Whole Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Petit Potatoes

I love greeting my boys with this dinner after they’ve been at school and have activities all day. My house smells like heaven, the combination of butter and crispy chicken skin, carrots, and potatoes, is so inviting that I can tell the stress of the day has instantly melted away.

In my family, Friday night means Shabbat dinner, gathering, and enjoying a delicious home-cooked meal together, like whole roasted chicken. While it looks as impressive as a holiday feast the secret is that preparing a whole roasted chicken is so easy and takes very little time to prep. I also love that I can cook a whole dinner on one sheet pan and the kitchen isn’t a disaster, a special win on busy weeknights. It’s enough to feed a crowd but we usually have leftovers, which means another delicious meal awaits and it will taste even better the next day.

Whole Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Petit Potatoes

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• Author: Roni Proter

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 Fryer Chicken
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter softened
• 1 tbsp light olive oil
• 1 head of garlic
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed
• A handful of parsley stems
• 1 lemon
• 1 tsp kosher salt (plus more for the chicken skin)
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper (plus more for the chicken skin)
• 1 1/2 lb petite tri-colored potatoes
• 1 lb peeled and sliced carrots

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Instructions

1. Cut the head of garlic in half horizontally, remove the skin from half of the garlic, mince, and set aside. Wash and pat dry the chicken and place it on a secured plastic cutting board. Using kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the backbone and remove completely. This is called ‘spatchcocking’.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, light olive oil, minced garlic, thyme leaves, juice from the lemon, tsp of salt, and tsp of pepper, and stir to combine.
3. Gently separate the chicken skin from the flesh and rub half of the butter mixture under the skin. Use the remaining butter to coat the exterior of the chicken.
4. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place the other half head of the garlic, parsley, and thyme stems and the juiced lemon in the center of the pan. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle generously with kosher salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and add the potatoes and carrots around the chicken and toss in the butter and juice that has melted around the bird. Sprinkle with a little more salt.
6. Increase the heat to 400 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender.  You know the chicken is cooked when you pierce it with a knife and the juices run clear.
7. Allow to rest for five minutes before slicing and serving.

Keywords: Whole Roasted Chicken