Best Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables
By Andrew JanjigianPublished on November 23, 2015
Time
2¼ hours, plus 1 hour brining and 20 minutes resting
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
1 (3 ½- to 4-pound) whole chicken, giblets discardedSalt and pepper ½ cup sugar 1 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces12 ounces carrots, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise12 ounces parsnips, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil ¼ cup water 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Before You Begin
Cooking the chicken in a preheated skillet will ensure that the breast and thigh meat finish cooking at the same time. This recipe requires brining the chicken for 1 hour before cooking. If using a kosher chicken, do not brine in step 1, but season with 1/2 teaspoon salt in step 3.
Instructions
- With chicken breast side down, use tip of sharp knife to make four 1-inch incisions along back. Using your fingers, gently loosen skin covering breast and thighs. Use metal skewer to poke 15 to 20 holes in fat deposits on top of breast halves and thighs. Dissolve 1/2 cup salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in large container. Submerge chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place 12-inch ovensafe skillet on upper rack and heat for 15 minutes. Spray rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Arrange potatoes, carrots, and parsnips with cut surfaces down in single layer on baking sheet and cover sheet tightly with aluminum foil.
- Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Combine 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in small bowl. Rub entire surface of chicken with oil-pepper mixture. Tie legs together with twine and tuck wingtips behind back.
- Carefully remove skillet from oven (handle will be hot). Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and swirl to coat. Place chicken, breast side up, in skillet. Return skillet to upper rack and place sheet of vegetables on lower rack. Cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove vegetables from oven, remove foil, and set aside. Rotate skillet and continue to cook chicken until breasts register 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 15 to 25 minutes longer.
- Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Add water to skillet. Using whisk, stir until brown bits have dissolved. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator, pressing on solids to remove any remaining liquid. Let liquid settle for 5 minutes. Pour off liquid from fat separator and reserve. Reserve 3 tablespoons fat, discarding remaining fat.
- Drizzle vegetables with reserved fat. Sprinkle vegetables with thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat. Place sheet on upper rack and roast for 5 minutes. Remove sheet from oven. Using thin, sharp metal spatula, turn vegetables. Continue to roast until browned at edges, 8 to 10 minutes longer.
- Pour reserved liquid over vegetables. Continue to roast until liquid is thick and syrupy and vegetables are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Toss vegetables to coat, then transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with parsley. Carve chicken and transfer to platter with vegetables. Serve.
Time
2¼ hours, plus 1 hour brining and 20 minutes restingYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
1 (3 ½- to 4-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded
Salt and pepper
½ cup sugar
1 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
12 ounces carrots, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise
12 ounces parsnips, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
1 (3 ½- to 4-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded
Salt and pepper
½ cup sugar
1 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
12 ounces carrots, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise
12 ounces parsnips, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
1 (3 ½- to 4-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded
Salt and pepper
½ cup sugar
1 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
12 ounces carrots, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise
12 ounces parsnips, peeled, halved crosswise, thick halves halved lengthwise
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Our roast chicken and root vegetables recipe ensures perfect versions of both components by calling for cooking them separately. We brine the chicken to ensure that it stays juicy and then place it in a preheated skillet in a hot oven. The dark meat, which needs to be cooked to a higher temperature than the white meat, is in contact with the pan, ensuring that it finishes cooking at the same time as the more delicate breast meat. We cook the vegetables below the chicken on a baking sheet until they’re tender, covered with foil to keep them moist. Once the chicken is done, we turn the oven up to 500 degrees and finish roasting the vegetables, using the fat and drippings left behind in the skillet to infuse them with deep, savory chicken flavor. We found that a variety of vegetables worked well as long as we cut them so that they all cooked through at the same rate.
Before You Begin
Cooking the chicken in a preheated skillet will ensure that the breast and thigh meat finish cooking at the same time. This recipe requires brining the chicken for 1 hour before cooking. If using a kosher chicken, do not brine in step 1, but season with 1/2 teaspoon salt in step 3.
Instructions
- With chicken breast side down, use tip of sharp knife to make four 1-inch incisions along back. Using your fingers, gently loosen skin covering breast and thighs. Use metal skewer to poke 15 to 20 holes in fat deposits on top of breast halves and thighs. Dissolve 1/2 cup salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in large container. Submerge chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place 12-inch ovensafe skillet on upper rack and heat for 15 minutes. Spray rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Arrange potatoes, carrots, and parsnips with cut surfaces down in single layer on baking sheet and cover sheet tightly with aluminum foil.
- Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Combine 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in small bowl. Rub entire surface of chicken with oil-pepper mixture. Tie legs together with twine and tuck wingtips behind back.
- Carefully remove skillet from oven (handle will be hot). Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and swirl to coat. Place chicken, breast side up, in skillet. Return skillet to upper rack and place sheet of vegetables on lower rack. Cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove vegetables from oven, remove foil, and set aside. Rotate skillet and continue to cook chicken until breasts register 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 15 to 25 minutes longer.
- Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Add water to skillet. Using whisk, stir until brown bits have dissolved. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator, pressing on solids to remove any remaining liquid. Let liquid settle for 5 minutes. Pour off liquid from fat separator and reserve. Reserve 3 tablespoons fat, discarding remaining fat.
- Drizzle vegetables with reserved fat. Sprinkle vegetables with thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat. Place sheet on upper rack and roast for 5 minutes. Remove sheet from oven. Using thin, sharp metal spatula, turn vegetables. Continue to roast until browned at edges, 8 to 10 minutes longer.
- Pour reserved liquid over vegetables. Continue to roast until liquid is thick and syrupy and vegetables are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Toss vegetables to coat, then transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with parsley. Carve chicken and transfer to platter with vegetables. Serve.
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