Everyday Roast Chicken

5 minutes + 30 minutes rest 1 hour active cooking 65 minutes + 30 minutes rest

Makes 2 serving with plenty of leftovers

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Few things are as comforting as a perfectly roasted chicken.

This simple method delivers every time, offering crispy, golden skin, juicy meat, and effortless leftovers that we turn into soups, hearty salads or pot pie. Plus, it’s dead simple: all you need is a cast iron pan.

What You'll Need

Ingredients

For the shopping list

1 whole chicken
1 lemon, quartered lengthwise
A few sprigs fresh thyme

From our shop

Plenty Italian Fine Sea Salt
$7.00– Trapani - Sicily

(more than you think)

2-3 tablespoons Everyday Single Varietal Olive Oil
$24.00– Capay Valley Ranch - California

Equipment

From the kitchen

Cast iron big enough to fit the chicken, it can be snug
tongs

What you'll have to do

Step 1

Pre-heat the oven to 400º.

Using paper towels, pat your chicken completely dry (letting the bird rest, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 30 mins but up to 24 hours seriously aids in the development of crispy skin, but it’s not required).

Step 2

Generously, and we mean VERY GENERAOUSLY, season the cavity and the entire outside of the chicken with salt.

Step 4

Place the quartered lemon and the thyme sprigs in the cavity.

Step 5

Oil the cast iron and add the chicken, breast side up; roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Step 6

Pull the chicken out of the oven; using tongs, carefully flip the chicken so the breast side is down. Place it back in the oven for 20 minutes; pull it out and flip it again. Return to the oven, breast side up, until the internal temperature reaches 165, about 20 minutes.