Quickest Roasted Chicken Dinner Recipes

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

QUICK ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Prep the chicken
• Salting the chicken in advance ensures that the seasoning is evenly distributed throughout the meat. This method results in meat with salt in it rather than on it.
• Put the bird in a large metal bowl, sprinkle the salt evenly all over it, and rub the chicken around the inside of the bowl until all the salt adheres.
• Note: Food geeks like me with a gram scale will find that a 2½-pound chicken, after deboning, weighs 1,134 grams. Depending on your taste for salt, you'll need between 1.1 percent and 1.4 percent of the chicken's weight in salt (12.5 to 15.8 grams).
• Let the salted chicken rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours before cooking; the chicken is good to go for at least 24 hours after salting.
• Dry the chicken and heat the oven
• About ½ hour before roasting the chicken, turn the oven to 475°F and let it heat up (this may take a while). You want it plenty hot in there. Meanwhile, take the chicken from the fridge and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
• Cook the chicken
• Oil a large heavy-bottomed skillet; cast iron is my favorite. (If your skillet won't accommodate the whole chicken, split it into 2 halves and use two skillets.) You want a thick coating of oil (more than a slick, less than a puddle). Place the pan over a high heat onthe stovetop until you see the faintest wisp of smoke rising from the oil. Gently-really gently, so the oil doesn't splatter and burn you-lay the chicken in the pan skin side down. Lower the heat to medium-high and cook until the skin turns faintly blond, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the skillet to the floor of the oven.
• Depending on the size of the bird and whether it is deboned or just butterflied, the total cooking time in the oven will range from 18 to 30 minutes. The chicken is done when the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh registers 155°F to 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.
• When the chicken is done, cut it into manageable pieces, put them on a platter, and serve as is, or with a squeeze or two of lemon.

QUICKEST ROASTED CHICKEN DINNER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Slide 2 fingers under chicken skin and loosen enough to tuck 2 lemon slices, 4 garlic slices and 1 thyme sprig underneath the skin, directly over the breast meat of each chicken breast. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place chicken in 9 by 13- inch glass baking dish. Pour 1 cup chicken broth, remaining sliced garlic and thyme sprigs in pan bottom.
• Place in oven and roast until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Pour pan juices into a small sauce pot. Add lemon juice. Reduce over medium high heat until sauce has thickened to almost a glaze. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Pour juices over chicken and serve immediately.

QUICK ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (using foil makes for a faster clean up).
• Pat the chicken completely dry so that the butter will stick. Using a pair of kitchen shears, cut out the back bone by cutting down each side of it to remove. Turn the chicken over and lay it out flat on the cutting board. Using both hands, press down firmly on the chicken breast to break the breast bone and flatten the chicken as best you can. Tuck the wing tips behind the wings.
• Put the chicken on the prepared baking sheet. Rub the entire skin with the butter, then sprinkle on the smoked paprika, salt and pepper and rub it in.
• Roast until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F, 35 to 45 minutes. Let rest before carving.

REALLY EASY ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• KIDS: The writing in bold is for you. ADULTS: The rest is for you. Cut the string off the chicken. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Get your child to use a pair of scissors to cut the elastic or string holding the chicken together.
• Stuff the chicken. Stuff the lemon halves in the cavity of the chicken with the garlic and herb sprig (if using).
• Time to get your hands mucky. Sit the chicken in a large roasting tin and use your hands to smear the butter all over it.
• Easy-peasy vegetables. Tip the carrots and potatoes into a large bowl, drizzle over the oil and toss everything together with your hands.
• Scatter the vegetables around the chicken. Scatter the vegetables in an even layer around the chicken, then season everything. Put the chicken in the oven and roast for 30 mins. Remove from the oven and give the vegetables a stir, reduce the heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, then return to the oven for 50 mins more.
• Test if the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken from the oven. Using a cloth, pull the leg - if it easily comes away from the body, there is no sign of pink and the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked. If you have a digital cooking thermometer, it should read above 70C. Take the chicken out of the tin.
• Make a lemony sauce. Scoop the vegetables into a serving dish. Using a spoon or a pair of tongs, remove the garlic, lemon and herbs from the chicken and put them in the roasting tin. Squash them down well with a potato masher to release all the juice from the lemons.
• Strain the sauce. Pour in the chicken stock and soy sauce and give it all a good stir. Get the child to hold a sieve over a jug while you lift up the pan and strain the juices into the jug. If you want it piping hot, reheat in a pan or in the microwave.