Today I'm sharing my favorite tips for how I cook a whole chicken on a weeknight.
And if we are being completely honest, there's no way you are going to defrost and roast a whole chicken after work (that's an Instant Pot job right there). So let's just assume that we're talking about roasting a thawed chicken.
OK, now that we've got semantics out of the way, let's get cooking!
1. Size matters - think small
Honestly, if you want to get a whole chicken on the table in under an hour, you have to think small. For years I wouldn't even distribute a chicken to CSA members if it weighed less than 4 pounds - it just didn't seem like enough food.
But you know, sometimes I don't want the baggage that comes with a whole chicken - running the oven for hours, using up all the leftovers and cooking up the carcass for stock because I feel like I'm "wasting it" if I don't.
Lately I've been embracing the smaller chickens - 2.75# to 3.25#. They cook faster (done in 35 to 45 minutes), there is just enough meat for dinner for my family of 4 plus a toddler and I just throw all the bones in a ziploc in the freezer to wait until "future me" finds the motivation to make stock.
2. Brine it!
If you read the post from yesterday, this is where the mystery pickle juice comes into play - you use it as a brine for the chicken! And it's not like you need cups and cups of it either.
Lately I've been cutting my frozen chicken out of the plastic bag and dumping it into a ziploc (another plus with smaller chickens!) with a cup or two of pickle juice or whatever amount is lurking in the fridge. I don't have to touch raw chicken or worry about the original packaging leaking as it thaws in the bottom of the fridge. I squeeze as much air as I can out of the bag and put it in a bowl in the bottom of the fridge. I flip the bag when I remember to and plan on making chicken for dinner whenever it is fully thawed, usually 2-3 days.
3. Bridge the (temperature) gap
If your chicken or pan is cold, it will take longer to cook because the temperature gap between raw and cooked is so vast. There are two easy ways to bridge that gap.
Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. If you can remove it from the brine and pat dry then too, great. If not, no worries. Certainly don't leave it on the counter all day, but allowing the chill of the fridge to go out of the bird before cooking speeds things up.
Preheat your pan! This one was new to me but it really does help shave off cooking time. A trusty cast iron skillet or a metal, rimmed sheet pan both preheat well and the residual heat will give your bird an immediate jump start cooking.
4. Butterfly it!
Learning to butterfly a chicken was a game-changer for me. Not only does it cook in way less time because the chicken lays flat but also it helps solve the problem of drying out the breast before the thighs are fully cooked (another thing that tip #2 Brine It! helps with).
If you have never butterflied (also called spatchcocked) a chicken before, here is a simple 1-minute video showing how to do it. For reference, I don't even bother removing the breastbone, just notch the cartilage and press flat.
So how do I put it all together?
Put frozen chicken and 1-2 cups pickle juice in a ziploc bag and place in the fridge to thaw for 2-3 days. Turn whenever I think of it.
Remove chicken from fridge and let rest on counter for 20-30 minutes while I prep my veggies. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, add empty cast iron skillet or sheet pan.
Remove chicken from brine, discard brine (hooray for already prepping veggies to prevent contamination issues), pat bird dry then butterfly chicken, rub down with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place chicken in preheated skillet and return to oven. Roast at 450 degrees. Begin checking chicken after 35 minutes (for small chickens) when the skin is golden brown, the juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees.
Remove from oven to a clean plate, cover and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Sometimes I will make a pan sauce with the bits leftover in the pan (making the pan sauce in the cast iron or using a spatula to scrape off what I can from the sheet pan) or I'll just toss my steamed/roasted veggies in the chicken-y goodness. I've also been known to serve just hot chicken with crusty bread to dip in the pan drippings and eaten the whole meal with my hands (hey judgement-free zone here - not every meal is picture perfect!).
By implementing these 4 tips, roast chicken doesn't have to be reserved for Sunday dinner. I even included smaller chickens in the share this month so you are already 25% of the way to the roast chicken of your weeknight dreams!