makes roasted chicken for her husband every Friday night, so it must be a good recipe, right? Turns out that her recipe is amazing.

Now over the years, I’ve changed it up a little but to fit what I like but I learned from her.

This is my favorite way to roast a whole chicken…

My Favorite Way to Roast a Whole Chicken

My Favorite Way to Roast a Whole Chicken

Yield: 1 whole chicken

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

There are tons of ways to roast a chicken but this is My Favorite Way to Roast a Whole Chicken! It’s great to eat as is, perfect for topping salads, chicken pot pie or chicken salad!

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Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (4-5 pounds is what I use)
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted ( 1/2 stick butter)
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 medium orange, cut in half
• 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Remove the chicken innards and giblets. Rinse the chicken with cold water inside and out.
3. Pat the outside of the chicken completely dry with a paper towel.
4. Lay the the chicken, breast up, in a large cast iron skillet or a large roasting pan.( I use a giant cast iron skillet for mine)
5. Stuff the inside of the chicken with the thyme, orange halves and sliced garlic clove.
6. Brush the outside of the chicken with the melted butter.
7. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the chicken. Sprinkle the onion powder and garlic powder over the chicken as well.
8. Tie the legs of the chicken together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips under the chicken.
9. Roast the chicken for hour and 30 minutes.
10. Cover the pan with foil and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
11. Chicken is done when the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.

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I love to see what your cooking from the blog! 

Need some ways to use a roasted chicken? Check out these recipes!

Just add the roasted chicken to the recipe instead of cooking the chicken in the recipe for a super quick shortcut!

CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI MACARONI AND CHEESE

CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI PENNE ALFREDO

LOADED CHICKEN STUFFED POTATOES 

My Favorite Way to Roast a Whole Chicken

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