Perfect Roast Chicken
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Adapted from: Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (barefootcontessa.com)
Serves: 6–8 | Level: Beginner | Cook Time: 1.5 hours
Ina Garten's roast chicken is the benchmark. A 5-to-6-pound bird stuffed with lemon, garlic, and a whole bunch of thyme, brushed with butter, and roasted hot. The pan gravy that follows — built from the drippings, chicken stock, and just a tablespoon of flour — is what separates this from any other roast chicken recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 whole roasting chicken, 5 to 6 lbs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large bunch fresh thyme
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 Spanish onion, thickly sliced
- 1 cup chicken stock (homemade preferred)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Remove the giblets from the chicken. Rinse the bird inside and out. Remove any excess fat and pat the outside completely dry.
- Place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Season the inside of the cavity generously with salt and pepper.
- Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both lemon halves, and all of the garlic.
- Brush the outside of the chicken with melted butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper.
- Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips under the body.
- Scatter the sliced onion around the chicken in the pan.
- Roast for 1½ hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover loosely with foil while you make the gravy.
- For the gravy: remove all but 2 Tbsp of fat from the roasting pan. Add the chicken stock to the pan and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, scraping up all the browned bits.
- In a small cup, combine the reserved 2 Tbsp of chicken fat with the flour to form a paste. Add to the pan and boil for a few minutes to cook out the flour.
- Strain the gravy into a small saucepan, season to taste, and keep warm over very low heat while you carve the chicken.
- Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve immediately with the warm gravy.
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