This Simple Roast Chicken is perfect for when you just need to throw something in the oven without a lot of fuss. If you’re tempted to grab a rotisserie chicken but know it’s full of not-so-good ingredients, this recipe will save the day. Pick it clean and add all that nutritious protein to your next soup, salad, sandwich, pizza or wrap!
There’s a time and a place for a crispy-skinned, beautifully prepared bird, and then there are times when you know you’re just going to use the meat for something else anyway, so why go to the trouble?
I used to grab a cold rotisserie chicken at the grocery store for a quick dinners pretty often. I’d take it home and throw it in quesadillas or make BBQ chicken sandwiches or something.
Then I started hearing about all the additives in those chickens. Not to mention the fact that they aren’t typically organic, free-range birds, by any means.
It’s been a few years since I’ve done that, but only recently have I started cooking whole chickens.
It’s an intimidating process when you’re used to working almost exclusively with ground beef and boneless, skinless chicken breasts! I didn’t realize the value of using larger cuts of meat, and even the bones, in traditional ways.
Why Make A Simple Roast Chicken?
Our ancestors knew how to use every part of an animal. They let nothing go to waste, and they benefitted from it in so many ways. Unfortunately we’ve lost a lot of that wisdom and know-how, but so many people are working to regain it and I think that’s awesome! I am so far from where I hope to be someday. I still don’t quite know what to do with that little pack of gizzards and things that comes with the whole chicken, and I’ve certainly never processed one myself, but maybe someday! In the meantime, I’m trying to use whole chickens more often, for a few reasons:
- It’s more economical. You get a lot more bang for your buck and it’s cheaper per pound overall than many cuts of meat.
- It’s versatile. You can turn a whole chicken into so many different things. It really sparks your creativity.
- It’s easy. Like I said earlier, sometimes you want to go the extra mile and present a picture-perfect bird with crispy golden skin, and other times you just don’t want to think about it. A little oil, seasoning and a lemon to heat it evenly, and into the oven it goes.
- It requires minimal mental effort. Even if you don’t know for sure what you’re going to do with it when it’s done, you can be sure it will get eaten, so go ahead and throw it in. If everything else goes wrong that day, at least everyone will be fed!
- There will be plenty of leftovers. Once you pick the bones and use some of the meat for one thing, there’s always plenty left to use for an entirely different dish. You can divide up the white and dark meat or combine it all together.
- Perhaps my favorite use, bone broth. I still consider myself a newbie at this, but I am having fun with it and want to keep incorporating it in our diet more and more. The last batch I made turned out thick and gelatinous (exactly what you want it to do) and I was so proud. It’s such a great feeling knowing you’re serving your family something so healthy and nourishing.
Ideas For Using Your Roast Chicken
- Chicken Pot Pie. This chicken pot pie, to be exact. I love using a sourdough pie crust for even better nutrition. A from-scratch chicken pot pie is delicious and impressive, plus it’s an all-in-one meal so you don’t have to think about sides. Love it.
- Chicken and Sourdough Dumplings from Our Gabled Home, or your favorite recipe.
- BBQ Chicken Pizza with this sourdough crust recipe
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad with this homemade ranch dressing from A Modern Homestead
- White Chicken Chili, like this one from Erin Lives Whole
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas from Full of Days and why not make the suggested sourdough tortillas??
- Chicken nachos
- Chicken salad sandwiches
- Greek chicken bowls, like these from The Defined Dish
- Chicken noodle soup
- Stir fry like my Better Than Take-Out Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Chicken fettuccini alfredo
There are so many more ways you can use a whole chicken. I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments!
How To Make A Simple Roast Chicken
- Remove packet of giblets, rinse chicken in cold water and pat dry.
- Place breast up in roasting pan and tie back legs.
- Drizzle with avocado or olive oil and brush all over.
- Sprinkle with herbs and salt, getting in every nook and cranny.
- Stuff body cavity with onion quarters or halved lemons to help distribute heat for more even cooking.
- Bake in 350 F oven. Check at 1 hr 15 minutes. Temp should reach 165 F in the thickest part of the breast and thigh. Return to oven if needed, checking again in 10 or 15 minutes, until done.
- Rest on cutting board for 10 minutes, cut apart or shred meat from bones if desired.
- Save bones for bone broth.
Sourcing High Quality Chickens
So obviously not all chickens are created equal.
Now of course we all have our limits, whether that be budget or location. I would love to buy pastured, organic chickens from a local farm but I don’t have a source for that right now. There are plenty of other grocery items I have to compromise on right now as well. We just don’t have the budget to source everything the way I’d like to. You can read more about our food philosophy, what we prioritize, and what we compromise on here.
I’m going to throw out a few online sources to look at but keep in mind that your local farmer’s market is the best place to look first. I was surprised to find so many options for quality meat at a farmer’s market about half an hour away from us! Unfortunately it doesn’t reopen until late Spring but I can’t wait to start shopping there a couple of times a month again.
Another place you could look in person is Aldi, which is where I’m currently getting my whole chickens. They have free range organic chickens for a great price. So even though they aren’t local, at least I’m getting high quality, clean poultry for my family that we can afford.
I’d bet that Costco has similar deals, we just don’t have one near us.
Online Sources For Organic Meat
- Fed From the Farm Order when you want and get home delivery as often as every week. No subscription.
- Thrive Market This online store does require a subscription, either month to month or annually. They offer lots more than meat.
- Grass Roots Farmer’s Co-op A co-op of regenerative agriculture farmers dedicated to practices that are better for the animals, the land, and their customers. “Our animals are pasture and forest-raised, with no hormones or antibiotics.“
- Azure Standard An online co-op with tons of amazing products from small farms and major brands alike. We love Azure for many reasons. Check for a drop near you, they’re all over the place.
Here are a few brands to keep your eyes peeled for at the grocery store if none of these quite fit the bill.
Katie’s Best Organic
Simple Truth
Simply Nature (the one I get at Aldi)
True Goodness Organic by Meijer
Whatever you choose, I want to encourage you that if you’re even beginning to think about this stuff and try and make more wholesome, natural choices, you’re doing great!
I’ve wasted so much time feeling guilty, or even embittered that I couldn’t do more for my family. There is not point in that and it does no one any good. We just have to do the best we can.
If you were to eat the most organic, natural, holistic, perfect diet but were stressed about doing so all the time, your body would suffer more from that stress than from eating conventional groceries.
So relax, smile, and enjoy dinner with your family. Making homemade food alone is a great improvement!
I hope you’ll try the recipe below and that it blesses you and your family.
What other recipes can you think of to throw cooked chicken into? Let me know below!
-Tara
Simple Roast Chicken
This roasted chicken is no-muss no-fuss, yet still mouth-wateringly tender with crispy skin. Serve it up as is, or pick the bones and use the meat for sandwiches, soups, pot pies and more!
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp Italian herbs
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Rinse whole chicken (3-4 lbs.) in cold water and pat dry with paper towel, removing giblets and neck bone if needed.
- Peel and roughly chop onion and scatter over the bottom of the pan you'll use, reserving a few large pieces for the body cavity,
- Place chicken, breast up, on top of onions in large roasting pan or Dutch oven. Tie legs up together over the bottom of the breasts using butcher's twine or a long rolled-up piece of aluminum foil.
- Drizzle olive oil all over chicken, in every nook and cranny.
- Sprinkle salt, herbs and pepper evenly over chicken and stuff remaining onion in body cavity.
- Place in oven and bake 15 minutes, then reduce oven temp to 350 F.
- Bake for another hour, then check temperature with a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast, then the thickest part of the thigh. Chicken is ready when both read 165 F.
- Remove to cutting board and rest for 10 minutes. Untie legs before carving.
Notes
You can also start the chicken out at 350 F straight away if you don't want to bother with reducing the temperature. You'll just need to add some cooking time. Check internal temperature after 1 hr 15 min. and wait until temp reads at least 165 in thickest parts of breast and thigh.
The thighs tend to get done sooner than the breast. Stuffing the body cavity with onions or lemons helps to more evenly distribute heat.
It's also a good idea to tuck the wing tips under the bird, behind the thighs, to keep from burning.
Looking for more recipes? Check out these and more in my Recipes archive!
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