Name: Stuffed Roast Butterflied Chicken
Total time: PLACEHOLDER
Ingredients: 1/2 cup table salt; 1 whole chicken (5 to 6 pounds), trimmed of excess fat, giblets discarded; 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or olive oil; Ground black pepper; 1 recipe stuffing

Why This Recipe Works

Stuffed roast chicken can be a conundrum—it’s either a perfectly cooked bird filled with lukewarm stuffing (risking salmonella) or safe-to-eat stuffing packed in parched poultry. And given the small cavity of a roasting chicken, there’s often no more than a few tablespoons of stuffing per person. We wanted our stuffed roast chicken to produce both flavorful white and dark chicken meat along with an ample amount of intensely flavored stuffing. And we wanted to solve the problem of cooking the stuffing to a safe temperature without drying out the delicate breast meat of the chicken.

We ensured moist, savory meat by brining the bird before we stuffed and roasted it. While the chicken was brining, we jazzed up the stuffing mix by replacing the customary onion with a thinly sliced leek, adding it along with celery, mushrooms, minced garlic, fresh sage, thyme, and parsley, and chicken broth. Our most creative solution, however, was to make an aluminum foil bowl, mound the stuffing into it, and place the chicken—after butterflying it—on top. This improvised cooking vessel allowed the stuffing to become moist and flavorful throughout from the chicken juices, while also becoming brown and chewy on the bottom. And cleanup was a snap.

Before You Begin

Use a traditional (not nonstick) roasting pan to prepare this recipe; the dark finish of a nonstick pan may cause the stuffing to overbrown. If using a kosher chicken, skip step 1.

Instructions

Dissolve salt in 2 quarts cold water in large container. Immerse chicken and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove chicken from brine and rinse under cold running water; pat dry with paper towels. Butterfly chicken, flatten breastbone, and tuck wings behind back (see illustrations 1 and 2). Rub skin with oil and sprinkle with pepper.

Following illustrations 3 through 5, construct foil bowl, spray inside of bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and place bowl in roasting pan. Gently mound and pack stuffing into foil bowl and position chicken over stuffing (chicken should extend past edges of bowl so that most of fat renders into roasting pan, not into foil bowl). Roast chicken until just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Rotate pan and continue to roast until skin is crisped and deep golden brown and instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees in thickest part of breast, 175 degrees in thickest part of thigh, and 165 degrees in stuffing, 25 to 35 minutes longer. Using tongs, transfer chicken to cutting board; let rest 10 minutes.

While chicken rests, transfer stuffing from foil bowl to serving bowl; fluff stuffing with spoon. Cover stuffing with foil to keep warm. Carve chicken and serve with stuffing.