My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken

By Addie

This is a fail safe recipe of perfection. always works, always delicious! Epicurious | October 2004

Ingredients

• One 2-3 pound chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)
• Unsalted butter
• Dijon mustard

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I'm cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook's rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad. You'll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it's so good.
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REVIEWS: (558)

OMG! this was so easy to make. Ok I do need to learn how to truss the chicken - in time I will master this- I was skeptical about adding mustard didn't have any Dijon, I did have gourmet mustard packets from Culvers Gulden used a couple of those. I cooked a 7.5 lb roast it came out really tasty. I will def make again. Going to try and make pot pies with some of the leftovers.

BEST. ROAST. CHICKEN. RECIPE. EVER. My husband asks for it all the time-- it doesn't get any better than this!

This is without a doubt the tastiest roast chicken I have ever made. It is now the only roast chicken recipe I use!

Amazing! The most succulent, crisp bird that I have ever had. Lots of juice in the bottom and no smoke whatsoever. I roasted mine in a skillet with squared up sides and not a saute pan. It was a large-ish bird and so did not have a lot of room for splatter. I think that may be the trick. Lots of paper towels for drying. If my husband wasn't devoted to me before he is now :). Best ever!!!!

Perfection!

Perfect every time! We make this on an almost weekly basis. I roast mine in an All-Clad skillet and make a great reduction sauce with the drippings and whatever I have on hand (white wine, broth, lemon juice, etc.)

Made this according to the recipe, but I put a few sprigs of rosemary into the cavity before roasting. I'd never roasted a chicken before, so if you haven't either, this is what I learned: make sure the chicken is close to the bottom of the oven (bottom rack) because if not, the juices/fat "pops" and onto the hot top of the oven, causing smoke and alarms to go off. Also, the pan became too hot so juices evaporated on contact so there wasn't much for me to work with for the gravy. (For the gravy, I used the juices, a spoonful of flour, then topped up with chicken stock, and salt & pepper to taste)

Delicious - thank you Mr. Keller! This dish is straight-forward simple, delicious and homey. I used a Bell & Evans chicken from Whole Foods, followed the instructions precisely and served simply with pan juices plus a few fresh oregano leaves. I am so happy Epi featured this recipe; it will be one I return to often during these colder months. Enjoy!

This was my first time roasting a chicken and I chose to follow this recipe because it was so simple and had so many good reviews, not to mention the fact that I didn't need any special ingredients. I had a 4 lb, free range bird that I purchased frozen almost one year ago from my farm share which I thawed for about a day and a half in the fridge. It was fun learning how to truss the chicken and after sizzling away in my oven for an hour, it came out crisp and perfect. Actually, I forgot the butter and it was still delicious. I'll definitely use this technique again!

My go-to roast chicken recipe. Simple, beautiful, rich and perfect every time.

My daughter LOVES roasted chicken. I do have other recipes, depending on mood, but this is great. I thought I was over-salting the chicken, but alas, no - I caught myself and used about 1 Tablespoon. I resisted the urge to baste or anything else. Just shy of a 4 lb. chicken and out of the oven at 53 minutes. Served with braised scallions and grilled corn. YUM.

The roast chicken is one of my staples. This is an exquisitely simple and most delicious recipe. Like many of the reviewers, I'm faithfully committed to it.

Could not believe how simple and amazing this was! My husband was literally swooning over it. It also helps that we just moved to France and got a nice bird (already trussed) from the local farmer's market.



This is now the way I roast a chicken. I had NO IDEA roasted chicken could be SO GOOD! I use organic, free-range birds. Made exactly as written in an 35-year-old electric oven. No problems.