How to roast a chicken fast – in an hour – but speed isn’t what makes this my signature roast-chicken recipe. It's the simple ingredients, just a fresh chicken, salt, pepper and a hot oven. It’s the crispy, salty skin. It’s the moist and tender breast meat and the juicy succulent dark meat. One more thing? Roast chicken is the perfect meal for unexpected company. Tis a wonder, this roasted chicken.
The heads-up arrived at five o’clock. “Some people are coming for supper.” How many? I asked, guessing two, maybe six, as many as twelve. He hesitated, then began to count, fourteen, I think, was the answer.
Now, this man and I, we feed small crowds on a whim with regularity. We love the kitchen dance, chopping and stirring, serving and savoring home-cooked food. But this night, a hint of panic strained his voice. Were we over-committed? Was carryout pizza the smart answer? “What should we make?” he asked, hoping for a ready answer.
Without hesitation, I answered: “Set the oven to 450, then run to Whole Foods for chicken. We’ll eat around seven.”
Sure enough, with able assistance from an extra pair or two of hands (thank you, Laura and girls!), that night three generations gathered round the table to a feast, roast chicken, roughly mashed sweet potatoes and carrots spiked with cardamom, a big salad and for dessert, hot-from-the-oven fruit crisp topped with ice cream. Menus like this (below), they’re worth making again and again, for four or fourteen – or forty, just with a little more notice, please!
Some times, I truss the chicken, creating a sort of chicken corset with kitchen string. Trussing isn’t necessary but once the chicken is in a tight wad, it just looks cool out of the oven. Other times I use a V-roaster but again, it’s really not needed. Do drag a slice or meat through the delicious chicken drippings while you’re carving, cook’s treat! But as is, the drippings are too salty for gravy. To make chicken gravy, add a good cup or two of chicken stock to the drippings, then thicken. (See how to make turkey gravy, just substitute chicken stock for turkey stock.) Weight Watchers, take special note of the chicken nutrition information, white meat versus dark meat (not much difference) and eating the chicken skin versus not eating the chicken skin (a huge difference). This makes chicken skin a definite indulgence, luckily, this salty chicken is worth eating, many roasted-chicken skins are not. Still, armed with information, it's better to know.
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FAST ROAST CHICKEN
Time to table: 1-1/4 hours
Serves 1 for a week or 4 for dinner plus leftovers for chicken soup
- 1 whole chicken, preferably never frozen (why? see below), either a roasting chicken or a frying chicken
- Generous amount of kosher salt, a tablespoon or two or more
- Freshly ground black pepper, optional
Preheat the oven to 450F. Rinse the chicken inside and out, then dry it well inside and out with paper towels. ‘Rain’ the bird with salt, lightly coating the skin so a salty crusty layer will form during roasting; cover the breast and back sides, the legs and wings, too, then do several turns of ground pepper all over. Place the chicken breast-side down in an oven-proof skillet or on a foil-covered rimmed baking sheet. (Yes, that bird is bare-nekkid except for salt and about to be blasted at high heat.) Roast for an hour.
Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil, let rest 15 minutes. To serve, slice off the legs and thighs, then cut hot slices off the breasts or cut into the breasts down the center and serve it on the bone.
If you like, before carving, set up to make Homemade Chicken Stock from the carcass, just throw the bones right into a skillet to roast while dinner eating dinner.
Per 4 ounces chicken dark meat, without/with skin: 141/268 Calories; 4/19g Tot Fat; 1/6g Sat Fat; 90/91mg Cholesterol; 386/372mg Sodium; 0g Carb; 0g Fiber; 0g Sugar; 23/19g Protein; Weight Watchers 3/7 points
STILL-FASTER ROAST CHICKEN? Stop by the grocery store, grab a hot rotisserie chicken and salad fixings from the salad bar. Come home, pour a glass of wine, sit down to supper. Seriously. Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are a good value and perhaps the one ‘convenience’ food worth picking up from the deli section.
WHY FRESH CHICKEN? WHY NEVER-FROZEN CHICKEN? In 2008 and 2009, I cooked one chicken after another, frying chicken one week, roasting chicken the next, baking chicken the next, grilling chicken after that. I tested free-range chickens, organic chickens, farm-raised chickens, branded chickens, grocery-store chickens, warehouse-club chickens, anything with breasts and wings, basically. In the end, I became much partial to the taste and texture of fresh chicken, that is, chicken that's never been frozen. This means I make regular out-of-the-way trips to Whole Foods, the only place to buy fresh chicken in St. Louis. Readers, if you know where to buy fresh chicken in your hometowns, please do say!
A Menu Starring Fast Roast Chicken
~ Fast Roast Chicken ~
(recipe above)
Rustic Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Carrots
Lettuce Greens Tossed with Chopped Vegetables
with My Favorite Dressing
Cranberry Apple Crisp
More Fast Chicken Recipes
Quick Links to This Page
(for easy bookmarking and searching)~ Why Fresh, Never Frozen Chicken? ~
~ Calories & Weight Watchers Points in Chicken ~
white meat versus dark meat, with the chicken skin versus without
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And just to be clear, I use foil to cover the baking sheet while the chicken roasts, not the chicken itself. And then I use foil to cover the chicken and keep it hot while it rests. So there's no 'tent' to trap the moisture and make the skin all soft and soggy.
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna