Perfect Easy Roast Chicken
Need a recipe for perfect, crisp-skinned, delicious roast chicken that’s about as quick and easy as picking up a rotisserie bird at the supermarket and tastes a whole lot better? This is for you.
Our recipe uses Judy Rodger’s classic Zuni Café Roast Chicken recipe as a jumping off point, and then simplifies, streamlines and tweaks it quite a bit. It’s what we do when we that incredible, succulent bird but we didn’t think ahead to buy, salt, air-dry and bring the chicken to room temperature. It also has the advantage of no basting (like the Judy bird) and no flipping during roasting (unlike the Judy bird).
Part of the work is done before you bring the chicken home: A great roast starts with an excellent bird, and not too big. We like organic, free-range birds best; if you can get one raised on a local farm, so much the better. Try to find one as close to 3 or 3 1/2 pounds as possible. If you have a convection setting on your oven, you can use that for the first 30 minutes: It speeds up the roasting a bit and enhances the browning. If you don’t have it, don’t worry — it’ll work just fine.
While this recipe is very easy, if you want to simplify even further, you can skip the herbs under the skin; you’ll only sacrifice a little flavor. A whole lemon in the cavity can be nice if you fancy lemony flavor, or rub the round end of a baguette with a lot of garlic and stuff that in there, as my French mother-in-law does. (And then everyone fights over who gets to eat the intensely chickeny-and-garlicky “quignon.”)
Likewise, I think it’s always worth making a little pan sauce to serve with the chicken, as it’s thrown together as the chicken rests. The only effort there is mincing a shallot, but you can even skip that. Or skip the sauce completely.
Serves 3 - 4.
Ingredients
For the chicken
A 3 to 3 1/2-pound chicken
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 to 12 springs of thyme and/or rosemary