Baked Chicken

All about how to perfectly roast a whole chicken

I first wrote this recipe down just after my kids moved out of my home and started a life on their own. This is a fundamental skill. If you can roast a chicken, you are golden!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rub your chicken with olive oil, then HEAVILY salt it on all sides and the inner cavity. It’s best to then let the salted chicken rest in the fridge for an hour or so uncovered. This helps it dry out and become very crispy when done.

Place it in a pan that is not too deep, preferably a cast iron skillet. The pan should not come up above the top of the chicken. You want the chicken to be exposed to the air in the oven.

Cook at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. It’s a good idea to put the breast side towards the door of your oven because that is normally the cooler side of the oven, and you want the dark meat in the legs and thighs to cook slightly more than the breast.

Reduce heat to 375 degrees, and cook for another 40 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken. A small young chicken will cook faster, and thus needs less time.

DON’T OVERCOOK YOUR CHICKEN. The thigh should be about 155 degrees measured with a food thermometer. If you pierce its thigh (the slowest part to cook) and bloody liquid comes out, then it’s not done yet. You want it just barely cooked, so it will still be juicy. If the chicken is dry, that means it is overcooked. It will still be okay to eat and will make fine chicken salad.

If you want something a little more interesting, here are some other suggestions: Stuff some herbs into the chicken cavity. Or you can add some garlic, lemon slices, quartered onion chunks, half an orange…just almost anything tasty can be put into the cavity to create flavor. You can also surround your chicken with 1” carrot chunks, 1” long leek slices, and small potatoes.

After you remove the chicken from the oven, let it rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.