One-Pan Roast Chicken Dinner

Is there anything better than a classic roast chicken dinner? How about a chicken dinner that only requires one pan! Roasting the potatoes and carrots in the same pan as the chicken gives the veggies so much flavour, and who doesn't love fewer pots and pans at clean-up time? I recommend using a Dutch oven to really lock in that flavour if you have one that is big enough, otherwise a regular roasting pan will work just fine.

I find most meat benefits from a good marinade, and a whole roast chicken is no exception to this rule. However, if you don't have time to marinate your chicken ahead of time, simply use the marinade ingredients as a rub before putting the chicken into the oven. I find the secret weapon against dry roast chicken is plenty of olive oil!

My beautiful bird^

My boyfriend killed the chicken pictured above the morning that I cooked it, so obviously it was very, very fresh. It was also very large, more turkey-sized than chicken in my opinion.

As you can see we will be stuffing the chicken with fresh herbs, lemon, and onion. This adds so much flavour to the chicken, it's insane. I only recently discovered this technique to infuse my roast chicken with extra flavour, and I will never be going back!

I made this recipe last fall, and then froze the chicken carcass still stuffed to use for soup stock. The homemade chicken soup was incredible, and contained hints of rosemary, lemon, and onion. I highly recommend freezing the chicken carcass with the onion, lemon, and herbs still inside to use for homemade chicken soup. I froze mine again after making this recipe last Sunday, and can't wait until the Fall when I make this soup again. I will definitely be posting the recipe and linking it here so stay tuned!

The tricky part of this recipe is gauging how long to cook your chicken. The typical rule of thumb is 20 minutes per pound, so if you know the weight of your chicken this will be easy for you. If you're estimating but know that your chicken is on the smaller end of the spectrum, it could be ready in as little as 45 minutes. Average sized chickens will take between 1 and 1.5 hours, and my massive chicken took closer to 2 hours to be cooked thoroughly. Chicken is considered cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Roasted to perfection^

Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 15 mins

Marinate Time: Anywhere from 2-24 hrs

Cook Time: 45 mins-2 hours depending on the size of the chicken (approx 20 mins per pound)

What you need:

• 1 extra large freezer bag

• 1 whole chicken, cleaned

• ½ cup -1 cup olive oil (as much as needed to cover the entire chicken)

• 1 bunch rosemary, divided

• 1 bunch thyme, divided

• 1 bunch sage, divided

• 1 tbsp dried oregano

• 1 tbsp garlic powder

• 1 tbsp poultry seasoning

• 1 tbsp salt

• 1 tbsp pepper

• 1 lemon, halved

• 1 onion, peeled & halved

• seasoned salt to taste

• desired amount of carrots, cut into 2-3 inch pieces (peeled or scrubbed well)

• desired amount of potatoes, cut into wedges (peeled or scrubbed well)

• 1 tbsp flour (optional)

What you do:

1. Take ½ of the rosemary, thyme & sage bundles and chop roughly. Place the entire chicken in the extra large freezer bag, and pour the olive oil over top of it so that the chicken is covered. Throw the fresh chopped herbs in the bag, along with the oregano, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, salt & pepper. Squeeze the juice from the entire lemon into the bag, throwing both halves of the fruit into the bag afterwards. Using your hands, rub the marinade ingredients all over the chicken until it is well mixed and the entire chicken is well coated. Seal the bag well.

2. Place in the refrigerator on a plate to prevent leakage, and allow to marinate for anywhere from 2-24 hrs.

3. When you’re ready to roast your chicken, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

4. Place the entire chicken in a large Dutch oven or roast pan, and stuff the inside with the onion and other ½ of the rosemary, thyme, and sage bundles. Remove both lemon halves from the bag that the chicken was in and stuff those in as well.

5. Place in the preheated oven, uncovered. Cook for anywhere from 15-30 mins until the skin of the chicken starts to become golden brown, basting once or twice during this time with the juices that will begin to accumulate at the bottom of the pan. Note: how long this step takes will depend on the size of the chicken.

6. Remove the pan from the oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Add the carrots and potatoes to the pan, arranging them around the chicken & tossing them in the drippings at the bottom of the pan. Cover, and place back in the oven for 15-25 mins (again, this will depend on the size of the chicken and the amount of veggies, use your discretion) – until the carrots and potatoes just start to become tender.

7. Remove the lid, stir the veggies, and baste everything with the drippings again. Place back in the oven, uncovered once again, until the chicken is fully cooked.

8. Remove the chicken from the pan and place it on a cutting board. Arrange the veggies more evenly in the pan, stirring with the drippings again. If you desire a thicker gravy-like sauce, stir in the flour at this point (not necessary). Turn the heat back up to 400 degrees and place back in the oven until the veggies are fully cooked. Note: the cook time for this step depends entirely on how cooked the veggies are at the time that the chicken is done. If you have a larger chicken that takes longer to cook, your veggies may well be fully cooked by the time the chicken is done. If this is the case, skip this step entirely.

9. Cut the chicken and serve – enjoy!

Freeze the chicken carcass, still stuffed, and save it for chicken soup!