Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Golden and Crispy
Oven roast chicken with potatoes, lemon, and herbs: golden crispy skin, juicy meat, all cooked in a single tin.
Want a roast chicken with golden, crispy skin and meat that stays juicy, with potatoes flavored by the cooking juices? All in a single tin, with no fuss? Then this is the right recipe.
Roast chicken is the Sunday dish par excellence: fragrant, generous, and able to please the whole family. You need nothing special, just a few touches that turn an ordinary chicken into a roast to remember.
It has at least three real advantages: it’s made with few ingredients and a single tin, it feeds a whole family at a modest cost, and the leftovers are perfect the next day, cold or in a salad.
The most important tip involves two moves: dry the skin well before roasting, because moisture prevents browning, and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving, so the juices redistribute and the meat stays tender.
Place the potatoes under the chicken: they absorb the fat and juices that drip during cooking and turn golden and savory, the perfect side.
Ready? Let’s make roast chicken.
To make this recipe
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Oven tray or baking dish
Perfect for baking meatballs and vegetables. Choose a non-stick tray for better results and easy cleaning.
Steps
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Pat the chicken very dry with paper towels, inside and out: dry skin is the first secret to getting it crisp. Season it generously with salt and pepper, including inside.
- Fill the chicken cavity with the halved lemon, the garlic cloves, and a few sprigs of rosemary and sage. Tie the legs with kitchen string for even cooking.
- Cut the potatoes into chunks, toss them with oil, salt, and rosemary, and arrange them in a tin. Set the chicken in the center, on top of the potatoes, and drizzle it with oil.
- Roast for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Every 25 minutes, baste the chicken with its juices (and the wine, if using) and turn the potatoes so they brown evenly.
- Check doneness: when you pierce the thigh, the juices that run out should be clear, not pink. If the skin browns too fast, cover it with a sheet of foil.
- Take it out and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving: the juices redistribute and the meat stays tender. Serve with the potatoes.
Helpful tips
Drying the skin well before roasting is the secret to a crisp crust: moisture is the enemy of browning.
Resting after cooking is essential: carve too soon and the juices run out, drying the meat.
Placing the potatoes under the chicken lets them soak up the fat that drips during cooking.
If you have time, salt the chicken a few hours ahead and keep it uncovered in the fridge: the skin dries out and crisps up even more.
Average nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 540 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 28.0 g
- Sugars
- 2.0 g
- Protein
- 42.0 g
- Fat
- 28.0 g
- Saturated fat
- 8.0 g
- Fiber
- 3.0 g
- Sodium
- 480 mg
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