Rotisserie chicken from the market was always my Mom’s backup plan for dinner. It didn’t happen often, but when it did…I loved it! The combination of spices, the crispy skin and the perfectly cooked chicken made me happy. I have been roasting my own chicken this way for years. I wanted to recreate those great flavors into a roasted chicken I could make at home. When you make it yourself, you are able to choose the best quality chicken, because honestly, the ones in the market are quite fatty! It truly is so easy to make and I think this method is foolproof.
Serve this chicken with either mashed or roasted potatoes and your favorite veggies. I never make a traditional gravy with this because the pan juices are incredible! By reducing them down a bit, you get a deep, dark sauce to go over your chicken and your potatoes!
Rotisserie Inspired Roasted Chicken
4 – 6 pound whole chicken, giblets removed, rinsed and dried well
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
3/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Place the dried chicken, breast side up, in a cast iron skillet or a roasting pan.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.
Gently slide a spoon between the breast meat and the skin to separate the two. Do this on each side. Then using about 1 teaspoon per side, put some of the mixture under the breast skin and rub it around (this is totally optional, but makes the breast meat super flavorful). Use the remaining mixture to rub all over the rest of the bird. Now, tuck the wings under the bird so that the tips don’t burn and tie up the legs with some kitchen twine to cook more evenly (if you’re not into bondage…you certainly can skip that step)!
If you have time, cover the bird up loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Allow the rub to “marinate” for a few hours and even overnight. If you don’t have time…no worries, just put it in the oven at this point. It will still be delicious!
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Put the chicken in the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees. Cook about 20 minutes per pound or until the breast meat is 180 degrees.
When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to sit in the pan for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
Move the chicken to a cutting board and set aside.
Tilting the skillet to its side a bit, skim as much of the fat off the top as you can and discard it. Place the skillet or stove top safe roasting pan over medium high heat on the stove and bring to a boil. Allow the sauce to reduce for just about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour into a gravy boat or bowl for serving.
Notes:
- I’ve recently started buying smaller chickens for roasting. I find them much more tender and delicate. You are better off roasting two smaller birds at once than one large one.
- Be sure to dry the chicken really well before rubbing the olive oil mixture on to ensure a nice crisp skin.
- Go ahead and throw a couple of bay leaves, thyme sprigs or onion slices into the cavity for extra flavor. Just don’t overstuff or your cooking time will take longer.
- If you love roasted chicken, you will also love this Roasted Herbs de Provence Chicken!
THE best roast chicken recipe ever. I have been using it for years and it feels like a treat though so easy. ALWAYS delicious. Thank you!
This makes me so happy! Thank you so much, Deanna! This was always a favorite of ours.
Oh my goodness! This is a microphone drop meal last night!
Biggest take from your recipe was cooking technique: Oven temps and cooking chicken in cast iron pan, seasoning between skin and meat.
I created a flavorful softened butter with salt, pepper, cumin, nutmeg, turmeric, granulated garlic.
I then olive oiled chicken salt and peppered it and granulated garlic.
In the cavity placed a lemon, 6 cloves of garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme.
Last I placed the butter mix between skin and meat and all over with any extra!
This chicken barely made it to the plate and the juice in the pan was drinkable good!
I used all the scraps to make bone broth.
Thank you!!!!
Thrilled to hear you enjoyed this, Autumn! Love your adaptations. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been making this recipe since I first saw in on Pinterest several years ago. It is the only way we roast a chicken. It takes longer to preheat my oven than it led to get the chicken ready to cook. The flavor is wonderful and the technique couldn’t be easier.
Sharon…you just put a huge smile on my face! Hearing sweet stories like yours is why I love sharing recipes! Thanks so much for your kind words!
I’m making this tonite. But I’m using convection. Will it roast quicker? Looks yummy!
I’m so happy to hear you’ll be making this, Michelle! Absolutely…your convection setting will cook this much faster, up to 30% faster, so calculate cooking time accordingly. I hope that helps and hope you love it! :)
This came out beautifully! Full of flavour, very moist and not difficult to do at all. I loved that I could do a small organic chook on sale for $AUD 7.00!
It has been a long time since I’ve roasted a chicken at home. It never seemed worth the hassle (until now). And my husband, who loves store bought rotisserie chickens never wants a roast chicken at home, always chooses a lamb or beef roast.
Thanks Caroline, this recipe will be in rotation :)
Yay! That’s awesome, Jody! That is a great bargain, too. You are so kind for taking the time to let me know…this made my day. :)
I did the recipe today. I followed the recipe . It tastes really good. Yummy . Thanks a lot for sharing it.
I used my $16 Canadian Tire cast iron skillet (works like a hot dang). Didn’t bother tucking the wings or tying the legs (and this being only my second time dealing with a whole chicken, I sipped taking off the gizzard as well…too freaky, I just left it tucked under the back).
So cheap cast iron, newby to roasting chicken and WOW!!! Chicken only cost me $14 and it was twice the size of the tiny little things they rotisserie at the grocery store and 3x as moist and tasty!
DO DO DO rub under the skin (it flavors the meat but also if you’re watching your fat intake you can take off the skin and not lose the flavor!). And Just Do This!!
Thank you so much for making a seemingly big deal suddenly quite approachable!
JD, your’s may be my most favorite comment ever! I love your spirit and enthusiasm and SO thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe as much as we do! Sounds like you are already a pro at this! Hey, next step may be making a whole turkey! :) Thanks for putting a big smile on my face today!
i have tried several different methods for roasting a juicy crispy delicious chicken, many of which were more time consuming and labor intensive than this (brining, spatchcocking…) but this has been hands-down THE BEST roasted chicken I have ever made! We will be doing this again and again!
Nancy, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear that you enjoyed this so much! This is really easy, isn’t it? I really do appreciate you taking the time to let me know…thank you!
Our family really enjoyed this recipe, I used my Lodge Cast Iron Skillet in the oven. Thanks so much for sharing with us
I’m so happy to hear that, Jennifer and I appreciate you sharing it on twitter! So sweet of you. :)
I am planning on making this. We raise our own chickens for meat and they are about 3 to 4 pounds when we process them..Thanks for the recipe :-)
So glad you’ll be making this, Kathy! Three to four pounds is perfect, isn’t it? Any bigger than that, I find the meat not as tender. Hope you love it!
Looks delicious, you’re so right with your observation, smaller birds are more tender. I wholeheartedly agree with that and no longer cook the large sized chicken.
Made this tonight and it was so delicious! Even though I didn’t even have time to let it marinate, the meat was so tender and not dry at all. I will definitely be adding it to our menu rotation!
I’m so happy to hear you liked this chicken! I rarely have time to marinate it either. Honestly, I’m not usually thinking far enough ahead! ;) Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know!
Made this tonight. My husband said the taste of this chicken is fabulous!!
Loved it. Used a cast iron pan and the drippings were out of this world, good.
Many thanks!
I’m SO HAPPY to hear you and your husband loved this, Wendy! I actually just made this last night! It’s a favorite in my house! Thanks so much for making my day!
What is the total time for cooking this without the lid? Thanks! I’ve got my chicken ready to put in but need to know how long it will take….I’m a rookie LOL!
Hi Nancy! I’m so happy you’re making this! The total cooking time will depend on the size of your chicken. Cook about 20 minutes per pound or until the breast meat is 180 degrees. So, a 6 pound chicken can take up to two hours, but honestly, I’d start checking the temperature at 1 hour and 45 minutes. I hope that helps and hope you love it!
This was delicious. I love using the cast iron pan. And when it says take it out at 180 degrees, do it. It was perfectly cooked. I’d leave out the salt as I didn’t think it was needed, however. And I bet it’d be good with another combination of herbs/spices.
I’m so happy to hear how much you liked this chicken, Nancy! You are so right…once you have the technique, you can really play with the flavors! You may also like my Roasted Herb de Provence Chicken. It’s more herby than spicy, but I love it!
This looks wonderful, however do you roast the chicken covered or uncovered?
Thanks so much Anne Marie! Roast the chicken uncovered the whole way through. You’ll get the most crisp skin that way. Let me know if you make it…I’d love to hear back!
Like Shelley said – those pics!! Those pics!! Fantastic. And, anything with a cast iron pan is right with me.
Awww…thanks Lori! The pan really does make this easy! Once the chicken has roasted, being able to throw the pan on the stove to reduce the sauce is wonderful!
Made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing!!! Great flavor and the meat was extremely moist!! I loved how easy it was to make! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Suzy! It is easy, isn’t it? Thank you so much for commenting…you made my night!
This is an awesome post that makes roasting a whole chicken seem so easy, so approachable! Your tips are excellent, too (like how buying smaller chickens can be a better bet). Really terrific! Seriously though, maybe most of all – these photos are killer-great! I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen a roasted chicken look so fantastic!
I’m so glad you found the tips helpful Shelley! It really is an easy meal to make! Thanks for your sweet words…made a great start to my week!
What happens if you cook it up side down?
Well, Anne, I think you are the authority on that topic! Hahahaha…I think you should tell us!