The Roast Everything Else Is Measured Against
A good roast chicken needs almost nothing done to it, but the few things that matter really matter: dry the skin thoroughly, salt it well ahead, start the oven hot, and rest it properly. Using bone broth rather than water for the gravy means it thickens to a proper consistency with only a spoonful of starch, and tastes like it took far longer than it did.
Ingredients
Serves 6 | Cost: $6.50 per serving | Total: $39.00 | Ready in 60 min
- 1 whole organic chicken, about 1.8 kg (4 lb)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lemon, halved
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 500 ml (2 cups) chicken bone broth
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornflour
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Dry and salt. Pat the chicken completely dry inside and out with paper towel, then rub all over with the sea salt. If time allows, leave it uncovered in the fridge for a few hours — dry skin is crisp skin.
- Prepare for roasting. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Rub the chicken with olive oil and black pepper, push the lemon halves and thyme sprigs into the cavity, and tie the legs together with kitchen string.
- Roast. Roast at 220°C for 20 minutes to set the skin, then reduce the oven to 190°C (375°F) and continue for 50–60 minutes, until the juices from the thickest part of the thigh run completely clear.
- Rest the bird. Transfer the chicken to a board, cover loosely with foil, and rest for 15 minutes. Do not skip this — carving early will empty the juices onto the board rather than keeping them in the meat.
- Make the gravy. Tip most of the fat from the roasting tin, set it over medium heat, and add the bone broth and vinegar, scraping up the browned bits. Slake the arrowroot with cold water, whisk it in, and simmer for 3 minutes until glossy. Season and serve with the carved chicken.
Nutritional & Dietary Notes
Dairy-Free
There is no milk, cream, butter or cheese in this recipe. Richness comes from the meat, the cooking fat and the aromatics rather than from dairy, which makes it a comfortable choice for anyone who is lactose intolerant or avoiding dairy altogether.
Gluten-Free
Every ingredient in this recipe is naturally free from wheat, barley and rye. If you are cooking for someone with coeliac disease, double-check any stock, sauce or spice blend you buy in, as gluten-containing thickeners and malt derivatives are common hidden additions in commercial products.
Featured HOTRO.ca Product
This recipe is built around Whole Organic Chicken from HOTRO.ca. We source premium BC-raised and ethically farmed meats and slow-simmered bone broth, so the quality of the core ingredient does most of the work for you. Substituting a lesser product will change the result more than any other single change you could make to this recipe.
A whole organic BC chicken roasted with lemon and thyme, with gravy built from bone broth.