A roast chicken is a beautiful thing and I’m always excited to discover new ways to enjoy my favourite food. This recipe yields a delicious, succulent chicken with crispy skin and delicious pan juices that can be served spooned over the carved meat. If you’re like me, those pan juices are even better scooped right out of the roasting tin with a chunk of crusty bread, which is often how my husband and I enjoy a roast chicken however we make it. We pick the meat straight from the bird and dip our baguette chunks in the pan juices and that in itself is a great meal – it’s pretty much what we had for all of our pandemic lockdown date nights at home.
While there are some more intense methods of roasting chickens that are good, I’m a firm believer that sometimes easier is better when there’s no sacrifice of flavour and that’s the case with this recipe. It takes minutes to prepare – probably less time than it takes for the oven to preheat. Then you pop the bird in the oven and wait or get on with your life or watch an episode or two on Netflix. It’s easy. It can be basted if you remember, but it will be fine if it’s not. You can probably get away with taking a nap while the chicken roasts – it’s low maintenance and delicious. So if you have the time for it to roast, then no excuses because this recipe is E-A-S-Y!
If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, be sure to check out the list of recipes at the very end of this post for what you can make with them… I’m a firm believer in the Waste not, want not philosophy, but also – the economy sucks, so save money where you can. You can get a hell of a lot more mileage out of a whole chicken than you can out of two chicken breasts and it’s often for a similar amount of money. In this case, more is definitely more and always remember that chicken meat, carcasses and even pan juices with the fat can all be frozen and repurposed another time. Those fatty pan juices can be glorious on potatoes. That carcass will make delicious stock you can use straight away or freeze for later and the meat can be tossed into anything – a stir-fry, soup, pasta, salad or even a sandwich. Even the skin can be saved, fried up later in a dry pan until crispy and crumbled over another dish like bacon bits for a crunchy, salty topping that is such a game changer! The possibilities are endless so roast a chicken for yourself or the whole family and dig in!
Ingredients
- 1 red chilli, diced or snipped into diced pieces with scissors (That’s what I do and it’s easy peasy!)
- 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
- 100ml olive oil
- Sea salt flakes (such as Maldon Salt)
- 100ml Maple Syrup
- 1 whole chicken (about 1.75kg or thereabouts)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° Fan / 350°F. (For the record, I use fan for almost everything.)
- Put the first 5 ingredients into a jug (basically everything except the chicken). Use a silicone pastry brush to give it a quick stir until combined. If you don’t have a silicone pastry brush, I highly recommend buying one because they’re super useful and not expensive. (I think mine was only £3.50 from T.K. Maxx.) If that isn’t an option for now, just use a wooden spoon.
- Place the chicken into a roasting tin. If the legs are trussed or tied up in any way, remove all strings and set the little legs free. Leave them that way.
- Pour every last drop of the maple mixture over the chicken, letting a little go inside the cavity and use the pastry brush or wooden spoon to get every last visible part of the chicken coated with the sticky, oily mixture.
- Bang the bird into the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until fully cooked. (Cooking times may vary for a larger or smaller bird so use your judgement and your best method for checking its doneness.) Baste 2 or 3 times during the cooking using a large spoon to slosh some of the pan juices over the driest looking parts of the bird. If you do this step it will be better, but if you don’t it will still be great. Remember this is a stress-free recipe…
- When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven and cover it loosely with 1 or 2 layers of foil to rest for 15 to 30 minutes. If you want to keep it warm for 30 minutes or even a little more, throw a tea towel over the foil as well to keep some of the heat in.
- When you’re ready to serve, carve the chicken and spoon some of the pan juices over the meat.
Recipes for Leftover Chicken
Click the links below to try these amazing recipes for your leftover roast chicken!